Introduction to Geotechnical

Engineering

ground

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Duration: 11 min 56 s

Typical Geotechnical Project

Geo-Laboratory
~ for testing

soil properties

Design Office
~ for design & analysis

m
l sa
soi
ple

s
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i
ta
e
d
n
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s
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construction site

Shallow Foundations
~ for transferring building loads to underlying ground
~ mostly for firm soils or light loads

firm
ground
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bed rock

Shallow Foundations

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

P
I
L
E

weak soil

bed rock
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Deep Foundations

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Driven timber piles, Pacific Highway

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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

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Three Gorges Dam, Hong

Kong

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Concrete Dams

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Earthworks
~ preparing the ground prior to construction

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Roadwork, Pacific Highway

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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)

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

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Geofabrics used on Pacific Highway

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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 interlockingsteel 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.

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Craters formed in compaction

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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

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Cone Penetration Test Truck Lavarach Barracks, Townsville

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Soil Testing

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Vane Shear Test

Standard Penetration Test
More Field Tests

Soil Testing

Triaxial Test on Soil Sample in Laboratory

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Soil Testing

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Variety of Field Testing Devices

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Soil Testing
Purdue University, USA

Being Pushed around by my Supervisors

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Typical Safety Factors

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Type of Design

Safety
Factor

Probability of
Failure

Earthworks

1.3-1.5

1/500

Retaining
structures

1.5-2.0

1/1500

Foundations 2.0-3.0

1/5000

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Some unsung heroes of Civil Engineering

foundation
s

soil
exploratio
n
tunnelin
g

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buried right under your

feet.

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Great Contributors to the Developments

in Geotechnical Engineering

Karl Terzaghi
1883-1963

L. Bjerrum
1918-1973

C.A.Coulomb
1736-1806

A.W.Skempton
1914-

WJM Rankine
1820-1872

Sivas
Sivasteacher
teacherininUSA
USA
deserves
deservesgold
goldframe
frame

G.F.Sowers
1921-1996

A.Casagrande
1902-1981

G.A. Leonards
1921-1997

Geotechnical Engineering Landmarks

Leaning Tower of Pisa

Our blunders become monuments!

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Hoover Dam, USA

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Tallest (221 m) concrete dam

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Burj Khalifa: Worlds Tallest Building

Burj Khalifa, known as Burj Dubai, is
a skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab
Emirates, and is the tallest man-made
structure in the world, at 829.8 m.
Wikipedia
Height: 830 m
Floors: 163
Construction started: September
21, 2004
Address: Emaar Blvd - Dubai United Arab Emirates
Architects: Adrian Smith, Marshall
Strabala, William F. Baker, George J.
Efstathiou
Contractors: Laing O'Rourke, Turner
Construction

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Worlds Five Tallest Buildings

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Monuments

and.

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Geo-engineering at JCU
CS2005
Geo-engineering I

CS3002
Geo-engineering I

CS4001
Geo-engineering I

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Postgrad
MEngSc/PhD

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Practicals
~ five practical sessions
~ closed footwear must be worn in the
lab

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Laboratory Staff

Neville Hines & Rudd Rankine

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Quizzes
How?

Why?

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about 4-6, 50 minutes each

open book
to reinforce main points
provides a wake up call
form of assessment

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Past CS2005 Grades

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
HD

15

12

12

10

P-

12

10

12

14

13

33

35

39

42

35

Total 54
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Some Suggestions
Attend the lectures.
It takes longer to
understand from the
lecture notes

Develop a good feel for the

subject.

It is practical, interesting
and makes lot of sense.

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Some Suggestions

Work in groups.
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Some Suggestions

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Thou shall not wait till the last

minute.
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Exams

My mama always said, Exam is like

a box of chocolates; you never know
what you are gonna get

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