Introduction to Geotechnical

Engineering

ground

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 Typical Geotechnical Project

Geo-Laboratory Design Office

soil properties
~ for testing ~ for design & analysis

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construction site
 Shallow Foundations
~ for transferring building loads to underlying ground
~ mostly for firm soils or light loads

firm
ground

bed rock 4
Shallow Foundations
 Deep Foundations
~ for transferring building loads to underlying ground
~ mostly for weak soils or heavy loads

P
I
L
E
weak soil

bed rock 6
 Deep Foundations

Driven timber piles, Pacific Highway 7

Pier Foundations for Bridges

Millau Viaduct in France (2005)

 Cable-stayed bridge
 Supported on 7 piers, 342 m apart
 Longest pier (336) in the world

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Pier Foundations for Bridges

Millau Viaduct in France (2005) 9

 Retaining Walls
~ for retaining soils from spreading laterally

retaining
wall

Road
Train

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Earth Dams
~ for impounding water

reservoir
clay
core shell

soil

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Concrete Dams

reservoir
concrete dam

soil

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Concrete Dams

Three Gorges Dam, Hong Kong

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Concrete Dams

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 Earthworks
~ preparing the ground prior to construction

Roadwork, Pacific Highway 15

 Geofabrics
~ used for reinforcement, separation, filtration and
drainage in roads, retaining walls, embankments…

Geofabrics used on Pacific Highway 16

 Reinforced Earth Walls
~ using geofabrics to strengthen the soil

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 Tunneling

MSE (Mechanically
stabilized Earth) wall

Chile (2006) 18
Tunneling

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Retaining Walls

Rock anchors to support the vertical walls

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 Sheet Piles
~ sheets of interlocking-steel or timber driven into
the ground, forming a continuous sheet

warehouse

ship

sheet pile

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 Sheet Piles
~ resist lateral earth pressures
~ used in excavations, waterfront structures, ..

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 Sheet Piles
~ used in temporary works

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 Cofferdam
~ sheet pile walls enclosing an area, to
prevent water seeping in

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 Cofferdam
~ sheet pile walls enclosing an area, to
prevent water seeping in

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Landslides

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 Shoring
propping and supporting the exposed walls to
resist lateral earth pressures

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Excavations

Chile (2006)
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 Earthquake Engineering

Loma Preita Earthquake, San Francisco (1989)

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Ground Improvement

Impact Roller to Compact the Ground

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 Ground Improvement
Big weights dropped
from 25 m, compacting
the ground.

Craters formed in compaction 31

Environmental Geomechanics

Waste Disposal in Landfills

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 Instrumentation
~ to monitor the performances of earth and
earth supported structures

~ to measure loads, pressures, deformations,

strains,…

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 Soil Testing

Vane Shear Test Standard Penetration Test

More Field Tests
Soil Testing

Triaxial Test on Soil Sample in Laboratory 35

 Some Civil Engineering marvels ….

foundations soil
exploration

tunneling

… buried right under your feet. 36

Sea wall in Brisbane (2005)

Courtesy: Coffey Geosciences Pty Ltd. 37

Great Contributors to the Developments
in Geotechnical Engineering
Karl Terzaghi C.A.Coulomb M. Rankine
1883-1963 1736-1806 1820-1872
Geotechnical Engineering Landmarks
 Leaning Tower of Pisa
Our blunders become monuments!

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Hoover Dam, USA

Tallest (221 m) concrete dam 42

 Burj Dubai (Khalifa Tower)

the tallest man-made structure ever built, at

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818 m (2,684 ft).
 Geo-engineering at HU
1804011336
Introduction to Geotechnical Engineering

1804011338
Geotechnical Engineering Laboratory

1804011435
Foundation Engineering and Design

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 Course Description
 Index properties of soils, soil classification, soil-
water, one-dimensional and two dimensional
flow, soil stresses, compaction, distribution of soil
stresses due to surface loads, consolidation
theory and effect of construction period, shear
strength of soils and shear strength tests.
 Course Objectives
1. To know and understand the formation and
mineralogy of soils especially the clay minerals
2. To understand the classification and index
properties of soils and the importance of soil
classification on defining and integrating the
engineering properties of soils, which in tern
affect the engineering purpose
3. To know and understand the mechanical
stabilization of soil (compaction)
4. To evaluate soil stresses due to the weight of
overburden soil and external stresses. Stress
evaluation is very important for soil shear strength
and settlement calculations
 Course Objectives
5. To understand the mechanism of water flow through the
soil mass and the effect of this flow on soil effective
stresses.
6. To understand consolidation (compression), rate of
consolidation, and settlement of soils under the change in
soil stresses.
7. To understand and evaluate the soil shear strength which
is a very important aspect in geotechnical engineering.
Soil shear strength is very important in evaluating
foundation bearing capacity, slope stability, earth retaining
wall design, pavement design, and so on.
 Course Outline
 Introduction to Geotechnical Engineering
 Formation of Soils and Mineralogy of Soil Solids
as Geotechnical Materials
Formation of Soils
Soil Profile
Mineralogy of Soil Solids
Clay Minerals
 Course Outline
 Index Properties and Classification of Soils
Basic Definitions and Phase Relations
Solution of Phase Problems
Role of Classification System in Geotechnical Engineering
Soil Texture, Grain Size, and Grain Size Distribution
Atterberg Limits and Consistency Indices
Unified Soil Classification System
 Soil Compaction
Compaction
Theory of Compaction
Density-Water content (Compaction Curve) of Soils
Field Compaction Control and Specification
Relative Density of Cohesionless Soils
 Course Outline
 Soil Effective Stresses
Effective Vertical Stress
Capillarity and Stresses in Capillarity Zone
Response of Effective Stress to a Change in Total Stress
Relationship between Horizontal and Vertical
 Water in Soils (Permeability, Seepage, and Effective Stresses)
Introduction
Darcy’s Law for Flow
Bernoulli Energy Equation for Steady Flow
Total, Pressure, and Elevation Heads
One Dimensional Flow and Measurement of Permeability
Factors Affect the Permeability
Permeability in Multi-layer Soil Profile
Seepage Forces, Quicksand, and Liquifaction
 Seepage and Flow nets (Two-Dimensional Flow
 Course Outline
 Stress Distribution in Soils Due to External Loading
Point Loading
Line Loading
Uniform loading Distributed over Rectangular and Circular Areas
Strip Loading
 Soil Consolidation, Consolidation Settlement, and Rate of
Consolidation
Components of Settlements
The Oedometer and Consolidation Testing (One-Dim. Cons.)
Pre-consolidation Pressure
Settlement Calculations
Prediction of Field Consolidation Curves
Consolidation Process
Terzaghi’s One-Dim. Consolidation Theory
Evaluation of Secondary Settlement
Determination of Immediate Settlement
 Course Outline
 Shear Strength of Soils
Shearing Resistance
Granular Soils (Cohesionless Soils)
Clay Soils (Cohesive Soils)
Shear Strength
 Failure
Mohr’s Theory of Failure
Mohr-Coulomb Envelope in Terms of Principal Stress
Drained Versus Undrained Shear Strength
Measurement of Shear Strength in Laboratory (Triaxial Tests)
• CD-Tests
• CU-Tests
• UU-Tests
Shear Strength of Cohesionless (Granular Soils)
Shear Induced Pore Water Pressures
Stress Paths
Soil Sensitivity
 Course Outline

Course Requirements
1. Attending the lectures (no make up between lectures)
2. Exams
3. No make up exams will be provided
Grade distribution
3. First Exam 30.%
4. Second Exam 30%
5. Final exam 40%
 Office Hours
8:00-9:30,Sun,Tues

No office hours in the exams’

day
 Dates of Exams

Dates of Exams:
o First exam:
o Second Exam:
o Final Exam: will be determined by the registrar

No make up exams whatsoever

(Absent =0.0)
 Text book
Text book
 Graig, R. F., “ Soil Mechanics”, (7th edition) Spon
Press
References
 Budhu” Soil Mechanics and foundation”, John Wiley
(for slope stability part)
 Terzaghi, Peck, and Mesri, " Soil Mechanics in
Engineering Practice", John Wiley
 Holtz, R. D., and Kovacs W. D., ”An Introduction to
Geotechnical Engineering”, Prentice-Hall
 Textbook(s):

 You can download free book from here

 http://eng4ever.en.funpic.de/civil.html

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 Recipe for Success

I like soils… I like soils….I like soils….

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Civil Engineering
challenges

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