Introduction to Soil Mechanics
!CHAPTER 1
Introduction Soil:
o natural resource o provide food o shelter o construction material o support for structures o many more..
Soil was used historically o In ancient periods people practiced building on solid/stable
foundations. No theoretical basis for design, trial and error experience.
Coulomb (1773) used soil mechanics principles to protect fortresses from cannon fire. !!!!!!!
He realized that wedge ABC applied lateral force that could topple the fortress
He improved the soil friction on plane BC
Rapid growth in the industry (20th century) required more stable and economic foundations of the civil engineering facilities
Karl Terzaghi published Erdbaumechanik (1925) in which he laid foundation for soil mechanics and showed the importance of soils in the engineering. !
Soil mechanics is subset of Geotechnical Engineering !
Used in the analysis and design design of geotechnical systems such as:
!o Dams o Tunnels o Canals and waterways o Foundations for bridges, buildings o Roads o Solid waste disposal o etc
Dams
Embankments
Tunnels
Bridge Foundations
Building Foundations
Roads
Waste Disposal
Approximate Calculations: !
o Every application of soil mechanics involves uncertainty because of the variability of soils !
o Many of the calculations in soil mechanics are not exact but approximate values !
o Experience and approximate calculations are important for successful application of soil mechanics
Uncertainties of soils performance may make a geotechnical engineer to compromise between sophisticated and simple analyses. !
Stability, however, should never be compromised for economy.
Geotechnical engineers work are often invisible after completion of construction !
However, structural and architectural beauty of buildings would not exist if the foundation of the building is not designed satisfactorily
No matter how well structurally the buildings, roads, airports, dams, etc. are designed they will fail if they are not founded on stable soil !
Successful civil engineering is heavily dependent on geotechnical engineering
Some types of failures may be caused by natural hazards, like earthquakes, and may be difficult to prevent o Geotechnical engineers duty must be
directed towards mitigating damage to lives and property
Safe and economic design of structures on soils rely on our ability to do so !
Poor engineering analysis, design, construction and quality control may result in failures => damage lives and property
We learn from failures and try to prevent it in the future !
Much has been added to the understanding about soil behavior since the founding of soil mechanics by Terzaghi in 1925 !
Through research and experience learning is continuing
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