Abstract
The problems of construction on cohesive soil with high water content are low bearing capacity and high settlement.
Usage of bamboo matting is expected to overcome these problems.
This research is aimed at investigating the influences of bamboo matting usage on bearing capacity and settlement of
shallow foundation with diameter (D) on cohesive soil. The research is conducted using laboratory model. The cohesive
soil is poured into iron drum. The model foundation is placed on sand layer on the top of the cohesive soil covered by
bamboo matting with several configurations of bamboo matting. The CBR apparatus is then attached onto the model to
measure the bearing capacity and settlement.
The results indicate that maximum bearing capacity ratio (BCR) is 8.637 and the smallest settlement is 1.33 mm at installation
of 4 layers bamboo matting with the first layer at 0.5D depth and the spacing of 0.5D. The bamboo matting
placed between sand layers, cohesive soils, and both sand layer and cohesive soil resulted in increasing of BCR by 58-
76%, 75-94%, and 84-96%, respectively.
Keywords:
bamboo matting, BCR, cohesive soil, settlemen
