Chapter 7

Civil Engineering
Part 2 – Geotechnical Engineering
Part 2: Geotechnical engineering
The stability of a
structure is no
better than its
foundations.
Ask the people who
built this 

Exploring Engineering
 Trouble in the Basement …

Exploring Engineering
 Properties of Soils

Exploring Engineering
 Wet Soil
The mechanical properties of soils depend how much
the soil’s pores are water filled
sat = (Ws + Wp)/V = dry + n w
where Ws and Wp are the weight of dry soil and the
weight of water in the pores. The corresponding
weight densities are dry and w. V is the volume of the
soil. The term, n, is the volume fraction of the pores in
the soil.

Exploring Engineering
 Wet Soils
Dry Weight Densities of Different Soils
Soil Type Dry Density Porosity Wet density
(lbf/ft3) Lbf/ft3
Sand 94.8 0.375 118
Clay 74.9 0.550 109
Silt 79.9 0.425 106
Water 62.4 — 62.4

Exploring Engineering
 Effective Stress Principle
Fn
Pressure Is What You
Feel when Your Fingers
Press with Force Fn on
the Contact Patch of A
Area A

Exploring Engineering
 Effective Stress Principle
Soil section in next slide being analyzed for
stress on the horizontal plane (dashed line) at
depth z. This force is actually distributed
uniformly over the bottom face creating a
constant pressure (or stress).
 Effective Stress Principle
’ =  - pp = (sat - w)z is the stress at depth z

FBD

Effective stress on
layer of wet soil

Exploring Engineering
 Example
Two top layers of a soil sample taken from a potential
building site are shown in the next figure. If the
thicknesses of the layers are HA = 2.50 ft and HB = 2.00
ft, determine:
(a) the effective stress at a depth of ZA = 2.00 ft in Layer A
(b) The effective stress at a depth of ZB = 3.00 ft in Layer B.
Assume both layers are fully saturated with weight densities
of γA = 78.6 lbf/ft3 and γB = 91.2 lbf/ft3. The weight density
of water is γw = 62.4 lbf/ft3. 

Exploring Engineering
 Example Continued
Need: Find the values of effective stress at depths of 2.00 ft and
3.00 ft.
Know: The depths of interest are ZA = 2.00 ft and ZB = 3.00 ft; the
layer thicknesses are HA = 2.50 ft and HB = 2.00 ft; the weight
densities of saturated soil and water are γA = 78.6 lbf/ft3, γB =
91.2 lbf/ft3, and γw = 62.4 lbf/ft3; both soil layers are fully
saturated.

Exploring Engineering
 Example Continued

Exploring Engineering
 Example continued
How: Since all of the soils above z = ZA are of a uniform
compositions and fully saturated, use effective stress principle.
With two layers of soil above z = ZB generalize the effective
stress equation for the weights z = ZB in the free-body diagram.
(1) draw the free-body diagram of the soil section,
(2) find Fn from the summation of forces in the vertical
direction,
(3) substitute Fn into the definition of pressure to get total
stress,
(4) subtract pore pressure from total stress to get effective
stress.

Exploring Engineering
 Example continued
Solve:

a) ’ =  - pp = (sat - w)z = (78.6 – 62.4)(2.00) [lbf/ft3] [ft]

= 32.4 lbf/ft2
Generalize the equation for the effective stress

b) ’ = AHA + BHB - wz

= (78.6)(2.50) + (91.2)(3.00 - 2.50) – (62.4)(3.00) [lbf/ft2]

= 54.9 lbf/ft2
 Summary of Part 2
Geotechnical Engineering
Structures stand on soil whose properties are variable,
particularly if wet
Starting with a FBD, stress in wet soil can be estimated
from the weight of dry soil and wet soil at any layer
The effective stress equation allows the calculation of
stress at any layer of wet soil knowing its porosity

Exploring Engineering