Introduction To Geotechnical Engineering

Introduction to Geotechnical Engineering
“Why You Should Study
Geotechnical Engineering”
or
“Who Needs a Foundation
Engineer Anyway???”
What is Geotechnical Engineering?
• Application of civil engineering to earthen materials
• Soil
• Rock
• Groundwater
What is the difference between
soil and dirt?
If you can grow food in it, get paid to

analyze it, or get college credit for playing
with it, it’s soil; otherwise it’s dirt.
soil
ASTM D 653 defines soils as earth,

sediments or other unconsolidated
accumulations of solid particles produced by
the physical and chemical disintregation of
rocks, and which may or may not contain
organic matter.
Each soil, like human fingerprints, is unique

Branches of Geotechnical Engineering
• Soil Mechanics
• Rock Mechanics
• Foundation Engineering
• Geoenvironmental Engineering
• Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering
• Geologic Engineering
Soil Behavior Introduction
“Concrete and Steel are textbook materials;

Soil is not.”
Soil is heterogeneous
Homogeneous
Heterogeneous
Soil is anisotropic
Anisotropic
Isotropic
Soil is nonconservative
Before After
Conservative
Before After
Nonconservative
(but that doesn’t mean it’s liberal)

Soil is nonlinear
Stress
Strain
Linear
Stress
Strain
Nonlinear
Soil Mechanics
Soil mechanics is a branch of Civil Engineering concerned with the study of soil
and its behavior under different types of loads using the principle of engineering
mechanics, fluid mechanics, mechanics of dynamics, thermal dynamics etc.
Geotechnical Engineering
Geotechnical Engineering deals with the application of soil mechanics to civil
engineering field problems.
Soil mechanics is a science, but its application is an art

(Karl Terzaghi)
Geotechnical Engineering Applications
Shallow Foundations
~ for transferring building loads to underlying ground
~ mostly for firm soils or light loads
firm
ground
bed rock
Shallow Foundations
Deep Foundations
~ for transferring building loads to underlying ground
~ mostly for weak soils or heavy loads
weak
soil
bed rock
Deep Foundations
Driven timber piles, Pacific Highway

Retaining Walls
~ for retaining soils from spreading laterally
retaining
wall
Road
Train
Earth Dams
~ for impounding water
reservoir
clay
core shell
soil
Concrete Dams
reservoir
concrete dam
soil
Concrete Dams
Concrete Dams
Three Gorges Dam, Hong Kong

Examples of Geotechnical Projects
Panama Canal
Location: Panama
Completion Date: 1914
Length: 47.8 miles
Cost: $375 Million
Capacity: 14,000 vessels/yr.
Type: Lock canal
Materials: Rock, clay,
concrete
Panama Canal
Panama Canal
Culebra Cut
Panama Canal
Culebra Cut
•The excavation of the cut was one of the greatest areas of
uncertainty in the creation of the canal, due to the unpredicted
large landslides.
•The Americans had lowered the summit of the cut from 59

meters (193 feet) to 12 metres (40 feet) above sea level, at the
same time widening it considerably, and had excavated over 76
million cubic meters m³ (100 M cubic yards).
•Some 23 M m³ (30 M cubic yards) of this material was

additional to the planned excavation, having been brought into the
cut by the landslides.
Aswan Dam
Location: Aswan, Egypt

Cost: $1 billion
Capacity: 5.97 trillion ft3
Type: Embankment
Materials: Rock, clay
Aswan Dam
How do you keep the water out?
Aswan Dam
What about the core?
Aswan Dam
What is a grout curtain?
Chunnel
Location: Folkestone, England

Sangatte, France
Cost: $21 billion
Length: 163,680 feet (31 miles)
Purpose: Railway
Setting: Underwater
Tunnels
Old Way Graduate New Way
Students
Undergraduate
students
Professors
Golden Gate Bridge Foundations
Location: San Francisco and

Sausalito, California, USA
Cost: $27 million
Length: 8,981 feet
Type: Suspension
Golden Gate Bridge (Marin Pier)
1. Start rock dike
(Coffer)
2. Construct crib dike for
the part that is in
water (timber box
filled w/ rock and set
in place).
3. Install sheet piling.
4. Pump area dry.
5. Construct foundation
on rock surface
exposed below water
level.
Examples of Geotechnical “Structures”
Petronas Towers Foundations
Location: Kuala Lumpur,

Malaysia
Cost: $1.6 billion
Height: 1,483 feet
Stories: 88
Petronas Towers Foundations
Concrete mat
Pile Foundation
“Driven” Pile Foundations
Offshore Pile Foundations
Ground Improvement
Geopier® Rammed Aggregate Piers

Ground Improvement (cont)
Dynamic Compaction
Landslides
Thistle Slide – Spanish Fork Canyon
Mud Slide
Debris Flow (Mudslide with Boulders)
Sinkhole in Guatemala – February 2007
Geoenvironmental Engineering
Compacted Clay Cap for Refinery Site
Earthquake Hazards
(San Andres Fault )
Wasatch Fault (Its your Fault!)
Wasatch Fault – Little Cottonwood Canyon

Wasatch Fault (Is your house safe?)
Fault Rupture
1999 Chi-Chi Taiwan

Earthquake
Fault Rupture
1999 Chi-Chi Taiwan

Earthquake
Strong Ground Motion
Strong Ground Motion
Building Collapse (Turkey)
Liquefaction
Damage
Liquefaction
Damage
Earthquake-Induced Ground Failure

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Introduction to Geotechnical Engineering

“Why You Should Study

• Application of civil engineering to earthen materials

If you can grow food in it, get paid to

ASTM D 653 defines soils as earth,

Each soil, like human fingerprints, is unique

“Concrete and Steel are textbook materials;

(but that doesn’t mean it’s liberal)

Soil mechanics is a science, but its application is an art

Driven timber piles, Pacific Highway

Three Gorges Dam, Hong Kong

•The Americans had lowered the summit of the cut from 59

•Some 23 M m³ (30 M cubic yards) of this material was

Location: Aswan, Egypt

Location: Folkestone, England

Location: San Francisco and

Location: Kuala Lumpur,

Geopier® Rammed Aggregate Piers

Wasatch Fault – Little Cottonwood Canyon

1999 Chi-Chi Taiwan

1999 Chi-Chi Taiwan

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