Abstract: A new method taking account of the effect of foundation dimensions on the bearing capacity of cohesive subsoil is proposed, based on the foundation loading tests which were done on two areas of cohesive subsoil in Shenyang City with loading plates of different dimensions used as foundations. The settling amount under the action of loading plates of different widths were measured and calculated, and the comparative analysis indicated that the control index of bearing capacity of cohesive subsoil should be taken from the deformation values of cohesive subsoil. The actual settling amount of highly/intermediately compressed subsoil is generally greater than that calculated by layered summation, and the bigger the width of foundation, the greater the discrepancy between the actual and calculated settling amount. An overall analysis was therefore made to the values taken for the bearing capacity of subsoil in design in view of the existing design problems. And a conceptual design is proposed for foundation engineering. Testing results showed. that bearing capacity of cohesive subsoil decreases exponentially with the increasing width of loading plates.