CC0182 Semester 2 2014 Page 1 of 6

THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING & IT

(School of Civil Engineering)

CIVL 2410 SOIL MECHANICS

November 2014 Time allowed: Three hours

Candidates should attempt FOUR questions.

Question 1 is compulsory and is worth 40%. The remaining questions are each
worth 20%.

Battery Powered Programmable calculators may be used.

____________________________________________________________________________

Question 1

a) A soil sample has a moisture content of 20% and a dry unit weight of 16 kN/m3.
Determine the percentage of the voids that are filled with air if Gs = 2.75.

b) A soil profile consists of a 2 m thick layer of sand, overlying a 4 m thick clay layer
overlying permeable rock. The water table is 1 m below the soil surface. The properties
of the sand are e = 0.5, Gs = 2.8 and for the clay e = 1.0, Gs =2.6.
(i) Determine the effective vertical stress 5 m below the soil surface if the pore
pressure at this depth = 20 kPa.
(ii) Explain how the pore pressure can be less than the hydrostatic value.

c) A 4 m thick clay layer with cv = 3 m2/yr is free to drain from its upper and lower
surfaces. Determine the change in effective stress at the centre of the clay layer 1 year
after a load of 75 kPa is applied over a large area.

d) Determine the time for 80% of the final settlement under the centre of a long flexible 10
m wide free draining embankment where the soil profile consists of an 8 m thick clayey
soil layer overlying impermeable rock. By assuming the soil can be considered elastic, the
immediate settlement has been calculated as 12.5 mm and the final settlement as 35 mm.
Take cv = 1 m2/yr.

(Question 1 continued over page)

CC0182 Semester 2 2014 Page 2 of 6

e) A cubical specimen (100mm×100mm×100mm) of an elastic soil with E′ = 40 MPa,

ν′ = 0.3 is subjected to principal stress increases, ∆σ1 = 40kPa, ∆σ2 = 10 kPa and
∆σ3 = -5kPa. Determine the resulting length in direction 2 if no drainage is allowed.

f) Undrained triaxial tests have been performed to determine the properties of a clayey
soil present at a particular site, and the following results have been obtained.

Confining Axial stress at Pore pressure at

pressure failure failure
σ3 σ1 u
(kPa) (kPa) (kPa)
20 57.3 10.0
20 117.3 -20.0

Determine the axial stress at failure of a third sample if the confining stress σ3 = 40
kPa, and the pore pressure at failure is zero.

g) Figure 1 shows a flow net for water flow into a deep excavation. Determine the total
head difference H that will cause piping within the excavation if the saturated unit weight
of the soil is 18 kN/m3.

Figure 1

h) Figure 2 shows a plan view of a building foundation which is expected to impose a

uniform stress of 75 kPa to the ground over the shaded area. Determine the stress
change 12 m below location X due to the building.
10m 2m

4m

X
3m
5m
6m

Figure 2
CC0182 Semester 2 2014 Page 3 of 6

Question 2

Figure 3a shows the elevation of a site where a building applying a uniform stress of 100 kPa
over a 12 m square foundation is to be demolished. An old brittle pipe carrying critical
infrastructure lies 4 m beneath one edge of the building as shown in the plan view in Figure
3b. The soil profile consists of 2 m of dense gravel with properties e = 0.48, Gs = 2.6 which
overlies a 6 m thick clay deposit. The water table is 2 m below the surface, level with the top
of the clay layer. The clay layer has properties Cr = 0.04, Cc = 0.4, OCR = 1, e = 1.1, Gs = 2.7.
The clay is underlain by impermeable rigid rock.

(a) Determine the final settlement of the pipe at points X, Y and Z when the building is
demolished and the stress of 100 kPa is removed. It may be assumed that the pipe
moves with the surrounding soil. Use a single sub-layer.

(b) It is considered that the differential settlements (∆) estimated in (a) are too large
(values of ∆/L>0.002) for the critical pipe. Suggest two ways in which the settlements
could be minimized, and explain how they would work.

(c) Discuss the accuracy of the 1-D approach in estimating the settlements at the points X,
Y and Z.

100 kPa
X 6m Y 6m Z
2m Pipe
GRAVEL

CLAY 2m 12m
Pipe
6m

12m

ROCK
Figure 3a Elevation Figure 3b Plan
CC0182 Semester 2 2014 Page 4 of 6

Question 3

A wide embankment applying a stress of 20 kPa is to be constructed across a flood plain. The
underlying soil consists of 5 m of soft clay overlying a dense sand layer over rock. After 8
months a pavement is to be constructed on the embankment which applies a further stress of
10 kPa. To minimize the settlement of the pavement it is proposed to apply a surcharge of 20
kPa to the embankment for a period of 4 months. The proposed stress, time variation is shown
in Figure 4. The clay has properties mv = 0.0025 m2/kN and cv = 3 m2/yr.

(a) Use a numerical method to find the pore pressure distribution in the clay 12 months
after constructing the embankment, and hence determine the settlement of the
pavement at this time.

An alternative strategy proposed is to apply a surcharge of 10 kPa for the first 8 months, and
then remove this and rapidly place the pavement so that the stress remains constant at 30 kPa.

(b) By using the analytical charted solutions (or otherwise) estimate the excess pore
pressure variation and determine the settlement of the pavement 12 months after
constructing the embankment if this strategy is adopted.

(c) Discuss whether the proposed pre-load strategy in (a) was successful. Do you think it
would be possible to improve the effectiveness of the pre-load? Explain your answer.

45
40
35
Applied stress (kPa)

30
25
20
15
10
5
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Time (months)

Figure 4
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Question 4

(i) Two specimens of a clayey soil have been sheared slowly (fully drained) to failure in
a shearbox apparatus. At the ultimate failure state the following stresses and void
ratios were measured.
Normal effective Shear stress, τ Void ratio, e
stress, σ´
(kPa) (kPa)
Specimen 1 75 27.3 1.169
Specimen 2 150 54.6 1.030

Determine the undrained strength of this clay when the moisture content is 47.2%
and Gs = 2.65.

Note that the critical state line is given by τ = σ´ tan φ´, and e = eo − λ ln σ´ and the
undrained strength, su is related to the ultimate shear stress by su = 𝜏�
cos 𝜑′

(ii) The soil tested in (a) is compacted behind a retaining wall as shown in Figure 5.
The soil reaches an equilibrium moisture content of 47.2% when the water table is
at the soil surface. A sudden drawdown of the water level in the canal leads to
concerns for the short term stability of the wall. Determine the minimum
horizontal force that the wall must provide to ensure that the soil behind the wall
does not fail using the mechanism assumed in Figure 5. Assume also that the wall
is rough so that the undrained strength between the wall and the soil is the same as
within the soil.

Canal Failure plane

8m
Clayey soil
40o

70o

Figure 5
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Question 5

Figure 6 shows a section through a tunnel which has been constructed under a railway
through highly weathered and fissured rock. Initially the tunnel had an impermeable
barrier that prevented any flow. After some years in service the tunnel lining degrades
and becomes permeable allowing flow into the tunnel. Measurements have shown the
permeability is isotropic and k = 1 × 10-6 m/s.

(a) Draw a flow net to estimate the seepage into the tunnel. Mark the boundary
conditions on your flow net.
(b) Determine the pore pressures at points A and B when flow is occurring, and
hence determine the change in vertical effective stress at these points resulting
from the flow.
(c) Estimate the settlement of the railway track if mv = 0.0002 m2/kN due to the
flow.

Railway

A
7m

Impermeable Rock

Impermeable Rock

Figure 6 (drawn to scale)