Soil Mechanics and Foundation I

At the end of the course, the students should be able to: 1. apply basic soil mechanics principles in solving problems of earthwork and foundation engineering; 2. identify and classify soil with their properties; 3. determine bearing capacity of soils using different methods; and 4. carry out soil exploration using different investigation methods.

Basic principles of soil mechanics and their application to the solutions of problems in earthwork and foundation engineering. Soil moisture content, California Bearing Ratio – liquid and plastic limit. Classification, identification, properties of soils, soil components, clay minerals, organic, volcanic and made-made solids Grain size, particle shape -plasticity and the Atterberg limits. Soil as a multiple phase system. Seepage analysis, groundwater and soil moisture. Permeability tests, Graphical solution of seepage problems. The flow nets (Two-dimensional seepage analysis) Consolidation. Bearing capacity of soils. Laboratory testing of liquid limit, plastic limit. Special type of soil. Soil exploration.