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Introduction to Geotechnical Engineering
N. Sivakugan
ground
Duration: 11 min 56 s
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Typical Geotechnical Project
construction site
Geo-Laboratory~ for testing
Design Office~ for design & analysis
soil samples
soil properties
design details
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bed rock
firm ground
Shallow Foundations~ for transferring building loads to underlying ground
~ mostly for firm soils or light loads
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Shallow Foundations
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bed rock
weak soil
Deep Foundations
PILE
~ for transferring building loads to underlying ground
~ mostly for weak soils or heavy loads
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Deep Foundations
Driven timber piles, Pacific Highway
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Retaining Walls~ for retaining soils from spreading laterally
Road
Train
retaining wall
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Earth Dams~ for impounding water
soil
reservoirclay core shell
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Concrete Dams
reservoir
soil
concrete dam
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Concrete Dams
Three Gorges Dam, Hong Kong
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Concrete Dams
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Earthworks
Roadwork, Pacific Highway
~ preparing the ground prior to construction
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Construction hazard
~ an unwelcome visitor at an earthwork site.
A dead Anaconda python (courtesy: J. Brunskill)
What does it have to do with Geo?#!
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Geofabrics~ used for reinforcement, separation, filtration and drainage in roads, retaining walls, embankments…
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
ship
warehouse
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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Shoringpropping 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.
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
Cone Penetration Test Truck – Lavarach Barracks, Townsville
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Soil Testing
More Field Tests
Standard Penetration TestVane Shear Test
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Soil Testing
Triaxial Test on Soil Sample in Laboratory
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Soil Testing
Variety of Field Testing Devices
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Soil Testing
Being Pushed around by my Supervisors
Purdue University, USA
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Typical Safety FactorsType of Design Safety
FactorProbability 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…
… buried right under your feet.
foundations soil exploration
tunneling
Great Contributors to the Developments in Geotechnical Engineering
Karl Terzaghi1883-1963
C.A.Coulomb1736-1806
WJM Rankine1820-1872 A.Casagrande
1902-1981
L. Bjerrum1918-1973
A.W.Skempton1914-
G.F.Sowers1921-1996
G.A. Leonards1921-1997
Siva’s teacher in USA – deserves gold frame
Siva’s teacher in USA – deserves gold frame
Geotechnical Engineering Landmarks
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Leaning Tower of Pisa
Our blunders become monuments!
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Hoover Dam, USA
Tallest (221 m) concrete dam
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Petronas Tower, Malaysia
Tallest building in the world
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and….
Monuments
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Geo-engineering at JCU
CS2005Geo-engineering I
CS3002Geo-engineering I
CS4001Geo-engineering I
PostgradMEngSc/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
about 4-6, 50 minutes each open book
How?
Why? 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 5 1 1 3 3 0
?
D 4 2 3 2 9 6
C 15 12 6 7 7 2
P 12 8 8 6 10 8
P- 6 0 2 4 1 5
N 12 10 12 14 9 13
X 0 0 3 3 3 1
Total 54 33 35 39 42 35
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Some Suggestions
Attend the lectures.
Develop a good feel for the subject.
It takes longer to understand from the lecture notes
It is practical, interesting and makes lot of sense.
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Some Suggestions
Work in groups.
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Some Suggestions
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”