NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

CE 2112 SOIL MECHANICS (2013/2014)

Practice Problems – Groundwater, Permeability and Seepage I

1. The cylinder of soil and standpipe arrangement is as shown on Figure 1. Determine

the pressure head, elevation head, total head and the head loss at points B, C and D.
(Since no dimensions are given, you may leave your answers in terms of A, B, C, D
and E.) b

B
c

Soil C

Figure 1

2. A soil sample 10 cm in diameter is placed in a tube 1 m long. A constant supply of

water is allowed to flow into one end of the soil at A and the outflow at B is collected
by a beaker, as shown on Figure 2. The average amount of water collected is 1 cm3
for every 10 seconds. The tube is inclined as shown on Figure 2. Determine the (a)
hydraulic gradient, (b) flow rate, (c) average velocity, (d) seepage velocity, if the void
ratio e = 0.6, and (e) coefficient of permeability.

1m
11 mm

A
Soil
B

1m
0.8 m

table

beaker
Figure 2
 3. An impermeable dam is constructed on a 0.5 m thick layer of silty sand (permeability
= 2 x 10-4 m/s) as shown on Figure 3. Estimate the flow rate per metre width of the
dam in m3/day.

8.0 m
2.0 m
1/20
silty sand

40.0 m

Figure 3

4. A drainage pipe (Figure 4) became completely blocked during a storm by a plug of

sand, 1.5 m long, followed by another plug of a mixture of clays, silts, and sands, 0.5
m long. When the storm was over, the water level above ground was 1 m. The
coefficient of permeability of the sand is 2 times that of the mixture of clays, silts and
sands.
(a) Plot the variation of pressure, elevation, and total head over the length of the
pipe.
(b) Calculate the pore water pressure at (1) the center of the sand plug and (2) the
center of the mixture of clays, silts and sands.
(c) Find the average hydraulic gradients in the sand and in the mixture of clays, silts
and sands.

brick wall
1m

grate
clay soil
2.0 m downpipe
mixture of silt,
clays and sands
sand
drainage pipe
C
datum A B
0.3 m 0.5 m
1.5 m

Figure 4