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 Geotechnical
Engineering

Q.1 A certain soil has the following properties : Gs = 2.71, n = 40% and w = 20%. The degree of saturation of
the soil (rounded off to the nearest percent) is ______.
Q.2 An earth embankment is to be constructed with compacted cohesionless soil. The volume of the
embankment is 5000 m 3 and the target dry unit weight is 16.2 kN/m 3 . Three nearby sites (see figure below)
have been identified from where the required soil can be transported to the construction site. The void
ratios (e) of different sites are shown in the figure. Assume the specific gravity of soil to be 2.7 for all
three sites. If the cost of transportation per km is twice the cost of excavation per m 3 of borrow pits,
which site would you choose as the most economic solution? (Use unit weight of water = 10 kN/m3 ).

(A) Site X (B) Site Y (C) Site Z (D) Any of the sites
Q.3 The porosity (n) and the degree of saturation (S) of a soil sample are 0.7 and 40%, respectively. In a 100
m 3 volume of the soil, the volume (expressed in m 3 ) of air is _________.

Q.4 In a shrinkage limit test, the volume and mass of a dry soil pat are found to be 50 cm 3 and 88 g
respectively. The specific gravity of the solids is 2.71 and the density of water is 1 g/cc. The shrinkage
limit (in % up to two decimal places) is ________
Q.5 A fine-grained soil has 60% (by weight) silt content. The soil behaves as semi-solid when water content
is between 15% and 28%. The soil behaves fluid-like when the water content is more than 40%. The
‘Activity’ of the soil is
(A) 3.33 (B) 0.42 (C) 0.30 (D) 0.20
Q.6 As per the Indian Standard soil classification system, a sample of silty clay with liquid limit of 40% and
plasticity index of 28% is classified as
(A) CH (B) CI (C) CL (D) CL-ML

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 2 Geotechnical Engineering : Free Crash Course GATE 2021 [Civil] GATE ACADEMY®

Q.7 Sieve analysis on a dry soil sample of mass, 1000 g showed that 980 g and 270 g of soil pass through 4.75
mm and 0.075 mm sieve, respectively. The liquid limit and plastic limits of the soil fraction passing
through 425 μ sieves are 40% and 18%, respectively. The soil may be classified as
(A) SC (B) MI (C) CI (D) SM
Q.8 The clay mineral primarily governing the swelling behavior of Black Cotton soil is
(A) Halloysite (B) Lllite (C) Kaolinite (D) Montmorillonite
Q.9 Water is flowing through the permeability apparatus shown in the figure. The coefficient of permeability
of the soil is ‘k’. m/s and the porosity of the soil sample is 0.50.

0.4 m
Soil 0.8 m
R
0.4 m

(a) The total head, elevation head and pressure head in meters of water at the point R shown in the
figure are
(A) 0.8, 0.4, 0.4 (B) 1.2, 0.4, 0.8 (C) 0.4, 0, 0.4 (D) 1.6, 0.4, 1.2
(b) What are the discharge velocity and seepage velocity through the soil sample?
2 4 4 2
(A) k, 2k (B)
k, k (C) 2k, k (D) k, k
3 3 3 3
Q.10 Seepage is occurring through a porous media shown in the figure. The hydraulic conductivity values
(k1 , k2 , k3 ) are in m/day.

Impervious

15 m
P 10 m
3m k1 = 2 k2 = 3 k3 = 1 3m

Q
20 m 10 m 20 m 10 m

The seepage discharge ( m 3 / day per m) through the porous media at section PQ is
7 1 9 3
(A) (B) (C) (D)
12 2 16 4
Q.11 The ground conditions at a site are shown in the figure below.
GL
Sand
Water table is at ground level
5m Water content = 20%
Specific gravity of solids = 2.7
Unit weight of water = 10 kN/m3
P
(a) The saturated unit weight of the sand (kN/m3) is
(A) 15 (B) 18 (C) 21 (D) 24
(b) The total stress, pore water pressure and effective stress (kN/m2) at the point P are, respectively
(A) 75, 50 and 25 (B) 90, 50 and 40 (C) 105, 50 and 55 (D) 120, 50 and 70

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 3 Geotechnical Engineering : Free Crash Course GATE 2021 [Civil] GATE ACADEMY®

Q.12 A seepage flow condition is shown in the figure. The saturated unit weight of the soil γ sat = 18 kN / m 3 .
Using unit weight of water, γ w = 9.81 kN / m 3 , the effective vertical stress (expressed in kN / m 2 ) on plane
X-X is _________.

3m

1m

Soil 5m
g sat = 18 kN/m3

X X
1m

2m

Q.13 The relationship between the specific gravity of sand (G) and the hydraulic gradient (i) to initiate quick
condition in the sand layer having porosity of 30% is
(A) G = 0.7i + 1 (B) G = 1.43 i − 1 (C) G = 1.43 i + 1 (D) G = 0.7 i − 1
Q.14 The flow net around a sheet pile wall is shown in the sketch. The properties of the soil are permeability
coefficient = 0.09 m/day (isotropic), specific gravity = 2.70 and void ratio = 0.85. The sheet pile wall and
the bottom of the soil are impermeable.

10m

1.5m
3m

(a) The seepage loss (in m3 per day per unit length of the wall) of water is
(A) 0.33 (B) 0.38 (C) 0.43 (D) 0.54
(b) The factor of safety against the occurrence of piping failure is
(A) 3.55 (B) 2.93 (C) 2.60 (D) 0.39
Q.15 The results of a consolidation test on an undisturbed soil, sampled at a depth of 10 m below the ground
level are as follows:
Saturated unit weight : 16 kN / m3
Pre-consolidation pressure : 90 kPa
The water table was encountered at the ground level. Assuming the unit weight of water as 10 kN / m3 ,
the over-consolidation ratio of the soil is
(A) 0.67 (B) 1.50 (C) 1.77 (D) 2.00

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 4 Geotechnical Engineering : Free Crash Course GATE 2021 [Civil] GATE ACADEMY®

Q.16 The void ratio of a soil is 0.55 at an effective normal stress of 140 kPa. The compression index of the soil
is 0.25. In order to reduce the void ratio to 0.4 an increase in the magnitude of effective stress (in kPa, up
to one decimal place) should be_______
Q.17 The following data given for the laboratory sample
σ '0 = 175 kPa, e '0 = 1.1 σ '0 + Δσ '0 = 300 kPa, e = 0.9
If thickness of the clay specimen is 25 mm, the value of coefficient of volume compressibility is _____
×10− 4 m 2 /kN .
Q.18 The time for a clay layer to achieve 90% consolidation is 15 years. The time required to achieve 90%
consolidation, if the layer were twice as thick, 3 times more permeable and 4 times more compressible
would be
(A) 70 years (B) 75 years (C) 80 years (D) 85 years
Q.19 (a) A saturated undisturbed sample from a clay strata has moisture content of 22.22% and specific
weight of 2.7. Assuming γ w = 10 kN/m 3 , the void ratio and the saturated unit weight of the clay,
respectively are
(A) 0.6 and 16.875 kN / m3 (B) 0.3 and 20.625 kN / m3
(C) 0.6 and 20.625 kN / m3 (D) 0.3 and 16.975 kN / m3
(b) Using the properties of the clay layer derived from the above question, the consolidation settlement
of the same clay layer under a square footing (neglecting its self-weight) with additional data shown
in the figure below (assume the stress distribution as 1 H : 2V from the edge of the footing and
γ w = 10 kN/m 3 ) is

(A) 32.78 mm (B) 61.75 mm (C) 79.5 mm (D) 131.13 mm

Q.20 In a standard proctor test, 1.8 kg of moist soil was filling the mould (volume = 944 cc) after compaction.
A soil sample weighing 23 g was taken from the mould and ovendried for 24 hours at a temperature of
1100 C . Weight of the dry sample was found to be 20 g. Specific gravity of soil solids is G = 2.7. The
theoretical maximum value of the dry unit weight of the soil at that water content is equal to
(A) 4.67 kN / m3 (B) 11.5 kN / m3 (C) 16.26 kN / m3 (D) 18.85 kN / m3
Q.21 Two series of compaction tests were performed in the laboratory on an inorganic clayey soil employing
two different level of compaction energy per unit volume of soil. With regard to the above tests, the
following two statements are made
I. The optimum moisture content is expected to be more for the tests with higher energy.
II. The maximum dry density is expected to be more for the tests with higher energy.
The CORRECT option evaluating the above statement is
(A) Only I is TRUE (B) Only II is TRUE
(C) Both I and II are TRUE (D) Neither I nor II is TRUE
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 5 Geotechnical Engineering : Free Crash Course GATE 2021 [Civil] GATE ACADEMY®

Q.22 Write true/False in the answer book.

If the Mohr circle for a given state of stress lies entirely below the Mohr envelope for a soil, then the soil
will be unstable for that state of stress.
Q.23 If the effective shear stress strength parameters of a soil are c = 10 kPa and φ = 300 , the shear strength on
a plane within the saturated soil mass at a point where the total normal stress is 300 kPa and pore water
pressure is 150 kPa will be
(A) 90.5kPa (B) 96.6kPa (C) 101.5 kPa (D) 105.5 kPa
Q.24 In a drained triaxial compression test conducted on dry sand, failure occurred when the deviator stress
was 218 kN/m 2 at a confining pressure of 61 kN/m 2 .
What is the effective angle of shearing resistance and the inclination of failure plane to major principal
plane?
(A) 340 ,620 (B) 340 , 280 (C) 400 , 250 (D) 400 ,650

Q.25 A consolidated undrained ( CU ) triaxial compression test is conducted on a normally consolidated clay
at a confining pressure of 100 kPa. The deviator stress at failure is 80 kPa, and pore-water pressure
measured at failure is 50 kPa. The effective angle of internal friction (in degrees, up to one decimal place)
of the soil is ______.
Q.26 A field vane shear testing instrument (shown alongside) was inserted completely into a deposit of soft,
saturated silty clay with the vane rod vertical such that the top of the blades were 500 mm below the
ground surface. Upon application of a rapidly increasing torque about the vane rod, the soil was found
to fail when the torque reached 4.6 N-m. Assuming mobilization of undrained shear strength on all
failure surfaces to be uniform and the resistance mobilized, on the surface of the vane rod to be negligible,
what would be the peak undrained shear strength (rounded off to the nearest integer value of kPa) of
the soil?
Top view (plane)
Torque

Vane rod
Vane
Torque
blae
Vane rod

15
mm 100 mm

Elevation

50 mm
(A) 5 kPa (B) 10 kPa (C) 15 kPa (D) 20 kPa
Q.27 A 25 kN point load acts on the surface of an infinite elastic medium. The vertical pressure intensity in
kN / m 2 at a point 6.0 m below and 4.0 m away from the load will be
(A) 132 (B) 13.2 (C) 1.32 (D) 0.132
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 6 Geotechnical Engineering : Free Crash Course GATE 2021 [Civil] GATE ACADEMY®

Q.28 Consider a square-shaped area ABCD on the ground with its centre at M as shown in the figure. Four
concentrated vertical loads of P = 5000 kN are applied on this area, one at each corner.
P
B P
P M C

A P 4m

4m
D
The vertical stress increment (in kPa, up to one decimal place) due to these loads according to the
Boussinesq's equation, at a point 5 m right below M, is ______.
Q.29 Two soil profile are used as backfill behind a retaining wall as shown in the figure, where γ t is total unit
weight and c' & φ ' are effective cohesion and effective angle of shearing resistance. Find the resultant
active earth pressure per unit length on the retaining wall in kN/m is

2m g1 = 15kN/m3 c ' = 0, f ' = 300

2m g 2 = 20 kN/m3 c ' = 0, f ' = 400

(A) 31.7 (B) 35.2 (C) 57.8 (D) 57

Q.30 A 3 m high vertical earth retaining wall retains a dry granular backfill with angle of internal friction of
300 and unit weight of 20 kN/m3 . If the wall is prevented from yielding (no movement), the total
horizontal thrust (in kN per unit length) on the wall is
(A) 0 (B) 30 (C) 45 (D) 270
Q.31 An unsupported excavation is made to the maximum possible depth in a clay soil having γ t = 18kN / m3
, c = 100 kN/m 2 , φ = 300 . The active earth pressure, according to Rankine's theory, at the base level of the
excavation is
(A) 115.47 kN / m 2 (B) 54.36 kN / m 2 (C) 27.18 kN / m 2 (D) 13.0 kN / m 2
Q.32 Using φu = 0 analysis and assuming planar failure as shown, the minimum factor of safety against shear
failure of a vertical cut of height 4 m in a pure clay having Cu = 120 kN/m 2 and γ sat = 20 kN/m3 is

4m
Potential
Failure Plane

(A) 1 (B) 10 (C) 6 (D) 20

Q.33 A rigid smooth retaining wall of height 7m with vertical backface retains saturated clay as backfill. The
saturated unit weight and undrained cohesion of the backfill are 17.2 kN/m3 and 20 kPa respectively. The
difference in the active lateral forces on the wall (in kN per meter length of wall, up to two decimal
places), before and after the occurrence of tension cracks is _______

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 7 Geotechnical Engineering : Free Crash Course GATE 2021 [Civil] GATE ACADEMY®

Q.34 The factor safety of an infinite soil slope shown in the figure having the properties c = 0, φ = 350 ,
γ dry = 16 kN/m3 and γ sat = 20 kN/m3 is approximately equal to

0
30
8m
10 m

(A) 0.7 (B) 0.8 (C) 1.0 (D) 1.2

Q.35 An infinitely long slope is made up of a c-ϕ soil having the properties: cohesion (c) = 20 kPa, and dry
unit weight ( γ d ) = 16 kN/m3. The angle of inclination and critical height of the slope are 400 and 5 m,
respectively. To maintain the limiting equilibrium, the angle of internal friction of the soil (in degrees) is
_______.
Q.36 For the trial slip circle shown in figure, calculate the factor of safety.
[Data: weight of the soil = 346 kN/m , unit weight of soil = 19 kN/m3 , Cu = 20 kN/m 2 ]

r=
700 9
m
5m

Q.37 The ultimate bearing capacity of a soil is 300 kN/m 2 , the depth of foundation is 1 m and unit weight of
soil is 20 kN/m3 . Choosing a factor of safety of 2.5, the net safe bearing capacity is
(A) 100 kN/m 2 (B) 112 kN/m 2 (C) 80 kN/m 2 (D) 100.5kN/m 2
Q.38 The unconfined compressive strength of a saturated clay sample is 54 kPa
(a) The value of cohesion for the clay is
(A) Zero (B) 13.5 kPa (C) 27 kPa (D) 54 kPa
(b) If a square footing of size 4 m × 4 m is resting on the surface of a deposit of the above clay, the
ultimate bearing capacity of the footing (as per Terzaghi’s equation) is
(A) 1600 kPa (B) 316 kPa (C) 200 kPa (D) 100 kPa
Q.39 The width of a square footing and the diameter of a circular footing are equal. If both the footings are
placed on sandy soil, the ratio of the ultimate bearing capacity of circular footing to that of square footing
will be
4 3 2
(A) (B) 1 (C) (D)
3 4 3
Q.40 The following two statements are made with reference to the calculation of net bearing capacity of a
footing in pure clay soil ( φ = 0 ) using Terzaghi's bearing capacity theory. Identify if they are True or
False.
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 8 Geotechnical Engineering : Free Crash Course GATE 2021 [Civil] GATE ACADEMY®

I. Increase in footing width will result in increase in bearing capacity.

II. Increase in depth of foundation will result in higher bearing capacity
(A) Both statements are True (B) Both statements are False
(C) I is True but II is False (D) I is False but II is True
Q.41 A square footing ( 2 m × 2 m ) is subjected to an inclined point load, P as shown in the figure below. The
water table is located well below the base of the footing. Considering one-way eccentricity, the net safe
load carrying capacity of the footing for a factor of safety of 3.0 is ______kN.
The following factors may be used:
Bearing capacity factors : Nq = 33.3 , N γ = 37.16 ;

Shape factors : Fqs = Fγs = 1.314 ;

Depth factors : Fqd = Fγd = 1.113 ;

Inclination factors : Fqi = 0.444 , Fγi = 0.02

P

GL
300
1m

0.85 m Unit weight = 18 kN/m3

2m Cohesion = 0
Friction angle = 350
Q.42 A plate load test was conducted in sand on a 300 mm diameter plate. If the plate settlement was 5 mm at
a pressure of 100 kPa , the settlement (in mm) of a 5 m × 8m rectangular footing at the same pressure will
be
(A) 9.4 (B) 18.6 (C) 12.7 (D) 17.8
Q.43 A pile of diameter 0.4 m is fully embedded in a clay stratum having 5 layers, each 5 m thick as shown in
the figure below. Assume a constant unit weight of soil as 18kN/m3 for all the layers.
Using λ- method ( λ = 0.15 for 25 m embedded length) and neglecting the end bearing component, the
ultimate pile capacity (in kN) is ________.
G S
Pile dia = 0.4 m, L = 25 m

5m c = 40 kPa

5m c = 50 kPa
g = 18 kN/m 3
5m c = 60 kPa
for all layers
5m c = 70 kPa

5m c = 80 kPa

Q.44 A 0.5 × 0.5 m square concrete pile is to be driven in a homogeneous clayey soil having undrained shear
strength, cu = 50 kPa and unit weight, γ = 18kN/m3 . The design capacity of the pile is 500 kN. The
adhesion factor α is given as 0.75. The length of the pile required for the above design load with a factor
of safety of 2.0 is
(A) 5.2 m (B) 5.8 m (C) 11.8 m (D) 12.5 m
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 9 Geotechnical Engineering : Free Crash Course GATE 2021 [Civil] GATE ACADEMY®

Q.45 A group of 16 piles of 10 m length and 0.5 m diameter is installed in a 10 m thick stiff clay layer underlain
by rock. The pile-soil adhesion factor is 0.4; average shear strength of soil on the sides is 100 kPa;
undrained shear strength of the soil at the base is also 100 kPa
(a) The base resistance of a single pile is?
(A) 40.00 kN (B) 88.35kN
(C) 100.00 kN (D) 176.71kN
(b) Assuming 100% efficiency the group side resistance is
(A) 5026.5kN (B) 10000 kN
(C) 10053.1kN (D) 20106.0 kN
Q.46 For the soil profile shown in figure below, the minimum number of precast concrete piles of 300 mm
diameter required to safely carry the load for a given factor of safety of 2.5 (assuming 100% efficiency for
the pile group) are equal to
5000 kN

(A) 10 (B) 15 (C) 20 (D) 25

Q.47 A sampling tube has an inner diameter of 72 mm and an outer diameter of 75 mm. The area ratio is
_________.
Q.48 In the context of collecting undisturbed soil samples of high quality using a spoon sampler, following
statements are made :
1. Area ratio should be less than 10%.
2. Clearance ratio should be less than 1%.
With reference to above statements, which of the following applies?
(A) Both the statements are true
(B) Statement 2 is true but 1 is false
(C) Statement 1 is true but 2 is false
(D) Both the statements are false
Q.49 A core cutter of 130 mm height has inner and outer diameter of 100 mm and 106 mm respectively. The
area ratio of the core cutter (in % up to two decimal places) is __________.
Q.50 During the subsurface investigations for design of foundations, a standard penetration test was
conducted at 4.5 m below the ground surface. The record of number of blows is given below :

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10 Geotechnical Engineering : Free Crash Course GATE 2021 [Civil] GATE ACADEMY®

Penetration depth (cm) Number of blows

0 – 7.5 3
7.5 – 15 3
15 – 22.5 6
22.5 – 30 6
30 – 37.5 8
37.5 – 45 7
Assuming the water table at ground level, soil as fine sand and correction factor for overburden as 1.0,
the corrected ‘N’ value for soil would be
(A) 18 (B) 19 (C) 21 (D) 33


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