The paper presents various possibilities of evaluating characteristic values of soil properties in the context of Eurocode 7 recommendations. Some simplest approaches have been illustrated by computing and comparing resulting of characteristic values. Next the very basic concepts of random fields and spatial averaging were introduced. Consecutively, as application, the Schneider method has been demonstrated and applied to bearing capacity problem incorporating Prandtl’s mechanism. The obtained results were compared with evaluation based on spatial averaging along slip lines (in Prandtl’s mechanism). It appears that random field approach in conjunction with Schneider’s method gave satisfactory results considering Eurocode 7 requirements. It has been pointed out that probabilistic approach in selecting parameters for geotechnical design plays a vital role in safety evaluation.

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