Abstract The behavior of footings resting on soft soil reinforced by a group of columnar elements is assessed in terms of its bearing capacity and settlement. This paper presents the results of experimental work on model footings resting on soft clay reinforced by columnar elements. The experimental work presented herein is performed to study the bearing capacity of footings resting on soft clay reinforced by columnar elements. Three footings with different dimensions (i.e., 10x10, 10x15 and 10x20 cm) and two materials for granular piles (i.e., sand and stone) are tested. Different area replacement ratios (i.e., numbers of granular piles) and diameters of granular piles are also tested. In all the studied cases, the granular pile tips located at the same elevation. The results of the tests show that the bearing capacity of the footing increases as the number and diameter of granular piles increase.