CE 102 – CIVIL ENGINEERING PRACTICE 2015

(SEMESTER 2): INTRODUCTION TO SOIL

ENGINEERING, by William Pikire
Notes to Lecture 1 on Tuesday 11/08/15 and Wednesday 12/08/15 (3 hrs/week) for Week 7.

Program for Week 8 is to be advised and will include Laboratory Tests.

WEEK 7 LECTURE NOTES NO.1/2

This material serves to introduce you to the one of the branch of Civil Engineering which is Soils (or
also referred to as Geotechnical ) Engineering. It will highlight the importance of foundations and the
various types .It will also detail the nature and classification of Soils and lastly introduce the different
laboratory tests schedule for Week 8.

Well, just like all the fields of Civil Engineering it is a broad field today and given the broad
applications (example in mining, petroleum and other engineering disciplines) in the world today
the engineers involved in it are specialised and now licensed.

Typical questions one might ask is: What is Soils (or Geotechnical) engineering?

It is a branch of Civil Engineering concerned with the behaviour of earth materials in particular
the structural or engineering properties associated with it. This discipline utilises principles of
both soil mechanics and rock mechanics, however the field of Civil Engineering is mainly
concerned with soil mechanics. Geotechnical Engineering uses the above principles to:

 Investigate subsurface conditions and materials

 Determine properties of these materials in terms of physical and chemical nature
 Evaluate stability of natural slopes and manmade soil deposits
 Assess risks of site conditions
 Design earthwork and foundations and
 Monitor site conditions, earthworks and construction of foundations.

An engineer who is specialised in this field is called a Geotechnical Engineer and his role is to
determine and design the type of foundations, earthworks and pavement sub grades required for
the intended structure at hand, for example it can be roads, buildings or bridges etc.

A Foundation is defined as a natural or prepared ground or base on which some structures rest.
It is usually the lowest load bearing part of buildings and almost all the time below ground level.
Foundations for above the ground structures come as either shallow or deep foundations.

Shallow foundations are usually the type that support buildings and close to the ground surface.
They come in the form of Slab and Footings (or sometimes “spread footings” because they
spread the load). Normally these slabs and footings are built from reinforced concrete and cast
directly on to the soil. Their embedment ensures stability in terms of movement and additional
bearing capacity to the structure.

On the other hand deep foundations are used mainly for larger or heavier structures. They can
be also used for cases where there is unstable and weak soil conditions exist. Examples of deep
structures include piles, piers, drill shafts and large buildings such as skyscrapers.
 CE 102 – CIVIL ENGINEERING PRACTICE 2015
(SEMESTER 2): INTRODUCTION TO SOIL
ENGINEERING, by William Pikire
Now that we have highlighted the important aspects of the Engineering field and impacts
it does have on our modern society, it is now evident that one must understand the
mechanics of soils. Next question is –what is “soils”?

The term soil as used in Engineering connotes a loose, relatively soft and porous aggregation of
mineral grains of various types, shapes, and sizes. The pores of the soil may be filled with air
and/or water. Soils therefore include the soft minerals weathered in-situ, over bedrock as well as
material which has been transported by wind, glazier and water and subsequently redeposited.

Classification is essential:

1. Provides interaction medium of communication between Engineers

2. Identifies and groups of similar properties and behaviour.

All classification systems seek to place soils into broad groups with identifiable properties. The
Classification systems require adequate soil identification and description.

Here are three (3) Classification:

A. Geological Classification System

This system considers the nature of the formation and the agents of transportation and re-
deposition. The main advantage of the geologic classification system to engineering is when the
classification is considered on a regional basis. Although it offers no direct information on the
strength and compressibility of the soil, such data maybe indirectly deduced front the
performance of existing engineering structures or similar materials. The two (2) main soil groups
under this system are:

1. Residual soils

They are formed as a result of physical weathering of the rocks in-situ. There are typical of
the tropical environments where extreme of the tropical temperature and rainfalls occur.
Depending on the degree of weathering, residual soils may or may not bear the
characteristics of the parent work.

2. Transported soils.

They are those which have been carried from their place of formation by either wind, water
or glacious or gravity.

Examples are Alluvial, Colluvial and Screes. A general characteristics of transported soil in
their high degree of stratification.

B. Pedological Classification System

This is essentially an agricultural classification system in which soils are grouped into layers or
horizons on the basis of parent rock, climate vegetation and topography. The system has found
application in the engineering due to the following:
 CE 102 – CIVIL ENGINEERING PRACTICE 2015
(SEMESTER 2): INTRODUCTION TO SOIL
ENGINEERING, by William Pikire
(a) In the most remote parts of the world, agricultural soil maps are generally more easily
available then engineering soil maps.
(b) It has been found that the properties of the tropical residuals soils depend closely on the
same factors which govern the development of the pedological classification.

C. Engineering Soil Classification System

There are many types of soil classification syst8em in the engineering use. This is because the
various system were developed to meet specific engineering needs. Example is road
construction, air port pavements etc.

Most of these engineering systems divide the soil on the basis of simple test into the number of
broad groups. Each group was being given symbols or numbers. Example GW, GP,ML,SM, CH,
and OL.

Some of the more common engineering classification system in use are :

(a) British Standard BS5390

(b) AASHTO Classification system (American Association of State Highway and Transportation
Officials)
(c) Unified Soil Classification System (USCS)
(d) Textural Soil Classification system
(e) Civil Aeronautics Administration Soil Classification system

For normal engineering applications, the Unified Soil Classifications System (USCS) is most
widely used. This system depends on the measurements of the soil plasticity and particle size
distribution (PSD).

Lecture No.2 will address more details on this USCS or Unified Soil Classification System.