Introduction to Geotechnical

Engineering

ground

N. Sivakugan
SIVA Copyright  2001
Duration: 11 min 56 s 1
 What is Geotechnical Engineering?
• From the Webster Dictionary,
• Geo means “earth” or “soil”
• Technical means “of or relating to a practical subject
organized on scientific principles”
• Thus GeoTechnical can be the application of scientific
principles to soil
• For engineering purposes, soil is defined as the uncemented
aggregate of mineral grains and decayed organic matter (solid
particles) with liquid and gas in the empty spaces between the
solid particles.
• To an engineer it is a material that can be: built on:
foundations to buildings, bridges; built in: tunnels, culverts,
basements; built with: roads, runways, embankments, dams;
supported: retaining walls, quays.

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 What is Geotechnical Engineering?
• Soil is used as a construction material in various civil
engineering projects, and it supports structural
foundations.
• The application of the basic laws and phenomena of science
to particulate matter, specifically soils
• Properties of soil of particular interest are:
– Origin;
– Grain size distribution;
– Ability to drain water;
– Compressibility;
– Shear strength;
– Load bearing capacity.

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 What is Geotechnical Engineering?
• Soil mechanics is the branch of science that deals with
the study of the physical properties of soil and behavior
of soil masses subjected to various types of forces.
• Soils engineering is the application of the principles of
soil mechanics to practical problems
• Geotechnical Engineering is the sub discipline of civil
engineering that involves natural materials found close
to the surface of the earth
• it includes the application of the principle of soil
mechanics and rock mechanics to the design of
foundations, retaining structures, and earth structures.

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 Typical Geotechnical Project

Geo-Laboratory soil properties Design Office

~ for testing ~ for design & analysis

ils
eta
d
soi

ign
s
l sa

de
mp
s le

Copyright  2001 construction site

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 Shallow Foundations
~ for transferring building loads to underlying ground
~ mostly for firm soils or light loads
 Strip (Walls)
 Pad (Columns)
 Raft (entire building area)

firm
ground

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bed rock 8
 Shallow Foundations

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 Deep Foundations
~ for transferring building loads to underlying ground
~ mostly for weak soils or heavy loads
 Pile

P
I
L
E
weak soil

bed rock
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 Deep Foundations

Driven timber piles, Pacific Highway 11

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 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 17

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 Construction hazard
~ an unwelcome visitor at an earthwork site.

What does it have

to do with Geo?#!

A dead Anaconda python (courtesy: J. Brunskill) 18

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

Geofabrics used on Pacific Highway 19

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 Reinforced Earth Walls
~ using geofabrics to strengthen the soil

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 Soil Nailing
~ steel rods placed into holes drilled into the walls
and grouted

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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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 Sheet Piles
~ interlocking sections

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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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 Tunneling

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 Blasting

For ore recovery in mines

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 Ground Improvement

Impact Roller to Compact the Ground

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 Ground Improvement

Sheepsfoot Roller to Compact Clay Soils

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 Ground Improvement

Smooth-wheeled Roller
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 Ground Improvement
Big weights dropped
from 25 m, compacting
the ground.

Craters formed in compaction 34

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 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

Cone Penetration Test Truck – Lavarach Barracks, Townsville

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 Soil Testing

Vane Shear Test Standard Penetration Test

SIVA Copyright  2001 More Field Tests
 Soil Testing

Triaxial Test on Soil Sample in Laboratory 39

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 Soil Testing

Variety of Field Testing Devices 40

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 Some unsung heroes of Civil Engineering…

foundations soil
exploration

tunneling

… buried right under your feet. 41

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Great Contributors to the Developments in
Geotechnical Engineering
 WJM Rankine
1820-1872 A.Casagrande
C.A.Coulomb
Karl Terzaghi 1736-1806 1902-1981
1883-1963 Siva’s teacher in USA –
deserves gold frame

L. Bjerrum A.W.Skempton G.F.Sowers G.A. Leonards

1918-1973 1914- 1921-1996 1921-1997
Geotechnical Engineering
Landmarks
 Leaning Tower of Pisa
Our blunders become monuments!

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 Hoover Dam, USA

Tallest (221 m) concrete dam 46

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 Petronas Tower, Malaysia

Tallest building in the

world
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 Monuments

and….

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