GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING LECTURE NOTES A satisfactory foundation design requires the proper application of The main agent responsible

ion of The main agent responsible for this process is:

soil mechanics principles accumulated experience and judgement.
SOIL oldest and most complex engineering material Exfoliation
The stability and life of any structure- a building, an airport, a Unloading
Western Civilizations recognizing the importance of soils in the road, dams, levees, natural slopes, power plants - depend on the Erosion
stability of structures. stability, strength and deformation of soils. Freezing
Thawing
Vitruvius If the soil fails structures founded on or within it will fail or be
impaired regardless of how well this structure are designed. Chemical Weathering causes both reductions in size and
Roman Engr (served during the reign of Emperor Augustus Successful engineering structure project are heavily dependent on chemical alteration of the original parent rock.
in the 1st century BC). geotechnical engineering.
Soil types (sand, gravel, etc). The main agents responsible for this are:
Design and construction of solid foundations. Geotechnical lessons from failures - due to natural vagaries of
soil failure do occur. Hydration
Coulomb (1773) Carbonation
Failure may either: Oxidation
Member of the french royal engineers.
1st person to use mechanics to solve soil problems. a) Catastrophic (and caused severe damage to lives and Residual Soils- soils that remains at the site of weathering. These
Interested in protecting old fortresses that fell easily from properties) soils retain many of the elements that compromise the parent
cannon fire. b) Insidious rock.

Karl Terzaghi (1883-1963) Failure Occurs: Alluvial Soils (also called fluvial soils)

The undisputed father of soil mechanics.
His book Erdbaumechanik (1925) laid the foundation for
soil mechanics and brought recognition to the importance
of soils in engineering activities.
Early 20th century rapid growth of cities, industry and commerce
requires a myriad of building systems like skyscrapers, large
public buildings, dams for electric power generation and
reservoirs for water supply and irrigation tunnels, roads and
railroads, port and harbour facilities, bridges, airports and
runways, ruining activities, hospitals, sanitation systems, drainage
system and tower for communication systems these building
systems require stable and economic foundations.
Every application of soil mechanics involves uncertainty because
of the variability of soils. Their stratification, composition, and
engineering properties.
Engineering Mechanics - is used to understand and interpret the
properties, behavior and performance of soils.
Marvels of Civil Engineering - The Hidden Truth
The four marvellous structures:
Sears Tower(Chicago, IL)
Empire State Building (New York)
Taj Mahal (India)
Hoover Dam (USA)
Inadequate site and soil investigations.
Unforeseen soil and water conditions
Natural hazards
Poor engineering analysis design, construction and
quality control
Post construction activities
Usage outside the designs conditions
Soil - derived from the weathering of rocks is very complex
materials and varies widely.
There is no certainty that a soil will have the same properties
within a few centimetres of its current location.
One primary task of Geotechnical Engineers:
Collect
Classify
Investigate the physical properties of soils.
COMPOSITION OF SOILS
I. Soil Formation
Soils are formed from the physical and chemical weathering of
rocks.
Physical Weathering - involves reduction of size without any
change in the original composition of the parent rock.
Are soils that were transported by rivers and streams. The
profile of alluvial soils usually consists of layers of
different soil.
Most of our construction activities has been and is
occurring in the land on alluvial soils.
Glacial Soils- are soils that were transported and deposited by
glaciers.
Marine Soils- are soils deposited in a marine environment.
II. Soil Types
Soil Texture or Soil Types
Sand
Gravel
Silts
Clays
Textures- refer to the appearance or feel of a soil.
Coarse-grained soils (sand and gravel) - Feel gritty and hard.
The coarseness of soils is determined from knowing the
distribution of particle sizes, which is the primary means of
classifying coarse-grained soils.
Fine-grained soils (clays and silts) feel smooth. To
characterized fine-grained soils, further info on the types of
minerals present and their contents.
Alluvial Soils- are fine sediments that have been eroded from rock,
transported by water.
Caliche- consists of gravel, sand and clay cemented together by
calcium carbonate.
Expansive Soils- are clays that undergo large volume changes from
cycles of wetting and drying.
Glacial Soils- are mixed soils consisting of rock debris, sand, silt,
clays and boulders.
Glacial Till- is a soil consist mainly of course particle.
Glacial Clays- are soils that were deposited in ancient lakes and
subsequently frozen.
The thawing of these lakes reveals a soil profile of heatly stratified
silt and clay, sometimes called varved clay.
The silt layer is white in color and was deposited during summer
periods while the thinner, dark clay layer was deposited during
winter periods.
Gypsum- is calcium sulphate formed under heat and pressure
from sediments in ocean brine.
Lateritic Soils- are residuals that are cemented with iron oxides
and are found in tropical regions.
Loam- is a mixture of sand, silt and clay that may contain organic
material.
Loess- is a windblown, uniform fine-grained soils.
Mud- is a clay and silt mixed with water into a viscous fluid.
Marine Soils- are sands, silts, and clays deposited in salt or
brackish water.
WEATHERING AND SOIL
Rocks, minerals, soils normally change their structure under the
action or influence of certain environment forces.
The process where rocks or soils are dissolved or worn away into
smaller and smaller pieces due to particular environmental factors.
In geological term, weathering ids defined as the disintegration of away rock fragments and disintegrates them into smaller pieces as the
rocks influenced by animal and plant life, water and the rocks interact with the forces and pressure of the frozen materials.
atmospheric forces in general. -
Temperature Fluctuations
It is the process of breakdown of rocks at the Earths surface either - Fluctuations in temperature contribute to thermal stress.
by extreme temperatures or rainwater or biological activity. It This is the contraction and expansion effect on the rocks because of
simply does not involve any movement of rock material. temperature changes. Due to uneven expansion and contraction, the
rocks crack and disintegrate into smaller pieces. Eventually, these
Weathering - is the breaking down of rocks, soil and minerals as processes make the rock break down into finer and finer pieces.
well as wood and artificial materials through contact with the
Earths atmosphere, biota and water.
Weathering occurs in situ, roughly translated to; with no TYPES OF PHYSICAL WEATHERING
movement, and thus should not be confused with erosion,
which involves the movement of rocks and minerals by agents 1. Thermal Pressure
such as water, ice, snow, wind, waves and gravity and then Changes in temperature contribute to expansion and contraction of
being transported and deposited i other locations. the rocks. When the temperature of the rock rises, the rock expands
and when the temperature of the rocks decreases, the rock contracts.
- Mechanical Weathering is the breakdown of rocks into smaller This is because the outer surface is more exposed than the inner
and smaller pieces. It is the weakening of rocks followed by surface; there is uneven contraction and expansion of the rocks
disintegration due to the physical or mechanical forces including constituent minerals. This process results in physical stress, also
the actions on the rocks by abrasion, frost, chattering, temperature termed as thermal pressure which can crack or break the rock apart.
fluctuations and salt crystal growth.
- Rocks in the dessert are highly affected by this process because
Physical weathering does not involve any chemical changes
- during the day the temperatures are very high while in the night the
because the chemical composition of the rocks is never altered. temperatures are low.
- Physical weathering, also known as mechanical weathering, is the
class of processes that causes the disintegration of rocks without The continuous contraction and expansion during the day and night
chemical change. exert stress of two main types, thermal fatigue and thermal shock on
- the rocks which makes them to crack and eventually break into pieces.
- The primary process in physical weathering is abrasion (the process
by which clasps and other particles are reduced in size). Wildfires can as well cause considerable weathering of the rocks as
the intense heat rapidly expands the rocks constituent minerals than
PROCESSES OF PHYSICAL /MECHANICAL WEATHERING normal.
Mechanical or physical weathering is a process that constantly takes 2. Freeze- Thaw
place since nature influences it. The process usually happens near the
surface of the earth influenced by wind, water and temperature. Refers to frost chattering or frost weathering. When water enters
the rocks through the pores and cracks, it freezes. Once the frozen
Wind water is within the rocks it expands by about 10% thus opening the
- The physical forces of wind act on the loose rocks, cracks a bit wider. The pressure acting within the rocks is
leaving them sculptured and denudated. Wind forces carry small estimated at 30000pounds per square in at -7.6 degree F.
particles and rocks that collide with the rocks, in turn, wearing then
away. The forces of wind on physical/mechanical weathering are Overtime, the repeated frost cycle of ice formation and ice melt
common in sandstorms in deserts. along the changes in weather make the rock split off and bigger
- rocks are broken into smaller fragments. Frost weathering is
Water and Glacial Materials common in mountain areas and very cold region where the
- Water gets into the rocks and once inside the rocks and temperature is about the freezing point of water.
freezes. The frozen water expands and causes the rocks to weaken
and widen the cracks. In the long-run, the bigger rocks are broken into 3. Release of pressure or exfoliation
smaller and smaller fragments. Moving ice in glacial areas also washes
When the overlying rock materials are stripped by abrasion or
other erosion processes, it gives rise to cracking, fractures and
expansion of the underlying rocks to release the pressure in them.
Overtime, sheets of rock separate from the stripped rocks and
break into smaller pieces along the fractures through a process
termed as exfoliation.
have the potential of braking down the outer layer of the rock.
They eat away the surface of the rocks.
This microscopic organisms also bring about moist chemical
micro-environments which encourage the chemical and physical
breakdown of the rock surfaces.

4. Salt Crystal Growth/ Salt Weathering
Salt crystal growth is also referred to as salt weathering or
haloclasty. It occurs when saline solutions enter the rock pores or
cracks and evaporates, leaving behind salt crystals.
The amount of biological activity depends upon how much life is
in that area. Burrowing animals such as moles, squirrels and
rabbits can speed up the development of fissures.

The accumulated salt crystals are heated up when environmental

temperatures are high and they expand thus releasing pressure on
the rock, causing the rocks to disintegrate.

Salt Crystallization may also happen when rocks such as

limestone form salt solutions like sodium carbonate or sodium
sulfate. The salt solutions form salt crystals when the moisture in
them evaporates.

These salts can expand three-fold or even more and this

phenomenon mainly takes place in dries an high temperature
areas.

A prime example of salt-crystal growth in honey combed stones in

the sea wall.

5. Plant Growth and Animal Action

Trees and other plants can wear away rocks when their roots
penetrate into the cracks in the rocks. As the roots get bigger, they
exert pressure on rocks and make the cracks widen and deeper
eventually braking the rocks apart.

6. Abrasion

The wearing down of rock particles by friction due to water, wind

or ice. The continued vulnerability to these elements gradually
breaks down the exposed surfaces of the rocks. It is the action on
the rocks by wind, ice rain, and waves combined.

ORGANIC OR BIOLOGICAL WEATHERING

Refers to the same thing. It is disintegration of rocks as a result

of the action by living organisms. Trees and other plants can wear
away rocks since as they penetrate into the soil and as their roots
get bigger, they exert pressure on rocks and makes the cracks
wider and deeper.

Microscopic organisms like algae, moss, lichens and bacteria can

grown on the surface of the rocks and produce chemicals that
 Physical, mechanical and other important properties of
materials.
Fabrication or method of manufacture
Durability and long-term performance
Specification and standards
Application or methods of use
Laboratory testing procedure
Materials testing procedures history
The construction maybe:
Underground or above ground
Offshore or inland
Over-mile deep valleys or flat terrains
And through Rocky Mountains or clayey soils.
THE CIVIL ENGINEERING PROFESSION
The profession of civil engineering is of fairly recent origin (the
American society of civil engineers (ASCE), the oldest national
engineering society in the United States, was founded on 1852)
Civil engineering works is as old as humankind. The most
ambitious and historically significant projects throughout the
history of civilization were built to satisfy human needs.
Responsible for the introduction of materials to the construction
market.
Advances is engineering techniques
Resource constraints
Cost-cutting measure
The brief historical perspective of civil engineering construction
shows that the materials of construction were, for the most part,
of native origin and satisfied environmental compatibility. Thus,
this statement applies to most basic materials used in todays civil
engineering structure but not for all.
CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS AND TESTING Engineering Materials
INTRODUCTION 1. Wood
2. Concrete
The construction structure requires thorough understanding of 3. Bitumen
fabrication, application, field testing and properties of materials. 4. Structural clay and concrete units
Thus, a thorough knowledge of properties and performance of
The basic materials selected for the following:
materials and construction practices are required to develop
design, and build a safe, economical, and durable structure.
Properties
An introductory course on materials of construction of civil Performance
engineering is commonly set on the following aspects: Avaibility
Aesthetics
Cost
Properties of Engineering Materials
Material for Highway Bridge should have adequate strength,
rough surface, and sufficient quality.
Water-retaining structure can be built using materials that are
impermeable, crack free strong, and do not react with water.
Road-surface can be built using materials that show little
movement under load, are water resistant, and are easy to repair.
Properties of materials are grouped by under three major
headings:
1. Physical properties
2. Mechanical properties
3. Chemical properties
Physical properties are those derived from properties of matter
or physical structure.
They include density, porosity or voids, moisture content, specific
gravity, permeability and structure (micro or macro).
In addition:
Texture, color and shape
The physical properties are helpful in evaluating a material in
terms of appearance, weight, permeability and water retention.
Chemical Properties - are those pertaining to the composition and
potential reaction of a material the compounds of composition
such as oxides and carbonates, describe the chemical nature of
the material. They explain the material behaves in a certain
environment.
Other chemical properties:
Acidity, alkalinity and resistance to corrosion
Mechanical Properties
Measure the resistance of material to applied loads or
forces
Some reflect the strength of the material, whereas others
measure the deformation capacity of stiffness.
 Includes strength, deformation, brittleness, plasticity and
ductility.

The goal of engineering design To select the best material for a

particular job

An understanding of all relevant properties of various materials

available and an appreciation of their performance characteristics
are of fundamental importance is achieving this goal.

Addition to properties of Engineering Materials

Thermal
Electrical
Magnetic
Acoustical and
Optical, are also important in civil engineering.

Thermal Properties represent the behavior of a material under

heat or temperature.

Acoustical Properties sound transmission and sound reflection

that should provide sound resistance and act as sound barriers

Optical Properties such as color, light transmission and light

reflection are essential in determining the energy consumption
capacity of a material.

Electrical conductivity and magnetic permeability are needed

in materials used in electrical works.