Teaching Responsibility

LJMU Schools involved in Delivery:

Civil Engineering and Built Environment

Learning Methods

Lecture
Practical
Workshop

Module Offerings

4401CIVH-SEP-CTY

Aims

To provide the student with an introduction to the engineering characteristics of geological materials and an understanding of how geological materials are classified. To provide the student with an appreciation of the significance of site investigations, the codes of practice involved, and the various methods of sampling and in-situ testing. To enable the student to identify the principles involved in assessing the stability of slopes. To enable the student to identify the principles involved in the design of foundations and earth retaining structures. To enable the student to identify the effects that seepage and the compressibility of soil can have on structures.

Learning Outcomes

1.
Identify the various techniques involved in site investigation.
2.
Describe the common rock and soil types, their mode of formation, geographical/geological distribution and their uses within the construction industry.
3.
Investigate the engineering performance of rock materials and rock masses and analyse the results obtained from standard soil tests, establishing the primary design parameters for soils.
4.
Analyse the significance of water in soil, its movement and effects upon properties and strength parameters and identify the effects of ground water and seepage on geotechnical design.
5.
Identify the effect of imposing loads on soil and the various methods of analysing, the stress increases due to such loads, the bearing capacity of soil and the settlement caused.
6.
Identify various techniques involved with the analysis of slopes and earth retaining structures and apply these principles in conjunction with their knowledge of soil properties to solve geotechnical problems.

Module Content

Outline Syllabus:Site investigation: purpose and benefits; types of site; ground investigation techniques; sampling methods; in-situ testing; safety and supervision; site investigation reports. Geology: structure of the Earth; Earth history; geochemical cycle - processes and products; introduction to petrology - broad classification of rocks; structural geology - stratification, bedding, faults, folds and unconformities; geological maps. Engineering classification of soils: index properties, particle size distribution, soil properties and phase relationships. The effects of water in soils: measurement of soil permeability using laboratory and in-situ testing, seepage, measurement and implications. Earth-fill: compaction theory, standard laboratory testing and field compaction techniques. Introduction to the relationship between total stresses: effective stress and porewater pressure. Introduction to consolidation theory: one dimensional consolidation and the long term effects of loading soils. Shear strength of soils: shear strength theory, laboratory testing and in-situ determination of shear strength parameters. Stability of slopes above the water table: analysis of failure modes in various soil conditions; methods of stabilization. Earth pressure and retaining structures: Principles of active and passive earth pressure; the stability analysis of simple gravity and embedded earth retaining structures. Stress analysis; the measurement of pressure distributions in a soil mass from loads applied to a homogeneous isotropic material, the measurement of changes in stress. Stability of shallow foundations; various methods of determining the bearing capacity from in-situ testing results and empirical formulae; design of foundations and settlement of soil subject to changes in loading
Additional Information:This module introduces learners to the classification of soil types and establishes primary design parameters for soils. The significance of the ground investigation element of site investigation is developed.

Assessments

Centralised Exam
Report