ABSTRACT
The occurrence of lateritic cavities in Deccan India is increasingly becoming a common phenomenon. The industrial practices of mitigating these cavities depend more on the existing practices and less on in-depth analyses of strata. Laterite, being a weathered rock, inherently poses further challenges of uncertainty in the engineering properties that vary with its age, depth, and the parent rock (protolith). Finite Element Limit Analyses (FELA) were performed on the numerical model of lateritic strata with cavities to determine the collapse loads. The placement of cavities with respect to the footing was altered to determine its effect on shallow foundation (isolated footing). The study was extended to determine the influence of various other factors, such as intact rock strength, number of cavities and distance between the cavities affecting collapse load.
