Geotechnical

Engineering 1
(Soil Mechanics)
PREPARED BY: ENGR. JAYSON T. CORTEL
What is soil?
 The un-cemented aggregate of mineral grains and decayed organic matter (soil
particles) with liquid and gas in an empty space between the soil particles.

Why civil engineers must study the properties of soil?

 Since in civil engineering projects the soil supports structure or the structural
foundations.

What are the properties of soil that must be studied?

 Origin of soil, grain-size distribution, ability to drain water, compressibility, shear
strength, and load bearing capacity.
What is soil mechanics?
 A branch of science that deals with physical properties of soil and behavior of
soil masses subjected to various type of forces.

What is soil engineering?

 The application of principles for soil mechanics to practical problem.

What is geotechnical engineering?

 A sub-discipline of civil engineering that involves natural materials found close to
the surface of the earth.
 Application of principles of soil mechanics and rock mechanics to the design of
foundations, retaining structures, and earth structures.
Natural Soil Deposits-General
 During the planning, design and construction it is helpful to know the
origin of the soil deposits over the structure is erected, since each
soil deposit has its own unique physical attributes.
 Most of the soil that cover the earth are formed from weathering of
various rocks. There are two general types of weathering; (1)
mechanical weathering and (2) chemical weathering.
 Mechanical weathering – process by which rocks are broken into
smaller and smaller pieces by physical forces. (ex. Running water,
wind, ocean waves, glacier ices, frost, etc.)
 Chemical weathering – process of chemical decomposition of the
original rock. The process can change the original material into
something entirely differnet.
 Transported soils – are soils that have been transported by physical process to
other locations.
 Transported soil can be classified into 5 major categories based on the transporting
agent.
 Gravity transported soil
 Lacustrine (lake) deposits
 Alluvial or fluvial deposits by running water
 Glacial deposits by glaciers
 Aeolian deposits by wind
• Residual soil – are found in areas where the rate of
weathering is more than the rate of the weathered
material is carried out by transporting agents. Examples of
residual soils for hard rocks are granite and gneiss, where
this rocks have a top layer of clayey or silty clay material.
Another example in contrast to hard rock is chemical rock
such as lime stone that are chiefly made up pf calcite
minerals.
Gravity Transported Soil
 This are soils that are on steep natural slope can move slowly downward, which is
also referred to as creep.
 For sudden and rapid downward soil movement it is called landslide. Soil deposits
form from landslide are called colluvium.
 Another example is mud flows, where highly saturated, loose sandy residual soils,
on relatively flat slopes, move downward like a viscous liquid and come to rest in
more dense condition.
Alluvial Deposits
 Derive from the action of streams and rivers
and can be divided into 2 major categories:
(1) braided-stream deposits, and (2)
meandering belt of streams.
 Braided stream deposits
 This streams are high-gradient, rapidly flowing
streams that are highly erosive and carry large
amount of sediments.
 Deposits formed from are highly irregular in
stratification and have a wide range of grain
size.
 Grain sizes usually range from gravel to silt. Clay-
sized particles are generally not found.
 Soil in a given pocket or lens is rather uniform, even
though grain size varies widely.
 At any given depth, void ratio and unit weight
may vary over a wide range within a lateral
distance for only a few meters.
 Meander belt deposits
 It is a mature stream in a valley that curve back
and forth. The valley floor in which a river
meanders is referred to as meander belt.
 The soil from the banks is continually eroded at the
concave point, and deposits are at the convex
shape.
 The deposits are called points bar deposits, usually
consists of sand and silt-sized particles.
 Abandoned meander when filled with water is
called an oxbow lake.
 The sand and silt-size particles carried by the river
during floods or rivers overflow are deposited
along the banks to form ridges known as natural
levees.
 Finer soil particles consisting of silts and clays are
carried farther onto the floodplains in which
particles settle at different rates to form
backswamp deposits, often highly plastic clays.
Lacustrine deposits
 Water from rivers and spring flows in the lake, where streams carry large amount
of suspended solids.
 Coarse particles and finer particles (silt and clay) that are carried into the lake
are deposited onto the bottom in an alternative layers of coarse-grained and
fine-grained particles.
Glacial deposits
 Glaciers are iced that carried large amount of sand, silt, clay, gravel, and
boulders.
 Drift are general term usually applied to the deposits laid down by glaciers.
 Till are unstratified deposits laid down by melting glaciers.
 Moraines are landforms that developed from glacier deposits.
 Terminal moraine is a ridge of till that marks the maximum limit of a glacier’s
advance.
 Recessional moraines are ridges of till developed behind the terminal moraine at
varying distance apart. This are the result of temporary stabilization of the glaciers
during the recessional period.
 Ground moraines is a till deposited by the glacier between the moraines.
 Outwash are sand, silt, and gravel that are carried by the melting of water from
the front of the glaciers.
 Glaciofluvial deposits are melted water deposits forming outwash plains.
Aeolian soil deposits
 Wind is the major trabsporting agent leading to the formation of the soil deposits.
 Dunes is a example of Aeolian deposits, were sand is blown away to redeposits
elsewhere.
 Typical properties of sand dunes:
 Grain-size distribution of the sand at any location is uniform.
 General grain size decreases with distance from the source.
 Height of dunes at the windward side is 50% to 65%, and decrease to the leeward side
about 0% to 15%.
 Loess it consist of silt and silt-sized particles, with a uniform grain-size distribution. It is
also collapsing soil once it becomes saturated, since it loses its binding strength
between particles.

 Volcanic ash (grain size between 0.25 to 4 mm), and volcanic dust (grain size less than
0.25 mm) my be classified as wind transported soil, since its lightweight sand or sandy
gravel.
Organic soil
 It is usually found in low-lying areas where the water table is near or above the
ground surface.

 This type of soil deposits is usually encountered in coastal areas and in glaciated
regions.

 Characteristics of organic soils:

 Natural moisture content (200% to 300%).
 Highly compressible.
 Large amount of settlement is derived from secondary consolidation.
Soil-particle size
 Sizes of particles in general that make up soil varies over a wide range.
 Soil in generally called gravel, sand, silt, or clay, depending on thr predominant
size of particles.
 Gravel – pieces of rocks with occasional particles of quartz, feldspar, and
minerals.
 Sand – mostly quartz and feldspar. Other mineral grains may also be present at
times.
 Silt – microscopic soil fractions that consist of very fine quartz grains and some
flake shaped particles that are fragments of micaceous minerals.
 Clays – mostly flake-shaped microscopic and submicroscopic particles of mica,
clay minerals, and other minerals.
Specific Gravity (Gs)
 The specific gravity of soil solids is used in various calculations in soil mechanics.
 This can be determined accurately in the laboratory.
 Table 2.2 show the specific gravity of some common minerals found in soils.
Mechanical Analysis of soil
 Determination of the size of particle present in
a soil, expressed in percentage of the total dry
weight (or mass).
 There are two methods generally used to find
the particle-size distribution of soil: (1) Sieve
analysis and (2) Hydrometer analysis.
 Sieve analysis is used for particle sizes larger
than 0.075mm in diameter.
 Hydrometer analysis is used for particle sizes
smaller than 0.075mm in diameter.
Hydrometer analysis
 Analysis is based on the principle of
sedimentation of soil grains in water.

 Hydrometer analysis is effective for separating

soil fractions down to a size of about 0.5µ.
Effective size, uniformity coefficient, and coefficient of
gradation
 Using the particle size distribution curve from sieve
analysis or hydrometer analysis.
 three soil parameters: (1) Effective Size, (2) Uniformity
coefficient, and (3) Coefficient of gradation.
 Effective size –defined as the diameter in the
particle-size distribution curve corresponding to 10%
finer or D10.
 Uniformity coefficient (Cu) = D60 / D10
 D60 = diameter corresponding to 60% finer in the
particle-size distribution curve.
 Coefficient of gradation (Cc) = D302 / (D60 x D10)
 D30 = diameter corresponding to 30% finer.
Example 2.1:
Following are the results of a sieve analysis. Make the necessary calculation and
draw a particle-size distribution curve.

U.S. Sieve Mass of soil

No. retained on each
sieve (g)
4 0
10 40
20 60
40 89
60 140
80 122
100 210
200 56
pan 12
Example 2.2:
For the particle-size distribution curve shown in
example 2.1, determine a.) D10, D30, D60, b.)
Uniformity coefficient (Cu), c.) Coefficient of
gradation (Cc).
a.) D10 = 0.15mm
D30 = 0.17mm
D60 = 0.27mm
b.) Cu = D60 / D10
= 0.27 / 0.15 = 1.8
c.) Cc = D302 / (D60 x D10)
= (0.172) / (0.27x0.15) = 0.71
Assignment:
1. Following are the results of a sieve analysis:
 Determine the percent finer than each sieve size and
plot a grain-size distribution curve. U.S. Sieve Mass of soil
No. retained on each
 Determine D10, D30, and D60. sieve (g)
 Determine the uniformity coefficient, Cu. 4 0
 Determine the coefficient of gradation, Cc. 10 21.6
20 49.5
2. For a soil, given: 40 102.6
D10 = 0.1mm 60 89.1
100 95.6
D30 = 0.41mm
200 60.4
D60 = 0.62mm pan 31.2
Calculate Cu and Cc.