Introduction 1

1.1 GENERAL
What is Geotechnical Engineering? The term geo means earth or soil. There are many words that
begin with geo- geology, geodesy, geography, and geomorphology to name a few. They all have
something to do with the earth. Geotechnical engineering deals with the engineering aspects of
soils and rocks, sometimes known as geomaterials. It is a relatively young discipline that would
not have been part of the curriculum in the earlier part of the last century. The designs of every
building, service, and infrastructure facility built on the ground must give due consideration to the
engineering behavior of the underlying soil and rock to ensure that it performs satisfactorily
during its design life. A good understanding of engineering geology will strengthen your skills as
a geotechnical engineer.

Mechanics is the physical science that deals with forces and equilibrium, and is covered in
subjects like Engineering Mechanics, Strength of Materials, or Mechanics of Materials. In Soil
mechanics and Rocks Mechanics, we apply these principles to soils and rocks respectively.
Pioneering work in geotechnical engineering was carried out by Karl Terzaghi (1882-1963),
acknowledged as the father of soil mechanics and author of Erdbaumechanik auf
bodenphysikalischer grundlage (1925). The first textbook on the subject.

Foundation Engineering is the application of the soil mechanics principles to design earth and
earth-supported structures such as foundations, retaining structures, dams, etc. Traditional
geotechnical engineering, which is also called geomechanics or geoengineering, includes soil
mechanics and foundation engineering. The escalation of human interference with the
environment and the subsequent need to address new problems has created a need for a new
branch of engineering that will deal with hazardous waste disposal, landfills, ground water
contamination, potential acid sulphate soils, etc. This branch is called environmental
geomechanics or geoenvironmental engineering.

1.2 SOILS
Soils are formed over thousands of years through the weathering of parent rocks, which can be
igneous, sedimentary, or metamorphic rocks. Igneous rocks (e.g., granite) are formed by the
cooling of magma (underground) or lava (above the ground). Sedimentary rocks (e.g., limestone,

2 Geotechnical Engineering
shale) are formed by gradual deposition of fine soil grains over a long period. Metamorphic rocks
(e.g., marble) are formed by altering igneous or sedimentary rocks by pressure or temperature, or
both.

Soils are primarily of two types: residual or transported. Residual soils remain at the location
of their geologic origin when they are formed by weathering of the parent rock. When the
weathered soils are transported by glacier, wind, water, or gravity and are deposited away from
their geologic origin, they are called transported soils. Depending on the geologic agent involved
in the transportation process, the soil derives its special name: glacier-glacial; wind-aeolian; sea-
marine; lake-lacustrine; river-alluvia; gravity-colluvial. Human beings also can act as the
transporting agents in the soil formation process, and the soil thus formed is called a fill.

Soils are quite different from other engineering materials, which makes them interesting and at
the same time challenging. Presence of water within the voids further complicates the picture.
Table 1.1 compares soils with other engineering materials such as steel.

We often simplify the problem so that it can be solved using soil mechanics principles.
Sometimes soil is assumed to be homogeneous isotropic elastic continuum, which is far from
reality. Nevertheless, such approximations enable us to develop simple theories and arrive at
some solutions that may be approximate. Depending on the quality of the data and the degree of
simplification, appropriate safety factors are used.

Geotechnical engineering is a science, but its practice is an art. There is a lot of judgment
involved in the profession. The same data can be interpreted in different ways. When there are
limited data available, it becomes necessary to make assumptions. Considering the simplifications
in the geotechnical engineering fundamentals, uncertainty, and scatter in the data, it may not
always make sense to calculate everything to two decimals places. All these make the field of
geotechnical engineering quite different from other engineering disciplines.

Table 1.1 Soils vs. other engineering materials

Soils Others (e.g., steel)

1. Particulate medium- consists of grain Continuous medium- a continuum

2. Three phases- solid grains, water, and air Single phase

3. Heterogeneous- high degree of variability Homogenous

4. High degree of anisotropy Mostly isotropic

5. No tensile strength Significant tensile strength

6. Fails mainly in shear Fails in compression, tension, or shear

*Isotropic = same property in all directions

Introduction 3
1.3 APPLICATIONS
Geotechnical engineering applications include foundations, retaining walls, dams, sheet piles,
braced excavations, reinforced earth, slope stability, and ground improvement. Foundations such
as footings or piles are used to support buildings and transfer the loads from the superstructure to
the underlying soils. Retaining walls are used to provide lateral support and maintain stability
between two different ground levels. Sheet piles are continuous impervious walls that are made by
driving interlocking sections into the ground. They are useful in dewatering work. Braced
excavation involves bracing and supporting the walls of a narrow trench, which may be required
for burying a pipeline. Lately, geosynthetics are becoming increasingly popular for reinforcing
soils in an attempt to improve the stability of footings, retaining walls, etc. When working with
natural or man-made slopes, it is necessary to ensure their stability. The geotechnical
characteristics of weak ground are often improved by ground improvement techniques such as
compaction, etc.

Figure1.1a shows a soil nailing operation where a reinforcement bar is placed in a drill hole
and surrounded with concrete to provide stability to the neighboring soil. Figure 1.1b shows the
Itaipu Dam in Brazil, the largest hydroelectric facility in the world. Figure 1.1c shows treated
timber piles. Figure 1.1d shows steel sheet piles being driven into the ground. Figure 1.1e shows a
gabion wall that consists of wire mesh cages filled with stones. Figure 1.1f shows a containment
wall built in the sea for dumping dredged spoils in Brisbane, Australia.

1.4 SOIL TESTING

Prior to any design or construction, it is necessary to understand the soil conditions at the site.
Figure 1.2a shows a trial pit that has been made using a backhoe. It gives a clear idea of what is
lying beneath the ground, but only to a depth of 5m or less. The first 2 m of the pit shown in the
figure are clays that are followed by sands at the bottom. Samples can be taken from these trial
pits for further study in the laboratory. Figure 1.2b shows the drill rig set up on a barge for some
offshore site investigation. To access soils at larger depths, boreholes are made using drill rigs
(Figure 1.2c) from which samples can be collected. The boreholes are typically 75 mm in
diameter and can extend to depths exceeding 50m. In addition to taking samples from boreholes
and trial pits, it is quite common to carry out some in situ or field tests within or outside the
boreholes. The most common in situ test is a penetration test (e.g., standard penetration test, cone
penetration test) where a probe is pushed into the ground, and the resistance to penetration is
measured. The penetration resistance can be used to identify the soil type and estimate the soil
strength and stiffness.

4 Geotechnical Engineering
 (a) (b)

(c) (d)

(e) (f)

Figure 1.1 Geotechnical applications: (a) soil nailing (b) Itaipu Dam (c) timber piles (d)
sheet piles (e) gabion wall (Courtesy of Dr. Kirralee Rankine, Golder Associates) (f) sea wall to
contain dredged spoils

1.5 GEOTECHNICAL LITERATURE

Some of the early geotechnical engineering textbooks were written by Terzaghi and Peck (1948,
1967), Taylor (1948), Peck et al. (1974), and Lambe and Whitman (1979). They are classics and
will always have their place. While the content and layout may not appeal to

Introduction 5
 (a)

(c)

(b)

Figure 1.2 Soil testing: (a) a trial pit (Courtesy of Dr. Shailesh Singhi) (b) drill rig mounted on a
barge (Courtesy of Dr. Kelda Rankine, Golder Associates) (c) a drill rig (Courtesy of Mr. Bruce
Stewart, Douglas Partners)

the present generation, they serve as useful references. Geotechnical journals provide reports on
recent developments and any innovative, global research that is being carried out on geotechnical
topics. Proceedings of conferences can also be a good reference source. Through universities and
research organizations, some of the literature can be accessed online or ordered through an
interlibrary loan. There are still those who do not place all their work on the Web, so you may not
find everything you need simply by surfing. Nevertheless, there are few dedicated geotechnical
Web sites that have good literature, images, and videos.

When writing an essay or report, it is a good practice to credit the source when referring to
someone else’s work, including the data. A common practice is to include in parentheses both the
of the author o authors and the year of the publication. At the end of the report, include a
complete list of references in alphabetical order. Each item listed should include the names of the
authors with their initials, the year of the publication, the title of the publication, the publishing
company, the location of the publisher, and the page numbers. The style of referencing and listing
differs between publications. In this book (See References), we have followed the style adapted
by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).
6 Geotechnical Engineering

Professional engineers often have a modest collection of handbooks and design aids in their
libraries. These include the Canadian Foundation Engineering Manual (2006), the Naval Facility
Design Manual (U.S Navy 1971), the design manuals published by U.S Army Corps of
Engineers. These handbooks are written mainly for practicing engineers and will have limited
coverage of the theoretical development s and fundamentals.

1.6 NUMERICAL MODELING

Numerical modeling involves finite element or finite difference techniques that are implemented
on micro or mainframe computers. Here, the soil is often represented as a continuum with an
appropriate constitutive model (e.g., linear elastic material obeying Hooke’s law) and boundary
conditions. The constitutive model specifies how the material deforms when subjected to specific
loading. The boundary conditions define the loading and displacements at the boundaries. A
problem without boundary conditions cannot be solved; the boundary conditions make the
solution unique.

Figure 1.3 shows a coarse mesh for an embankment underlain by two different soil layers. Due
to symmetry, only the right half of the problem is analyzed, thus saving computational time.
Making the mesh finer will result in a better solution, but will increase computational time. The
bottom and right boundaries are selected after some trials to ensure that the displacements are
negligible and that the stresses remain unaffected by the embankment loading.

The model geometry is discretized into hundreds or thousands of elements, each element
having three or four nodes. Equation relating loads and displacements are written for every node,
and the resulting simultaneous equations are solved to determine the unknowns. ABAQUS,
PLAXIS, FLAC, and GeoStudio 2007 are some of the popular software packages that are being
used in geotechnical modeling worldwide.

To give you a taste of numerical modeling, we have included a free DVD containing the
Student Edition of GeoStudio 2007, a software suite developed by GEO-SLOPE International
(http://www.geo-slope.com) to perform numerical modeling of geotechnical and
geoenvironmental problems. It is quite popular worldwide and is being used in more than 100
countries; not only in universities, but also in professional practices by consulting engineers. It
includes eight stand-alone software modules: SLOPE/W (slope stability), SEEP/W (stresses and
deformations), QUAKE/W (dynamic loadings), TEMP/W (geothermal), CTRAN/W (containment
transport), AIR/W (airflow), and VADOSE/W (vadose zone and soil cover), which are integrated to
work with each other. For example, the output from one program can be imported into another as
input. There are tutorial movies that downloadable from the Web site. Press F1 for help. You can
subscribe to their free monthly electronic newsletter. Direct Contact, which has some useful tips
that will come in handy when using these programs.

The GeoStudio 2007 Student Edition DVD included with this book contains all eight programs
with limited features (e.g., 3 materials, 10 regions, and 500 elements, when used with

Introduction 7
 Figure 1.3 A simple mesh for an embankment underlain by two different soil layers

finite element analyses). It also contains a comprehensive engineering manual (e.g., Stability
Modeling with SLOPE/W 2007) for each of the programs. SLOPE/W works on the basis of limit
equilibrium theory using the method of slices. The other programs within the suite use finite
element analysis. SEEP/W, SIGMA/W, and SLOPE/W have been used extensively in Chapters 6,
7, and 15 for solving problems. Once you become proficient with the Student Edition, you will
require very little start-up time with the professional versions in the workplace.

It is uncommon to teach numerical modeling of geotechnical engineering during the first

degree of a civil engineering program; it is more commonly viewed as a postgraduate subject with
firm grounding in finite element and finite difference methods, constitutive models, etc.
Nevertheless, in the professional engineering practice, fresh and recent graduates get to do some
simple numerical modeling work. Numerical modeling is a very powerful tool when used
correctly. No matter how sophisticated the model is, the output can only be as good as the input.
Therefore, realistic results can be obtained only by using the right soil parameters.

8 Geotechnical Engineering
  Geotechnical engineering, geomechanics, geoengineering,
and soil mechanics are more or less the same.
 Soils are quite different from other engineering materials.
 Soils are tested to derive the engineering properties that can
be used in designs.
 Try all sources of references: books, journals, conference
proceedings, and the mighty World Wide Web. You will be
surprised to see some good video clips on YouTube.

REVIEW EXERCISES
1. List five geotechnical Web Sites.

2. List 10 geotechnical applications and write two or three sentences about each.

3. List 10 geotechnical textbooks.

Introduction 9
4. List five geotechnical journals

5. List five names of those who made significant contributions to the early

developments in geotechnical engineering.

6. List five different rock types.

10 Geotechnical Engineering
 Quiz 1. Introduction

You have not started learning geotechnical engineering. Nevertheless, you will be able to
answer most of the questions. Each question is worth one point.

1. What would be the mass of a 1 m by 1 m rock?

2. What is permeability?

3. What is the difference between gravel and clay? Which is more permeable?

4. What is water content of a soil?

5. What is porosity of a soil?

6. What is factor of safety?

7. Why do we compact the soil in earthwork?

8. What is the difference between mass and weight?

9. What is the difference between density and unit weight?

10. What is the difference between strength and stiffness?