THE INSTITUTION OF ENGINEERS, SRI LANKA IESL ENGINEERING COURSE PART II EXAMINATION ~ MAY/JUNE 2014 305 Geotechnical Engineering Answer any FIVE questions ‘Time allowed : 03 hours. Question 1: A developer is planning to construct a recreational facility by the side of a lake and you are expected to evaluate the following proposal. Steel sheet piles will be driven to a depth of 6.0m below the bottom level of the lake and sand will be placed to thickness of 3.0 m. The sheet pile wall will be laterally supported by dead man type anchors placed a depth of 1.5m (Figure QI). Anchors will be placed at a horizontal spacing of 3m, The banks of the lake and its bottom to a significant depth are made of medium stiff clay. Soil properties and parameters determined are given in the Figure Ql (a) Evaluate the earth pressure distribution on either side of the wall, for the long term situation. The ground water level to be considered in the design is also given in the Figure QI. Assume that the sheet pile wall is perfectly smooth, (9 marks) (b) Check whether the suggested depth of embedment is adequate. Use the free earth support method, (8 marks) (c) Suggest other situations and failure modes that should be considered in the evaluation. 3 marks) Page 1 of 14Lake 4420" Cox 4SKN/m? 6.0m Medium stiff clay Medium stiff clay Figure Ql Question 2: Stability charts Necessary to answer this Question are provided with the diagrams. (a), A road embankment is to be constructed in an area underlain by a 8m thick layer of soft clay. In order to minimize the settlements of the road embankment, it is proposed to excavate and remove a 4m thick layer of the clay at an angle of 30° (Figure Q2 (a)) The natural ground water table is at the ground level and the excavation will be completely dewatered. The undrained shear strength of the soft clay is 10 KN/m’, (i). Isit safe to excavate 4m of soft clay and dewater the excavation? (5 marks) i). If it is unsafe or marginally safe, suggest any changes to the proposed procedure so that the excavation would be safer. (Not necessary to perform any computation) (3 marks) (iii). What is the insitu test that is most appropriate to obtain the undrained shear strength parameters of saturated clay? (2 marks) Page 2 of 14(b). The flow net for the flow through a uniform earth dam is presented in Figure Q2 (b). Using, the flow net the pore water pressure ratio for the downstream face of the dam had been estimated as ry = 0.25. ‘Shear strength parameters of the soil forming the dam determined to be c’ = 10 KN/m’and 0 =32.5° (i). Determine the factor of safety of the downstream slope of the earth dam for the steady seepage state. (3 marks) (ii), With the use of a downstream toe filter the phreatic surface could be lowered as shown in Figure Q2 (c). After making appropriate assumptions estimate the factor of safety of the downstream slope under this condition. (G marks) (iii). Briefly outline the process involved in the determination of c/and @ of the material forming the earth dam. (2 marks) (iv). What is the other critical stage for the downstream slope of the dam? (2 marks) Dense Sand Figure Q2 (a) Page 3 of 14