6. General stability of surface foundations

Checking the general stability of the site is often neglected, for more or less good reasons, when dimensioning shallow foundations.

While it is imperative to verify this stability prior to construction, during construction and in the operational phase, it may not be necessary to carry out calculations in certain cases.

The most common conditions to be addressed by geotechnical engineers are sloping sites and/or very poor soil conditions.

In many cases, this verification involves specific constructive measures for foundations (foundation bonding, foundations in the direction of the slope, steps, etc.) or even sites (reinforcement, underpinning, etc.).

The justification of general stability is based on verification of the following inequality: