The analytical methods for the determination of bearing capacity of footings are based essentially on shear failure.

A minimum seating pressure of 70 g/cm2 (0.7 t/m2), shall be applied and removed before starting the load test.

For clayey and silty soils and for loose medium dense sandy soils with N < 15, a 450 mm square plate or concrete block shall be used.

The allowable maximum settlement for warehouse type of structure is 50 mm.

Plate load test is a field test to determine the ultimate bearing capacity of the soil, and the probable settlement under a given loading.

The settlement of the plate is measured with the help of sensitive dial gauges. For square plate, two dial gauges are used. The dial gauges are mounted on independently supported datum bar.

According to Polishin and Tokar (1957), brick masonry will crack due to differential settlement when the unit elongation amount to 0.005.

The plate load test essentially consists in loading a rigid plate at the foundation level, and determining the corresponding to each load increment.

The loading to the test plate may be applied with the help of a hydraulic jack. The reaction of the hydraulic jack may be borne by either any of gravity loading methodor reaction truss method.

The use of reaction truss is more popular now-a-days since this is simple, quick and less clumsy.