“…Although no literature is available regarding gapping along shallow skirted foundations, various authors have reported that large displacements are required for a gap to form along laterally loaded caissons (similar to skirted foundations but with larger embedment depth to diameter ratio, d/D) in normally consolidated soil, while for lightly and over consolidated soils a gap may appear immediately after lateral or inclined loading (Clukey et al, 1995;Randolph et al, 1998;Clukey et al, 2003;CoŠman et al, 2004). Clukey et al (1995) report results from a centrifuge study of the eŠect of gapping on the capacity of suction caissons in typical Gulf of Mexico normally consolidated soft clay under cyclic loading, but did not observe a critical load at which the caisson suddenly failed from gapping.…”