GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING

Physical Properties of Soil

1. A sample of soil taken in the field has the following data:

Unit weight of soil solids = 26.7 KN/m3
Void ratio = 67%
Moisture content = 20%
a. What is the degree of saturation of the soil? 81.25%
b. Determine the saturated unit weight of the soil. 19.92 KN/m3
c. Determine the saturating moisture content? 24.62%

2. A saturated soil has a moisture content of 38% and a specific gravity of 2.73.
a. Compute the void ratio. 1.04
b. Compute the porosity. 0.51
c. Compute the moist unit weight of this soil. 18.12 kN/m3

3. For sandy soil, emax = 0.86, emin = 0.43 and Gs = 2.66.

a. What is the void ratio at Dr = 56%? 0.62
b. What is the moist unit weight of the soil when water content is 7%? 17.24 kN/m3
c. What is the degree of saturation? 30%

4. A soil sample has a dry weight of 17.1 kN/m 3, void ratio of 0.52 and water content of 12.5%.
Determine the following:
a. Specific gravity of the soil. 2.65
b. Effective unit weight of the soil. 10.65 kN/m3
c. Dry unit weight at zero air voids. 19.53 kN/m3

5. Given the laboratory results of the Atterberg Limit Test in the figure. Plot the water content versus
the number of blows.
a. Determine the nearest value to the Liquid Limit of the soil. 39.3%
b. Determine the nearest value to the Plastic Limit of the soil. 30.36%
c. Determine the nearest value to the Liquidity Index of the soil. 1.63

A. Liquid Limit
Test Number 1 2 3 4
Number of Blows 35 28 20 15
Weight of Wet Soil + Container, g 91.57 108.16 119.14 114.94
Weight of Dry Soil + Container, g 73.78 85.04 89.56 84.10
Weight of Container, g 21.45 22.56 20.78 19.86
Weight of Water, g
Weight of Dry Soil, g
Water Content, %
B. Plastic Limit and Natural Water Content
Plastic Limit Natural Water Content
Test Number 1 2 1 2
Weight of Wet Soil + Container, g 24.46 26.73 30.50 28.11
Weight of Dry Soil + Container, g 21.79 23.44 24.64 23.69
Weight of Container, g 12.45 13.21 12.32 13.24
Weight of Water, g
Weight of Dry Soil, g
Water Content, %
Average, %

60

55
 Moisture Content
50

45

40

35

30

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Number of Blows

Classification of Soil

1. The result of sieve analysis of three soils is given next. It is required to classify these soils
according to the AASHTO Classification System.

Classification of Highway Subgrade Materials

SIEVE ANALYSIS
Diameter Percent Passing
Sieve No.
(mm) Soil A Soil B Soil C
4 4.760 90 100 100
8 2.380 64 90 100
10 2.000 55 77 78
20 0.840 33 59 91
40 0.420 24 50 85
60 0.250 17 42 79
100 0.149 9 36 70
200 0.074 5 33 63

LL - 46 47
PL - 29 24
Group Index: (GI)
GI = ( F200-35 ) [ 0.2 + 0.005 ( LL-40) ] + 0.01 ( F200-15 ) ( PI–10)
Where;
F or F200 is %age passing #200 sieves expressed as whole number (also called as fine fraction)
LL is liquid limit of soil
PI is Plasticity Index of soil

a. What is the classification of Soil A? A-1-b (0)

b. What is the classification of Soil B? A-2-7 (1)
c. What is the classification of Soil C? A-7-6 (13)

Flow of Water through Soils

1. A confined aquifer is shown in the figure. This aquifer has a source of recharge located as shown.
The hydraulic conductivity of the aquafer is 48 m/day with a porosity of 25%. The piezometer
(head) surface in the two observation wells 1100 m apart are at elevation 65 m and 60 m,
respectively from the common datum. The aquifer has an average thickness of 25 m and an
average width of 4 km.
a. Determine the nearest value to the
rate of flow of water through the
aquifer. 21818 m3/day
b. Determine the nearest value to the
seepage velocity. 0.87 m/day
c. Determine the nearest value to the
time of travel from the head of
aquifer to a point 4.8 km
downstream. 5500 days

2. A confined aquifer underlies an

unconfined aquifer as shown in the figure. Given the following: D 1 = 55m, D2 = 40m, H1 = 45m, H2
= 30m, K1 = 30m/day, K2 = 40m/day, L= 2 km.
a. Calculate the equivalent coefficient of permeability in horizontal direction. 34 y
b. Calculate the hydraulic
gradient. 0.0075
c. Calculate the flow of
water from one stream to
another per meter width.
12.113 m3/day
 3. A gravity well penetrates 24 meter below the static water table. After 24 hours of pumping at
constant rate of 87 liters per second, the water table in two observation wells located 36m and
82m from the well showed drawdown of 1.15 meter and 0.63 meter, respectively.
a. Determine the nearest value to the pumping rate. 7517 m3/day
b. Determine the nearest value to the coefficient of permeability of the soil. 81.95 m/day
c. Determine the nearest value to the transmissibility of the soil. 1967 m2/day

Stresses in Soil

1. A dense silt layer has the following properties: void ratio = 0.40, effective diameter D 10 = 10 um,
capillary constant C = 0.20 cm2. Free ground water level is 8 m below the ground surface.
a. Find the height of capillary rise in the silt. 5m
b. Find the vertical effective stress in kPa at 5m depth. Assume unit weight of solids = 26.5
KN/m3 and that the soil above the capillary rise and ground surface is partially saturated at
50%. 133.88 kPa
c. Find the vertical effective stress in kPa at 10m depth. Assume unit weight of solids = 26.5
KN/m3 and that the soil above the capillary rise and ground surface is partially saturated at
50%. 193.48 kPa

2. A 4 m thick of sand overlies a thick layer of clay. The water table is 1.8 m below the sand surface.
The sand has a void ratio of 0.53 and a degree of saturation of 36% above the water table. The
clay has a moisture content of 45%. G = 2.68 for both sand and clay.
a. What is the unit weight of sand above the water table? 18.41 kN/m3
b. Determine the total stress at a point 12 m below the sand surface. 216.7kPa
c. Determine the effective stress at a point 12 m below the sand surface. 116.6 kPa

Compressibility of Soil

1. The square footing shown in the figure carries a load of 3500 kN. Assume that the stress below
the footing is distributed at a slope of 1H:2V. The clay layer is over consolidated with OCR = 2.
a. Determine the effective stress at the midheight of the clay layer. 43.56 kPa
b. Determine the increase in pressure at the midheight of the clay layer. 151.12 kPa
c. Determine the settlement of the overconsolidated clay layer. 63 mm

Shear Strength of Soil

1. The soil in a given layer has the following properties:

Water content = 10%
Specific Gravity = 2.65
Void ratio = 0.61
Angle of internal friction = 310
a. If water table is not encountered during the observation, calculate the potential shear strength
at a depth of 3m. 32.02 kPa
b. Compute the modified value of shear strength at the same point if water table was observed
at the ground surface. 18.12 kPa
c. Compute the modified value of shear strength at the same point if water table was observed
at the ground surface and the soil has cohesion of 12.4 kPa. 30.52 kPa
 2. A triaxial test is conducted on a cohesionless soil. Failure occurs when the deviator ( plunger )
stress is 360 kPa. The angle of friction of the soil is 28 0. Determine the following:
a. The angle that the failure plane makes with the horizontal. 590
b. The confining pressure. 203.4 kPa
c. The shearing stress at failure plane. 158.9 kPa

3. A soil element is shown in the figure. The magnitudes of stresses are Ơ x = 120 kPa, Ƭ = 40 kPa,
Ơy = 300 kPa and Ɵ = 200.

Determine:
a. Major principal stress. 308.50 kPa
b. Minor principal stress. 111.50 kPa
c. Normal stress on plane AB. 253.24 kPa
d. Shear stress on plane AB. 88.50 kPa

4. A consolidated drained tri-axial test was conducted on a normally consolidated clay. The results
were as follows:
Chamber confining pressure = 138 kPa
Deviator stress = 258 kPa
a. Compute the friction angle of the soil. 28.890
b. Compute the normal stress at failure. 204.68 kPa
c. Compute the shear stress at failure. 112.95 kPa

5. In a triaxial test of cohesion less soil, the normal and shearing stresses at failure plane are 342
kPa and 167 kPa, respectively.
a. Determine the angle of shearing resistance of the soil. 26.030
b. Determine the angle of failure plane. 58.010
c. What is the principal stress at failure? 609.4 kPa

Lateral Earth Pressure

1. A cantilever sheet- pile 7.5 m long supports a 4.5-m high dry sand with dry density of 1.19 g/cc
and angle of shearing resistance of 34 0. The pile is embedded to a depth of 3 m. The water table
is at the bottom of the sheet pile.
a. What is the maximum active force that can act on the sheet- pile per meter length? 92.79 kN
b. What is the maximum passive resistance that can act on the sheet- pile per meter length?
185.75 kN
c. What passive resistance must be mobilized for stability, per meter length? 232 kN
2. A frictionless vertical retaining wall has a height of 4 m and retains a horizontal surcharge of 10
kPa. Unit weight of the backfill is 15 kN/m 3 with a cohesion of 8 kN/m 2 and an angle of friction of
260.
a. Compute the max. depth of the tensile crack. 1.04 m
b. Compute the active force after the tensile crack occurs. 25.62 kN/m
c. Compute the passive resistance per unit width of wall. 512 kN/m

3. A cantilever sheet pile is 8.2 m long with a depth of embedment of 3.2 m. Angle of friction of the
soil supported by the sheet pile is 34 0 and has a unit weight of 1.91 g/cc. There is water table
below the base of the sheet pile. Ƴw = 9.81 kN/m3.
a. Compute the active force acting on the sheet pile. 178.3 kN/m
 b. Compute the passive force acting on the sheet pile. 338.70 kN/m
c. Compute the theoretical passive force that must be mobilized to ensure stability. 456.9 kN/m

Brace Cuts

1. A braced cut in the sand 7m

deep is shown in the figure. In
the plan, the struts are placed at
s = 1.5 m center to center. Use
Peck’s empirical pressure
diagram.
a. What is the load on strut A?
94.25 kN
b. What is the load on strut B?
31.42 kN
c. What is the load on strut C?
167.56 kN

Bearing Capacity of Soils

1. For a certain soil with cohesion of 50 kPa, the unit weight is 19.20 kN/m 3. Assuming a local shear
failure and angle of friction is 100.

Nc’ = 8.02 Nq’ = 1.94 Ny’ = 0.24

Nc = 9.61 Nq = 2.69 Ny = 0.56

a. Calculate the net ultimate bearing capacity for a strip footing of with = 1.25 m at a
depth = 4.5 m. 351.4 kPa
b. Considering general shear failure, calculate the safe bearing pressure, q s, on a footing 6 m x
1.25 m, using a load factor of 2.50. 299.76 kPa
c. Determine the safe total load of the rectangular footing. 2248.2 kN

Piles and Deep Foundation

1. A concrete pile having a diameter of 0.30m is driven into a loose sand having a unit weight of 20
kN/m3. Coefficient of friction between sand and pile is 0.40. Bearing capacity factor N q = 80. Later
pressure factor K = 0.90. Allowable load of pile is 170 kN. Factor of safety is 3.25.
a. Compute the ultimate bearing capacity of the pile. 339.3 kN
b. Compute the ultimate frictional capacity of the pile. 213.2 kN
c. Compute the length of the pile. 11.97 m

2. A prestressed concrete pile, 400 mm x 400 mm in cross- section, is to driven in a clayey soil as
shown in the figure. Use the alpha method with a factor of safety of 2.
a. What is the total skin friction expected to be developed along the shaft of the pile? 841.6 kN
b. What is the end bearing capacity of the pile? 129.6 kN
c. What is the allowable pile capacity? 485.6 kN

3. The pile group shown consists of 12 piles, each 0.36 m in diameter arranged in a 3 x 4 matrix.
The pile penetrates a soft clay ( L 1 = 3m, Cu1 = 56 kPa), a medium dense clay ( L 2 = 5m, Cu2 = 78
kPa), and a stiff clay ( L 3 = 4m, Cu3 = 95 kPa). Assume N c = 9 and a = 1 for soft and medium
dense clay, a = 0.9 for stiff clay. Pile spacing is 0.8 m. Use FS= 3.
a. Determine the capacity of the pile group based on single pile failure mode. 4420 kN
b. Determine the capacity of the pile group based on group action. 3074
kN
c. Compute the maximum center- to- center spacing of the piles for
100% efficiency. 1.21 m
Slope Stability

1. An infinite slope have the following shear strength parameter at the interface of soil and rock:
Angle of friction = 260
Cohesion of soil c = 18 kPa
Angle that the slope makes with thae horizontal = 220
Height of the soil below the ground surface to the interface of the soil and rock = 8m
Unit weight of soil = 18.50 kN/m3
Saturated weight of soil = 21.4 kN/m3
a. Find the factor of safety against sliding assuming there is no water pressure. 1.56
b. Find the factor of safety against sliding assuming there is seepage through the soil and that the
groundwater level coincides with the ground surface. 0.96 < 1.0 the slope is unstable
c. For the value of β= 320, find the value of H for a factor of safety FS= 1.0. 9.87 m

2. From the figure shown, the soil has a unit weight of 15.74 kN/m 3 and undrained shear strength c u
= 24 kN/m2. The slope makes an angle of 56 0 with the horizontal. Assume a stability number m =
0.185.
a. Compute the stability factor. 5.41
b. Compute the maximum depth up to which the cut could be made. 8.24 m
c. Compute the angle that the failure plane makes with the horizontal if BC = 6.48m. 34.390

3. A 9 m high cut slope inclined at 30 0 with the horizontal has an angle of failure plane at 15 0. Unit
weight of soil is 17 kN/m3. Friction angle and cohesion along the plane are 200 and 24 kN/m2,
respectively.
a. Find the force that will tend to cause sliding. 356kN
b. Determine the resistance to sliding. 1318.59 kN
c. Compute the factor of safety against sliding. 3.70