A strip load is the load transmitted by a structure of fi nite width and infi nite length on a soil surface. Two types of strip loads are common in geotechnical engineering. One is a load that imposes a uniform stress on the soil, for example, the middle section of a long embankment (Figure ). The other is a load that induces a triangular stress distribution over an area of width B (Figure ). An example of a strip load with a triangular stress distribution is the stress under the side of an embankment. The increases in stresses due to a surface stress qs (force/area) are as follows.

 

 

 Area transmitting a uniform stress:

 

where qs is the applied surface stress.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The vertical displacement due to a strip loading is useful only as relative displacement between two points not located at infi nity. The relative vertical displacement between the center of the strip load (0, 0) and a point at the surface (x, 0) is

 

 

 

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