 Geotechnical engineering is the branch of civil engineering that deals with soils, rocks

and underground water and their relation to the design, construction and operation
of engineering projects.
 Problematic soil: soils that show abnormal behaviour from engineering point of view
when there is change in environmental condition, not recognizable by routine soil
testing i. e. by classification, strength, settlement testing etc., are called problem soils.
 Collapsible soils are those unsaturated soils that can withstand relatively high
pressure without showing significant change in volume, however upon wetting; they
are susceptible to a large and sudden reduction in volume.
CAUSES
In arid/ semi-arid areas, temporary bonds develop between soil grains. These bonds
dissolve upon wetting and under pressure
• EFFECTS
1. Sudden subsidence of soils upon wetting
2. Damage to the structures on such soils
• MITIGATION
1. Pre-wetting
2. Compaction
3. Replacement
4. Rigid foundation & structure
5. Bypassing such soils
6. Preventing water ingress
 Swelling/shrinking soil: Soil that is prone to large volume change due to presence of
single or double layer mineral in soil attract water and swell.
 DISPERSIVE SOILS: Presence of high Na ions in comparison to total quantity of Na, K,
Ca & Mg ions in soils
 LIQUEFIABLE SOILS: Fine to medium sands in loose to medium-dense condition, under
high groundwater table, develop very high pore water pressure under seismic loads.
 SHEARED CLAYS: The presence of fissures causes low shear strength to mobilize at
failure. The main reason is over-consolidation and the stress relief
 SENSITIVITY OF SOILS: The sensitivity is measured as the ratio of unconfined strength
in undisturbed state to the unconfined strength in remoulded state at the same water
content. The clay is called sensitive, if the sensitivity exceeds 4. If it exceeds 15, the
clay is called quick.
 Shear strength is the magnitude of the shear stress that a soil can sustain. The shear
resistance of soil is a result of friction and interlocking of particles
 Four LRFD limit states:
• Strength Limit State
• Serviceability Limit State
• Fatigue Limit State
• Extreme Event Limit State
On the other hand, ASD has only first two limit states.
 Foundation: Bottom-most part of the structure which carries the load of the structure
including its own weight and transmits it to the underlying / surrounding soil and / or
rock safely
 Hybrid Foundations: Piled rafts are a hybrid type of foundation with the structural
load being transferred to the soil via the raft (as for shallow foundation) and the piles
(as for a deep foundation).
 Pad foundations: This type of footing supports one column only. This type of footing
is the easiest to design and construct and most economical.
 Mat or Raft Foundation: A large slab supporting a number of columns not all of which
are in a straight line is called a mat or raft or mass foundation.
 Combined Foundation: A combined footing is a larger footing supporting two or more
columns in one row.
 Strap Foundation: Two or more footings joined by a beam (called a strap) is called a
strap footing.
 Continuous Foundation: If a footing is extended in one direction to support a long
structure such as a wall, it is called a continuous footing or a wall footing or a strip
footing
 Foundation design criteria:
1. The foundation must be stable against shear failure of the supporting soil.
(Ultimate limit state)
2. The foundation must not settle beyond a tolerable limit to avoid damage to
the structure. (Serviceability limit state)
 When W/T rises to GSL, the B.C would be reduced by 50% as the submerged unit
weight of soil is approximately 1/2 of its moist unit weight.
 Presence of water table at a depth less than the width of the foundation from the
foundation bottom will reduce the bearing capacity of the soil, Rw & R’w are the water
table reduction factors as used by Teng
 When e = B/6, qmin become zero.
 When e > B/6, qmin will be negative, which means that tension will develop. Because
soil cannot take any tension, there will than be a separation between the foundation
and the soil underlying it.
 To account for the effect of dynamic nature of load(earthquake load), the bearing
capacity factors are determined by using the dynamic angle of internal friction which
is taken as 2 degrees less than its static value
 International Building Code (2006) generally permits an increase of 33% in allowable
bearing capacity when earthquake or wind loads (transient loads) in addition to static
loads, are used in the design of foundations.
 Groundwater has the following two effects:
• Reduction of apparent cohesion
• Increase in pore water pressure
 A floating foundation also called as compensated foundation, is usually used to
reduce the settlement of a structure. This consists of excavating a volume of soil with
 a weight nearly equal to that of the proposed structure and then building the structure
in this excavation.
 Batter pile: pile driven at an angle with the vertical to resist a lateral force.
 Sheet pile: to control seepage as in Cofferdams
 Tension or anchor pile: To resist uplift due to horizontal or inclined loading
 Compaction pile: to compact loose cohesionless soils.
 Compression pile: for vertical dead loads
 Pile resting on hard bed; buckling of pile in weak surrounding soil
 Base resistance in cohesion less soil depends on overburden pressure at the pile base,
however, the increase of p’ is limited to certain depth called Critical depth, Average
Lc=15D
 Negative skin friction: Loose/soft ground move more than pile settlement, therefore,
the fs is in downward direction This downward fs loads the pile and is known as
Negative Skin Friction or Down drag. The amount of Down drag needs to be subtracted
from pile capacity. Pile can be lubricated within such zone to reduce fs.
 Group efficiency of pile: The efficiency of a pile group is the capacity of a group of
piles divided by the sum of the individual capacities of the piles making up the group.

In the case where a group of piles is comprised of end-bearing piles resting on bedrock
(or on a layer of dense sand and gravel overlying bedrock), an efficiency of 1.0 may be
assumed. In other words, a group of n piles will carry n times the capacity of a single
pile.
An efficiency of 1.0 is also often assumed by designers for friction piles driven in
cohesionless soils. In the case where a group of piles is comprised of friction piles
driven in cohesive soils, an efficiency of less than 1.0 is to be expected because
stresses from individual piles build up and reduce the capacity of the pile group.
For piles in cohesive soils, group efficiency may be assumed as 0.7 at pile spacing of
3D and I at pile spacing at 8D. Generally, in a pile group minimum pile spacing is 3D.

 Pile Load test:

Test pile is loaded to two times the design load
Working pile is loaded to 1.5 times the design load
To load is applied in 8 increment, each increment is maintained for 2 hours
but last increment is maintained for 24 hours.
Failure load is a load at which settlement equal to 10% of pile diameter

Failure load is a load at which Settlement is continue without further

increment of load.

Failure load is a load at which net settlement is equal to 6mm.