Rock is hard. While the degree of hardness varies, it is objectively harder than soil. Geotechnical foundation design has largely concentrated on the analysis of soil. In-situ site investigation techniques and constitutive modeling efforts are devoted to characterization and performance prediction of non-linear soil behavior. When it comes to rock, the default assumption has been that rock is unyielding, and the design of a foundation supported on it should be based on the material parameters of the structural element. …