Introduction to Geotechnical

Engineering
g g

groundd

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 Typical Geotechnical Project

Soils Laboratory Design Office

soil properties
~ for testing ~ for design & analysis

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 Shallow Foundations
~ for transferring building loads to underlying ground
~ mostly for firm soils or light loads

firm
ground

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bed rock 4
 Shallow Foundations

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 Deep Foundations
~ for transferring building loads to underlying ground
~ mostly for weak soils or heavy loads

P
I
L
E
weak soil

bed rock
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 Deep Foundations

Driven timber piles, Pacific Motorway, Australia

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 Pier Foundations for Bridges

Millau Viaduct in France (2005)

Cable-stayed
C bl db bridge
id
Supported on 7 piers, 342 m apart
Longest pier (336) in the world

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 Pier Foundations for Bridges

Millau Viaduct in France (2005)

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 Pile driving
Hammer
Pile

At Ross River Dam, Townsville, Australia

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 Pile group for bridge abutment

A pile group

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 Pile Load Test

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 Retaining Walls
~ for retaining soils from spreading laterally

retaining
wall

Road
Train

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 Earth Dams
~ for impounding water

reservoir
clay
core shell

soil

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 Concrete Dams

reservoir
concrete dam

soil

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 Concrete Dams

Three Gorges Dam, Hong Kong

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 Concrete Dams

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 Earthworks
~ preparing the ground prior to construction

Roadwork, Pacific Motorway 18

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 Geofabrics
~ used for reinforcement, separation, filtration and
drainage
g in roads, retaining
g walls, embankments

Geofabrics used on Pacific Motorway 19

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 Reinforced Earth Walls
~ using geofabrics to strengthen the soil

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 Tunneling

MSE (Mechanically
stabilised Earth) wall

Chile (2006)
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 Tunneling

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 Soil Nailing
~ steel rods placed into holes drilled into the walls
and grouted
g

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 Retaining Walls

Rock anchors to support the vertical walls

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 Sheet Piles
~ sheets of interlockingsteel or timber driven into
the ground
ground, forming a continuous sheet

warehouse

ship

sheet pile

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 Sheet Piles
~ resist lateral earth pressures
~ used in excavations, waterfront structures, ..

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 Sheet Piles
~ used in temporary works

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 Sheet Piles
~ interlocking sections

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 Sheet piles

..in Townsville, Australia

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 Cofferdam
~ sheet pile walls enclosing an area, to
prevent water seeping in

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 Cofferdam
~ sheet pile walls enclosing an area, to
prevent water seeping in

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 Slope Stability

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 Shoring
propping and supporting the exposed walls to
resist lateral earth pressures

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 Excavations

Chile (2006)
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