INTRODUCTION TO SOIL MECHANICS ● Han Dynasty – with the arrival of Buddhism in

China during the Eastern Han dynasty in 68 A.D.,

● Soil (Engineering Purposes) – defined as the
thousand s of pagodas were built
uncemented aggregate of mineral grains and
decayed organic matter with liquid and gas in the ● Leaning Tower of Pisa (Italy) – one of the most
empty spaces between the solid particles famous examples of problems related to soil-
bearing capacity in the construction of structures
● Soil – used as a construction material in various
prior to the 18th century
civil engineering projects, and it supports structural
foundations - construction began in 1173 A.D. when the
Republic of Pisa was flourishing and continued in
● IMPORTANCE OF STUDYING SOILS
various stages for over 200 years
- Civil engineers must study properties of soil
● Pre-classical Period (1700 – 1776) – this period
including:
concentrated to studies relating on natural slope
Origin Compressibility and unit weights of various types of soils as well as
Grain-size distribution Shear Strength the semiempirical earth pressure theories
Ability to drain water Load-bearing capacity
● Henri Gautier (1660 – 1737) – a French royal
engineer who studied the natural slopes of solids
● Soil Mechanics – study of the physical properties when tipped in a heap for formulating the design
of soil and the behavior of soil masses subjected to procedures of retaining walls
various types of forces
● Natural slope – what we now refer to as the angle
● Soil Engineerig – application of the principles of of repose
soil mechanics to practical problems
● FINDING OF HENRI GAUTIER STUDY
● Geotechnical Engineering – sub-discipline of civil
engineering that involves natural materials found - natural slopes of clean dry sand and ordinary
close to the earth earth were 31° and 45°

- includes application of the principles of soil - unit weights of clean dry sand and ordinary earth
mechanics and rock mechanics to the design of were recommended to be 18.1 kN/m3 and 13.4
foundations, retaining structures, and earth kN/m3
structures ● UNIT WEIGHT CLASSICATION (BERNARD
HISTORY OF GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING FOREST DE BELIDOR)

● Geotechnical Engineering Prior to 18th Century –

the record of a person’s first use of soil as a
construction material is lost in antiquity
- in true engineering terms, the understanding of
geotechnical engineering as it is known today
began early in the 18th century (Skempton, 1985)
● Nile (Egypt) – beginning around 2750 B.C., the
five most important pyramids were built in Egypt in
● Francois Gadroy (1705 – 1759) – reported the
a period of less than a century (Saqqarah, Meidum,
first laboratory model test results on a 76mm-high
Dahshur South and North, and Cheops)
retaining wall built with sand backfill in 1746
- this posed formidable challenges regarding
● J.J. Mayniel – summarized Gadroy’s study in
foundations, stability of slopes, and construction of
1808
underground chambers
● Jean Rodolphe Perronet (1708 – 1794) – French
● Huang Ho (Yellow River, China) – during the
engineer who studied slope stability around 1769
Chan dynasty in China (1120 B.C. to 249 B.C.),
and distinguished between intact ground and fills
many dykes were built for irrigation purposes
CLASSICAL PERIOD PHASE I
- there was no evidence that measures were taken
to stabilize the foundations or check erosion ● Charles Augustin Coulomb (1736 – 1806) –
caused by floods (Kerisel, 1985) French scientist who used the principle of calculus
for maxima and minima to determine the true
● Indus (India) – dykes dating back to about 2000
position of the sliding surface in soil behind a
B.C. were built in the basin of the Indus to protect
retaining wall
the town of Mohenjo Dara (in what become
Pakistan after 1947) - in this analysis, Coulomb used the laws of friction
and cohesion for solid bodies
● William John Macquorn Rankine (1820 – 1872) – ● Loose Soil – cannot hold structure
a professor of engineering at the University of
● Loam, Clay – can absorb large amount of water
Glasgow, whose study provided a notable theory on
earth pressure and equilibrium of earth masses ● Bearing Stress – load is perpendicular to the soil
- Rankine’s theory is a simplification of Coulomb’s ● Soil Mechanics = properties of soil
theory
● Soil Engineering = properties of soil + application
CLASSICAL PERIOD PHASE II of load
● Darcy (1856) – published a study on the ● Geotechnical Engineering = properties of soil +
permeability of sand filters application of load + design
- defined the term coefficient of permeability (or ● 3 meters – depth of foundation of Leaning Tower
hydraulic conductivity) of a soil, a very useful
parameter in geotechnical engineering to this day ● Southwest – leaning direction of Leaning Tower

MODERN SOIL MECHANICS ----------------- END OF LECTURE 1 ---------------------

ROCK CYCLE AND ORIGIN OF SOIL

GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING AFTER 1927

● Karl Terzaghi (1883 – 1963) – known as the
father of modern soil mechanics
- his publication in 1925, Erdbaumechanik auf
Bodenphysikalisher Grundlage, gave birth to a new
era in the development of soil mechanics ● Igneous Rock – formed by the solidification of
molten magma ejected from deep within the earth’s
- in 1925, accepted a visiting lectureship at surface
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he
became recognized as the leader of the new - magma ceases its mobility below the earth’s
branch of civil engineering called soil mechanics surface and cools to form intrusive igneous rocks
that are called plutons
- in 1929, he returned to Europe to accept a
professorship at the Technical University of Vienna, ● Weathering – most of the soils that cover the
which soon became the nucleus for civil engineers earth are formed by the weathering of rocks
interested in soil mechanics
● TWO GENERAL TYPES OF WEATHERING
- in 1939, returned to the United States to become
 Mechanical Weathering – process by which
a professor at Harvard University
rocks are broken into smaller and smaller pieces by
- delivered the 45th James Forrest lecture at the physical forces including running water, wind,
Institution of Civil Engineers, London ocean waves, glacier ice, frost, and expansion and
contraction caused by the gain and loss of heat
- his lecture was entitled “Soil Mechanics – A New
Chapter in Engineering Science”, wherein he  Chemical Weathering – process of chemical
proclaimed that most of the foundation failures that decomposition of the original rock
occurred were no longer “acts of God”
- example, chemical weathering of feldspar can
HANDWRITTEN NOTES DURING DISCUSSION produce clay minerals

● Soil – can support or destroy a structure - most rock weathering is a combination of

mechanical and chemical weathering
● Even Grain Size – means binding between
particles is loose (e.g., sandy soil)
● CATEGORIES OF TRANSPORTED SOIL
BASED ON THE TRANSPORTING AGENT
 Natural levees – ridges formed by the deposition
Gravity transported soil Glacial of sand and silt-sized particles carried by the river
/ Colluvial along the banks, during floods.
Lacustrine Aeolian
Alluvial or fluvial Marine Soils  Floodplains – where finer soil particles consisting
of silt and clays are carried by the water

● Gravity Transported Soil (Colluvial)

 Creep – residual soils on a natural slope that
moves downward slowly
 Mud flows – highly saturated, loose sandy
residual soils, on relatively flat slopes, move
downward like a viscous liquid and come to rest in
a denser condition
- soil deposit derived from past mud flows are
highly heterogenous in composition
● Lacustrine Deposits – soil deposited by water
● Alluvial or Fluvial – derived from the action of from rivers and springs that flows into lakes
streams and rivers and can be divided into two
major categories  Delta – formed by the deposition of granular
particles in an area where the stream enters the
 Braided-Stream Deposits – high-gradient, rapidly lake
flowing streams that are highly erosive and carry
large amounts of sediment - deltas formed in humid regions usually have finer
grained soil deposits compared to those in arid
- deposits from braided streams are highly irregular regions
in stratification and have a wide range of grain
sizes. These deposits share several characteristics ● Glacial Deposits
including:  Drift – deposits laid down by glaciers
1. The grain sizes usually range from gravel to silt.  Till – unstratified deposits laid down by melting
Clay-sized particles are generally not found in glaciers
deposits from braided streams
 Moraines – landforms that develop from deposits
2. Although grain size varies widely, the soil in a of till
given pocket or lens is rather uniform
 Terminal Moraine – ridge of till that marks the
3. At any given depth, the void ratio and unit weight maximum limit of a glacier’s advance
may vary over a wide range within a lateral
distance of few meters  Recessional Moraines – ridges of till developed
behind a terminal moraine at varying distances
apart
- result of temporary stabilization of the glacier
during the recessional period
 Ground Moraine – till deposited by the glacier
between the moraines
 Till Plains – ground moraines that constitute large
areas of the central United States
 Outwash – sand, silt, and gravel carried by the
 Meander Belt Deposits – called point bar melting water from the front of a glacier
deposits, and usually consist of sand and silt-sized
particles.  Outwash Plains – or glaciofluvial deposits, are
formed by the outwash deposition of melted water,
 Oxbow lake – abandoned meander, when filled in a similar pattern to that of braided-stream
with water deposits
● Aeolian Soil Deposits – soil deposits transported
by wind
 Dune – shape taken by the deposits of
windblown sand
 TWO SIDES OF A DUNE ● Loam Soil – combination of sand, silt and clay,
including their beneficial properties
 Windward Side – where compact sand deposits
are formed - more suitable for farming since it has the ability to
retain moisture and nutrients
 Leeward Side – where loose deposits are formed
- also called agricultural soil as it includes an
 TYPICAL PROPERTIES OF DUNE SAND
equilibrium of all three types of soil materials, and it
1. Grain-size of the sand at any particular location also happens to have humus
is uniform, due to the sorting action of the wind
- has higher calcium and pH levels because of its
2. General grain size decreases with distance inorganic origins.
farther from the source, as wind carries small
● PROPERTIES OF SOIL
particles farther than large ones
 Soil Particle Size
3. Relative density of sand deposited on windward
side may be as high as 50 to 65%, decreasing to
about 0 to 15% on leeward side
● Residual soils – found in areas where the rate of
weathering is more than the rate at which
weathered materials are carried away by
transporting agents
- rate of weathering is high in warmer and humid
regions compared to cooler and drier regions
 Specific Gravity, Gs – ratio of the unit weight of a
● Sedimentary rocks – deposits formed by material to the unit weight of water
weathering that are compacted by overburden
pressure and cemented by agents - specific gravity of soil solids is often needed for
various calculations in soil mechanics, and it can be
 Detrital Sedimentary Rocks – formed when determined accurately in the laboratory
cementing agents like iron oxide, calcite, dolomite,
and quartz that are carried by groundwater, fill the
spaces between particles
● Metamorphic Rock – sheared mineral grains that
have foliated texture, formed during metamorphism
 Metamorphism – process of changing the
composition and texture of rocks (without melting)
by heat and pressure
TYPES OF SOIL
● Sandy Soil – consists of small particles of
weathered rocks ● Mechanical Analysis of Soil – determination of the
size of range of particles present in a soil,
- one of the poorest types of soil for growing plants expressed as a percentage of the total dry weight
because it has very low nutrients and poor water
holding capacity ● METHODS FOR PARTICLE SIZE
DISTRIBUTION
- very good for drainage system
 Sieve Analysis – for particles larger than 0.075
- formed by the breakdown or fragmentation of mm in diameter
rocks like granite, limestone, and quartz
 Hydrometer Analysis – for particles smaller than
● Silt Soil – have much smaller particles compared 0.075 mm in diameter
to sandy soil
- based on the principle of sedimentation of soil
- made up of rock and other mineral particles, grains in water
which are smaller than sand and larger than clay
- for simplicity, all particles are assumed as
- easily transported by moving currents and it is spheres, and their velocities are expressed by
mainly found near rivers, lakes, and other water Stoke’s Law
bodies
 Stoke’s Law
- more fertile compared to the other three types,
and therefore used in agricultural practices to
improve soil fertility
● Particle Shape – equally as important as particle
size distribution as it has significant influence on
the physical properties of a given soil
-more difficult to measure, and can be divided in to
categories, namely, bulky, flaky, and needle shaped