ABSTRACT
The ultimate capacity for the design of a drilled shaft is affected by several components, among them: the construction methodology, materials used, field conditions of the stratigraphy and the final constructive conditions. These components directly increase the uncertainty about the interaction between the soil and the drilled shaft, since the empirical methods of calculating the ultimate capacity from field tests assume ideal characteristics, both soil and drilled shaft. Therefore, the AASHTO LRFD standard recommends carrying out a load test in order to verify the predicted capacity of the drilled shaft. This article presents the comparison of the ultimate capacity predicted (Qp) by methods from the CPTu test with that capacity measured (Qm) through a static load test in a drilled shaft built in Cochabamba, Bolivia.
