ECE 2808- GEOTEHNICAL ENGINERRING CAT 1 (Due 11/06/2023)

Submit Answers Q2,Q5 and Q13 for grading. Submit Answers in one plain paper page. No
additional page will be permitted or graded.
1. Classify Soil A and B according to AASHTO classification system. Which soil is better
for subgrade?

Sieve No. Soil A Soil B

No. 10% finer 100 70
No. 40% finer 100 40
No. 200% finer 88 20
LL (%) 26 18
PI (%) 8 NP

2. An embankment for a highway is to be constructed from a soil compacted to a dry unit

weight of 18 kN/m3. The clay has to be trucked to the site from a borrow pit. The bulk
unit weight of the soil in the borrow pit is 17 kN/m3 and its natural water content is 5%.
(a) Calculate the volume of clay from the borrow pit required for 1 cubic meter of
embankment. The swell factor is 1.2 (20% free swell). Assume Gs= 2.7.
(b) If the borrow soil above were to be compacted to attain a dry unit weight of 18 kN/m3
at a water content of 7%, determine the amount of water required per cubic meter of
embankment, assuming no loss of water during transportation.

3. An embankment for a highway 30 m wide and 1.5 m in compacted thickness is to be

constructed from a sandy soil trucked from a borrow pit. The water content of the sandy
soil in the borrow pit is 15% and its void ratio is 0.69. The swell index is 1.2. The
specification requires the embankment to be compacted to a dry unit weight of 18
kN/m3.
Determine, for a 1-km length of embankment, the following:
(a) The weight of sandy soil from the borrow pit required to construct the embankment.
(b) The number of truckloads of sandy soil required for the construction. The full
capacity of each truck is 10 m3.
(c) The weight of water per truckload of sandy soil.
(d) The degree of saturation of the sandy soil in situ.

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 ECE 2808- GEOTEHNICAL ENGINERRING CAT 1 (Due 11/06/2023)
Submit Answers Q2,Q5 and Q13 for grading. Submit Answers in one plain paper page. No
additional page will be permitted or graded.
4. A circular tank shown below imparts a bearing pressure of 145kPa onto the soil below.
Compute the total stress, σz(f) at point A after the tank is built.

36m

4.5m
Dense sand 15m
γ= 20kNm3

5. Determine the increase in vertical stress due to embankment load at a point A.

16 m 10 m 16 m

5m
=18 kN/m3

20 m

3m
A

6. A pole carries a vertical load of 200 kN. Determine the vertical total stress increase at
a depth 5 m
(a) directly below the pole and
(b) at a radial distance of 2 m.

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 ECE 2808- GEOTEHNICAL ENGINERRING CAT 1 (Due 11/06/2023)
Submit Answers Q2,Q5 and Q13 for grading. Submit Answers in one plain paper page. No
additional page will be permitted or graded.
7. A (3m x 3m) square footing rested at a depth of (2m) below the ground surface.
Estimate the immediate settlement of the footing under the load and soil conditions
after (0.1 year) from construction for the following cases . (Note Es=2qc)
(a) Ground water too deep
(b) Ground water directly below the footing

Depth from Static cone

base (m) penetration
resistance qc (kPa)
0.0-1.0 5000
1.0-1.5 10000
1.5-5.0 10000
5.0-6.0 5000
6.0-8.0 15000

Strain influence factor, I

z
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6
0

2
Depth below footing level (m)

10

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 ECE 2808- GEOTEHNICAL ENGINERRING CAT 1 (Due 11/06/2023)
Submit Answers Q2,Q5 and Q13 for grading. Submit Answers in one plain paper page. No
additional page will be permitted or graded.
8. A 3.0-m deep compacted fill is to be placed over the soil profile shown in Figure below.
A consolidation test on a sample from point A produced the following results: Cc=0.40,
Cr =0.08, e0 =1.10, σc =70.0kPa, Cv =0.0021m2/day. This sample is a representative of
the entire soft clay stratum.

(a) Is the soft clay layer normally consolidated or over consolidated?

(b) Compute the ultimate consolidation settlement due to the weight of the fill.
(c) Compute the time required for 57% consolidation settlement to occur.

9. Define the following terms.

(a) Expansive soils
(b) Active zone
(c) Swell pressure
(d) Sensitivity of clay soils
(e) Activity of soil

10. What three precautionary measures needed to be taken for soils that possess a marginal
to high swell potential in geotechnical engineering practice.

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 ECE 2808- GEOTEHNICAL ENGINERRING CAT 1 (Due 11/06/2023)
Submit Answers Q2,Q5 and Q13 for grading. Submit Answers in one plain paper page. No
additional page will be permitted or graded.

11. An expansive soil has an active zone thickness of 6.0 m. A shallow foundation is to be
constructed at a depth of 1.5 m below the ground surface. Based on the swell pressure
test the following are given.
(i) Estimated the possible swell under
Swell under overburden and
Depth from ground the foundation
estimated foundation surchange
surface (m)
pressure, sw(1) (%)
1.5 5.5
2.0 3.1
3.0 1.5
4.0 0.75
5.0 0.4
6.0 0.0

(ii) If the allowable total swell is 30 mm. What would be the necessary undercut?

∆S (mm)
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
0

3
Depth (m)

12. An expansive soil has an active zone thickness of 8m. The natural moisture content is
20% and its liquid limit is 50. Calculate the free swell of the expansive soil upon
saturation.

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 ECE 2808- GEOTEHNICAL ENGINERRING CAT 1 (Due 11/06/2023)
Submit Answers Q2,Q5 and Q13 for grading. Submit Answers in one plain paper page. No
additional page will be permitted or graded.

13. The figure below depicts a drilled shaft pier embedded in expansive soil. The details of
the pier and soil properties are given in the figure below.
Determine:
(a) The total uplift capacity
(b) The resistance force.
(c) The factor of safety with no load acting on the top of the pier
(d) The factor of safety with dead load of 100 kN acting on the top of the pier.

14. fine-grained soil has a liquid limit of 200% and a plastic limit of 45%. The natural water
content of the soil in the field is 60% and the clay content is 63%.)
(a) Calculate the plasticity index, the liquidity index, and the activity.
(b) What is the soil state (e.g., liquid) in the field?
(c) What is the predominant mineral in this soil?
15. Soil surcharge fill was used to preload 5 m thick clay layer underlain by hard rock as
shown in Figure below. Determine.
(i) The consolidation settlement
(ii) Time required for 90% of the settlement to occur (assume all consolidation
settlement is completed at this time)

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 ECE 2808- GEOTEHNICAL ENGINERRING CAT 1 (Due 11/06/2023)
Submit Answers Q2,Q5 and Q13 for grading. Submit Answers in one plain paper page. No
additional page will be permitted or graded.
(iii) The required surcharge to get the settlement in 5 months (Assume the stress
increases in the clay layer is equal to the stress at the bottom of the embankment)

Surchage Hsurchage

Fill
3
γ =20 kN/m 8m

eo=0.9
Cc=0.6eo=0.9
Cc=0.1
Cv=2x10
Cv=2×10-3cm
-3
cm/s/s
2
5m
γ = γ19kN/m 3
=18 kN/m3
Bedrock