UNIVERSITY OF LA SALETTE, INC.

College of Engineering and Architecture

Dubinan East, Santiago City
Module 5: GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING

Introduction:
What is Geotechnical Engineering? Geotechnical engineering is the branch of civil engineering
concerned with the engineering behavior of earth materials. Geotechnical engineering is
important in civil engineering, but is also applied in military, mining, and other engineering
disciplines that are concerned with construction occurring on the surface or within the ground.
Geotechnical engineering uses principles of soil mechanics and rock mechanics to investigate
subsurface conditions and materials; determine the relevant physical/mechanical and chemical
properties of these materials; assess risks posed by site conditions; design earthworks and
structure foundations, and earthwork and foundation construction.
Learning Outcomes
At the end of module 5, you should have achieved the following topic learning outcomes:
1. Express a basic understanding of the Geotechnical Engineering.
2. Familiarize with the practices of Geotechnical Engineers.
3. Familiarize with the two types of Foundation.
Topic 1: What is Geotechnical Engineering?

 Geotechnical Engineering is a branch of Civil Engineering, which embraces many aspects

of the established sciences, geology and pedology, engineering mechanics, structures and
hydraulics. The term is often used interchangeably with Soil Mechanics but it is much
broader. Soil Mechanics embraces the study of all those properties of soils that are related to
their behavior, and its application as an engineering material. According to Karl Terzaghi
(1948),
 Soil Mechanics is the application of laws of mechanics and hydraulics to engineering
problems dealing with sediments and other unconsolidated accumulations of solid particles
produced by the mechanical and chemical disintegration of rocks regardless of whether or
not they contain an admixture of organic constituent.
 Geotechnical Engineering includes also:
 Soil Dynamics (dynamic properties of soils, earthquake engineering, machine
foundations),
 Foundation Engineering (deep & shallow foundations) which is the science and art of
applying the principles of soil and structural mechanics to solve soil-related engineering
problems,
 Pavement Engineering (flexible & rigid pavements: material properties and design),
 Rock Mechanics (rock stability and tunneling),
 Geosynthetics (soil improvement) and geo-environmental engineering.
 Geotechnical engineering problems are usually solved by examining the physical conditions
of the soil which are influenced by its geological origin, employing some of the principles of

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 UNIVERSITY OF LA SALETTE, INC.
College of Engineering and Architecture
Dubinan East, Santiago City
continuum mechanics to model and analyze the problem and then using engineering
judgement based on experience to evolve an appropriate solutions.
 The practice of geotechnical engineering therefore involves, among others, the making of
appropriate observations during construction in order to adapt the design when necessary to
the real soil conditions at the site before it is too late.
Responsibilities
As a geotechnical engineer, you'll need to:

 build and maintain relationships with clients and other professionals involved in the site,
throughout each project
 maintain safety standards on site
 be mindful of cost implications when you make recommendations
 complete three distinct stages for each project you undertake.

Your responsibilities during the three stages are divided as follows:

In the initial research phase, you'll:

 study geological maps and aerial photographs from a range of sources and from different
time periods
 examine construction plans to see how feasible they are based on your understanding of
the site
 investigate risks or geological hazards for the site
 search for environmentally sensitive features, such as landfill
 start to develop factual and interpretive ground models
 plan field investigations.

A second phase consisting of site investigations requires you to:

 drill and analyse samples of bedrock, soil, groundwater and additional materials
 supervise other professionals on site
 solve technical issues as they arise, such as unexpected structures at drill sites
 monitor conditions during and after construction to make sure structures are stable in the
short and long term.

Finally, a phase of reporting includes:

 adding data collected on site to your initial research

 creating geotechnical calculations, drawings, and two or three-dimensional computer
models interpreting the data
 making recommendations about the proposed use of the site.

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 UNIVERSITY OF LA SALETTE, INC.
College of Engineering and Architecture
Dubinan East, Santiago City
Topic 2: Types of Foundations

 Foundation
The foundation is the structure below the ground level that has direct contact with the
superstructure. This component transfer dead loads, live loads and all other loads coming over it
to the underlying soil.
Foundation is constructed in such a way that soil over which it is lying is stressed within its safe
bearing capacity. Any failure of foundation results in the failure of the building structure. Hence,
different building structure demands different types of foundation like shallow or deep
foundations.
The soil profile is examined initially by a geotechnical engineer before finalizing a suitable
foundation for the building structure.
Foundations may be broadly classified under two heads:

1. Shallow Foundation
2. Deep Foundation

 Shallow Foundation
1. Spread or Isolated footing foundation

A spread footing or simply footing is a type of shallow

foundation used to transmit a load of an isolated column or that
of a wall, on the subsoil. In the case of the wall, the footing is
continuous while in the case of the column, it is isolated.

2. Strip Footing

It is generally provided for load-bearing walls or row

of columns are closely spaced. It is also known as wall
footing or continuous footing.

3. Combined footing
Foundation

A footing which supports two or more columns is termed as

a combined footing. Such footing is provided when the individual
footings are either very near to each other, or overlap. Combined
footing may either be rectangular or trapezoidal.

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 UNIVERSITY OF LA SALETTE, INC.
College of Engineering and Architecture
Dubinan East, Santiago City
4. Strap or cantilever footing Foundation

A strap footing consists of spread footing of two columns by a

strap beam. The strap beam does not have any contact with soil
and thus does not transfer any pressure to the soil. Such footing is
generally used to combine the footing of the outer column to the
adjacent one so that the footing of the former does not extend in
the adjoining property.

5. Mat or Raft Foundation

Raft foundation is very useful when the load coming on the soil is practically uniform while the
soil is soft clay or reclaimed soil.

The method consists of providing RCC slab of

suitable thickness and with necessary reinforcement.
The raft is designed in this way that the allowable
bearing power of the soil is not exceeded. If required
slab and beam construction in RCC. Can also be
carried out. The raft is designed as an inverted RCC
roof with a uniformly distributed load of the soil
pressure and supported by wall, beam and columns.

If more than 50% of the plan area of a building gets

covered by the combined plan areas of all the
individual or combined footing, that needed to be provided. It is usually more economical to
make a mat or raft. A raft is structurally rigid and when it settles, settle uniformly as a monolithic
entity.

6. Grillage Foundation

This type of foundation consists of steel or

wooden joints arranged in a stepped manner.
It distributes the load over a large area. This
type of foundation is used for heavy building
such as factories, town halls and towers.

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 UNIVERSITY OF LA SALETTE, INC.
College of Engineering and Architecture
Dubinan East, Santiago City
 Deep Foundation

1. Pile foundation

Pile foundation is a deep foundation used where the

topsoil is relatively weak. Piles transfer the load to a
lower stratum of greater bearing capacity by way of
end bearing or to the intermediate soil through skin
friction. This is the most common type of deep
foundation generally used for buildings where a group
of piles transfer the load of the superstructure to the
sub-soil.

2. Well foundation

This type of foundation is usually adopted in the construction of

the bridge and long span culverts or where the soil or quite soft
and sandy generally in water. Well foundations are made to
masonry or concrete.

3. Pier Foundation

Pier foundation is a type of deep foundation which consist of a cylindrical column of large
diameter to support and transfer large superimposed loads to firm strata below. Pier is inserted
down to the bedrock. Pier has a footing. Pier is typically dug out and cast in place using
formwork.

There are two types of pier foundation:

Masonry or Concrete Pier Drilled Cassion

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 UNIVERSITY OF LA SALETTE, INC.
College of Engineering and Architecture
Dubinan East, Santiago City
ACTIVITY
Visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mkeoVpTaMA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpSzur2hJxM&t=74s
https://theconstructor.org/geotechnical/factors-affecting-selection-of-foundation-for-
buildings/10504/
Evaluate activity
1. What are the importance of geotechnical engineering in building construction?

2. What are the factors that affecting the depth of the foundation?

3. What are the requirements for a stable foundation?

4. Under what circumstances, a strap footing is adopted?

5. When would you use a mat footing?

6. When to use shallow or deep foundation?

this module is for the exclusive use of the University of La Salette, Inc. Any form of reproduction, distribution, uploading, or posting
online in any form or by any means without the written permission of the university is strictly prohibited. 6
 UNIVERSITY OF LA SALETTE, INC.
College of Engineering and Architecture
Dubinan East, Santiago City

Additional readings for this module

https://www.payscale.com/research/PH/Job=Geotechnical_Engineer/Salary
National Structural Code of the Philippines 2015. Vol 1. Buildings, Towers, and other Vertical
Structures. ISBN 2094-5477
Introduction to Geotechnical Engineering, Braja M. Das, Nagaratnam Sivakugan, Second Edition,
ISBN 978-1-305-25732-0

this module is for the exclusive use of the University of La Salette, Inc. Any form of reproduction, distribution, uploading, or posting
online in any form or by any means without the written permission of the university is strictly prohibited. 7