Course Details

Course Information Package

Course Unit Title	GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING II
Course Unit Code	CEG221
Course Unit Details
Number of ECTS credits allocated	5
Learning Outcomes of the course unit	By the end of the course, the students should be able to: Understand the definition and nature of soil failure and identify examples of soil failure in the field. Ability to understand the mechanical behaviour of rocks. Explain the effect of pore water pressure on soil strength – use of effective stress, volume changes causing pore fluid flow and concept of drained and undrained behaviour. Perform a shear box test on dense and loose dry sand and derive internal friction angle. Perform consolidated undrained triaxial compression test with pore pressure measurement on clay and derive internal friction angle. Outline the derivation of the bearing resistance equations and factors for drained and undrained conditions, and outline the derivation of the basic active and passive earth pressure coefficients and the nature of active and passive failure. Describe the basic retaining wall types, their pros and cons and their modes of failure. Describe the situations where piled foundations are used, the basic pile types and installation methods and their pros and cons.
Mode of Delivery	Face-to-face
Prerequisites	CEG211	Co-requisites	NONE
Recommended optional program components	NONE
Course Contents	Introduction: review of material from Soil Mechanics I course. Soil strength: inter-particle friction as source of soil strength, its dependence on effective stress and hence pore water pressure; inter-dependency of soil strength and density, concepts of dilation and critical state strengths; effect of permeability on volume change of saturated soils and undrained and drained behaviour; laboratory measurement of shear strength of soils using shear box and triaxial cell. Rock Mechanics: Introduction to rock mechanics, characterization and mechanical behaviour of rocks. Rock strength and important properties. Applications in the construction and petroleum industries e.g. for tunnels, excavations, shafts, oil and gas wells. Shallow foundations: types of shallow foundations, derivation of bearing resistance equations and factors, verification of bearing resistance of example foundations. Retaining walls: derivation of basic equations of active and passive earth pressure coefficients; verification of ultimate limits states of simple rc cantilever walls; types of retaining walls, their pros and cons and modes of failure. Piled foundations: shaft friction and end bearing, negative shaft friction; types of piles and installation methods, pros and cons; situations where piled foundations are necessary.
Recommended and/or required reading:
Textbooks	“Soil Mechanics: Concepts and Applications”, Powrie, W., 2nd ed., Taylor & Francis.
References	“Soil Mechanics: Principles and Practice”, Barnes, G.E., 2nd ed., Palgrave Macmillan. “The Mechanics of Soils and Foundations”, Atkinson, J., 2nd ed., Taylor & Francis.
Planned learning activities and teaching methods	The course will be presented through theoretical lectures in class and by demonstration and student participation in laboratory classes. The lectures will present to the student the course content and allow for questions. Part of the material will be presented using visual aids. Lecture notes, homework assignments, laboratory data, practice questions, feedback and additional material such as site videos and photographs will be available to students at any time on the e-learning Moodle platform. The learning process will be enhanced with the requirement from the student to solve exercises and to process laboratory data. These include self-evaluation exercises which will be solved in class. Exercises will also be given as homework which will be part of their assessment. The instructor will be available to students during office hours or by appointment in order to provide any additional tutoring.
Assessment methods and criteria	Assignments 8% Laboratory reports 16% Tests 16% Final Exam 60%
Language of instruction	English
Work placement(s)	NO