Mapua University

Civil Engineering Department

CE199L-2

Name: Date:
Student No.:

DRILLS: Soil Mechanics & Geotechnical Engineering

INSTRUCTIONS: Select the correct answer for each of the following questions. Mark
only one answer for each item by shading the box corresponding to the letter of your
choice on the answer sheet provided. STRICTLY NO ERASURES ALLOWED.

MULTIPLE CHOICE

1. Which of the following statements is correct when the water table rises by 1 m.?
A. The effective pressure at the bottom of the layer will increase.
B. The effective pressure at the bottom of the layer will decrease.
C. The effective pressure at the bottom of the layer will remain the same.
D. The effective pressure at the bottom of the layer will double.

2. The moisture content, in percent, at which the volume of the soil mass ceases to change
is defined as the:
A. Liquid limit C. Plastic limit
B. Shrinkage limit D. Consistency limit

3. The value of the porosity of a soil can only exist between 0 (0%) and 1 (100%).
A. True, it is always between 0 and 1.
B. True, it can have a value greater than 0, less than 1, and exactly 1.
C. False, it can have a value greater than 1.
D. None of the above.

4. When the water table rises, what is its effect on effective stress?
A. Increase C. Remain the same
B. Decrease D. None of these

5. Valid range for S, the degree of saturation of soil in percentage is:

A. 0 < S < 100 C. S > 0
B. 0 ≤ S ≤ 100 D. S < 0

6. The ratio of the volume of water in each soil mass to the total volume of voids
A. Degree of Saturation C. Porosity
B. Void Ratio D. Water content

7. If the ground water table in a soil formation rises because of flooding, the bearing
capacity of the soil
A. Increases C. Decreases
B. Unaffected D. Depends on the footing load

8. Given the following properties of a soil:

Porosity = 42.1%, Specific gravity of soil solids = 2.71
Calculate the nearest value of the effective unit weight of the soil.
A. 8.84 C. 10.31
B. 7.73 D. 9.71

9. Given the following properties of a soil:

Liquid limit = 45%, Plastic limit = 22%; Natural moisture content = 40%
Determine the liquidity index.
A. –0.563 C. 0.856
B. 1.254 D. 0.783

10. A 12-m thick submerged clay has moisture content of 45%. Using G = 2.73, determine the
effective stress at the bottom of the clay layer, in kPa.
A. 96.3 C. 97.1
B. 91.4 D. 90.7
 Mapua University
Civil Engineering Department
CE199L-2

11. In accordance with Rankine’s theory for lateral active earth pressure of a retaining
wall, with horizontal backfill, what angle of internal friction in degrees, results
in a coefficient of lateral earth pressure equal to 0.40?
A. 22.60 C. 25.40
B. 24.70 D. 26.10

12. An unconfined compression test was conducted on a sample of clay having a diameter of
60 mm. The failure load was recorded at 300 N. The cohesion strength of the clay, in
kPa, is nearest to the value of:
A. 53 C. 106
B. 65 D. 130

13. A specimen of moist clay has a mass of 183.4 grams. After oven drying, the mass is
reduced to 157.7 grams. Which of the following most nearly gives the moisture content
of the sample?
A. 38.3% C. 27.3%
B. 49.3% D. 16.3%

14. If the dry unit weight of a soil is 12.61 kN/m 3, what is the unit weight of soil if
water is added causing a water content of 15%?
A. 14.50 C. 13.20
B. 12.98 D. 16.89

15. A triaxial test conducted on a cohesionless soil gives the following results”
Deviator stress at failure = 410 kPa, angle of shearing resistance = 32°.
Determine the confining pressure in kPa.
A. 174.87 C. 165.32
B. 196.32 D. 181.85

16. A consolidated drained triaxial test is conducted on a normally consolidated soil with
a chamber confining pressure of 152 kPa. If the deviator stress at failure is 250 kPa,
determine the shear stress at failure plane.
A. 124.52 C. 116.89
B. 108.45 D. 111.55

17. A prestressed concrete pile, 360 x 360 mm in cross section, is to be driven in a clayey
soil. The pile has a design capacity of 390 kN. Use the factor of safety of 2.0. The
unconfined compression strength of the soil is 110 kPa. Compute the length of the pile
if the frictional constant is 0.75.
A. 9 m C. 11 m
B. 10 m D. 12 m

18. A clay layer of 4 m thick rests beneath a deposit of submerged sand 8 m thick. The top
of the sand is 25 kN/m3 and of clay 20 kN/m3. What is the total vertical pressure at
midheight of the clay layer?
A. 270 kPa C. 130 kPa
B. 400 kPa D. 240 kPa

19. An impervious layer is under 4 layers of permeable soil. The thickness and the
coefficient of permeability of each layer, from top to bottom, are:

Layer K (cm/sec) Thickness (m)

1 3.12 x 10–4 4.8
2 2.15 x 10–5 5.8
3 4.18 x 10–3 3.8
4 4.88 x 10–4 6.8

Obtain the rate of horizontal flow, per meter of the deposit, in cubic meters per day.
Assume the hydraulic gradient for the soil formation is 0.77.
A. 13.854 C. 11.673
B. 13.000 D. 11.200
 Mapua University
Civil Engineering Department
CE199L-2

20. A layer of soft clay having an initial void ratio of 0.75 is 10.5 m. thick. Under a
compressive load applied above it, the void ratio is decreased by one-third. Evaluate
the reduction in thickness of the clay layer in meters.
A. 1.50 C. 2.11
B. 1.89 D. 2.00

21. A retaining wall 6 m high supports cohesionless soil having a dry density of 1600
kg/m3, angle of shearing resistance of 32°, and void ratio of 0.68. The surface of the
soil is horizontal and level with the top of the wall. Neglecting wall friction and
using Rankine’s formula for active pressure of a cohesionless soil, find the nearest
value to the thrust on the wall in kN per lineal meter if owing to inadequate drainage,
it is waterlogged to a level of 3.5 m below the surface of the soil.
A. 111.86 C. 81.20
B. 86.81 D. 104.77

22. Mario wants to determine the permeability of an aquifer. The aquifer has a test well
300-mm in diameter with two observation wells. A pumping test was conducted for 24
hours with the discharge being held constant at 6,001.3 m^3/day. The first one, 89.05
meters from the test well, has a drawdown of 0.77 meters. The second one, 47 meters
from the test well, has drawdown of 1.16 meters. The static water table penetrates the
well to a depth of 26 meters. Determine the coefficient of permeability in meters per
day.
A. 60.18 C. 63.58
B. 62.52 D. 64.11

23. A 0.36 m. square prestressed concrete pile is to be driven in a clayey soil. The design
capacity of the pile is 360 kN, with a factor of safety of 2, the unconfined compressive
stress is 110 kN/m2. Compute the length of the pile if α = 0.76.
A. 5.90 m. C. 10.90 m.
B. 2.31 m. D. 5.89 m.

24. For a falling head permeability test, the following are given: length of specimen is
380 mm, area of specimen is 6.5 cm2, hydraulic conductivity of soil specimen is 0.175
cm/min. What should be the area of the standpipe for the head to drop from 650 cm to
300 cm in 8 min.?
A. 2.55 cm2 C. 1.43 cm2
B. 0.54 cm 2 D. 0.31 cm2

25. A 1.1 meter-diameter pile is driven into clayey soil, which is divided into two layers.

First Layer: Second Layer:

Length = 8m Length = 4m
Cohesion = 86.7 kPa Cohesion = 76.9 kPa
Adhesion Factor = 0.48 Adhesion Factor = 0.43
Compute the allowable load (kN) that the pile can carry. Use FS = 2.0
A. 1173.32 C. 1229.05
B. 1132.66 D. 1252.52

26. Given the results of a constant head permeability of a sand sample:

Sample diameter = 250 mm; Length of sample = 250 mm; Constant head = 50 cm; Weight
of water collected in 90 sec = 410 grams
Determine the coefficient of permeability in cm/min.
A. 1.45 C. 2.78
B. 5.86 D. 3.54

27. A soil profile consists of a 9-m sand layer over a 9-m clay layer. The ground water
table is 4.5 m below the sand surface. The sand over the ground water table has γ dry =
15 kN/m3 while below has γsat = 18 kN/m3. The clay has the following properties: γ sat =
19.5 kN/m3, e = 0.80 and LL = 45%. A uniformly distributed load of 100 kPa is applied
at ground surface. What is the settlement, in mm, when clay is normally consolidated?
A. 319.43 C. 353.17
B. 339.83 D. 312.30
 Mapua University
Civil Engineering Department
CE199L-2

28. A 6-m square footing carries an axial load of 10000 kN. It is supported by a 27-m
thick layer of cohesionless soil with ρ = 1920 kg/m3. Use Terzaghi’s formula. Depth
of base of footing is 3 meters. Calculate the gross ultimate pressure of the soil. For
ϕ = 25°: Nc = 23, Nq = 12, Nγ = 7.6
A. 3260 C. 1020
B. 4080 D. 2120

Situational

Situation 1 - The permeameter in a permeability test setup involves a soil sample 150 mm
radius and a length of 250 mm. The height of water is kept constant at 300 mm. In a duration
of 5 mins, water was collected in the graduated flask having a mass of 400 g.

29. Determine the coefficient of permeability in cm/min.

A. 0.943 C. 0.002
B. 0.016 D. 0.094

30. Determine the discharge velocity in cm/min.

A. 0.113 C. 0.225
B. 0.169 D. 0.312

31. Determine the seepage velocity in cm/min if the void ratio is 0.55.
A. 0.319 C. 0.399
B. 0.421 D. 0.488

Situation 2 - Dry soil is mixed with 18% by weight with water and then compacted. The moist
soil has a volume of 1 x 10–3 m3 and a mass of 1.6 kg. The soil solids have specific gravity
of 2.72.

32. What is the dry unit weight of the soil?

A. 13.3 C. 14.5
B. 13.8 D. 15.6

33. What is the void ratio of the soil?

A. 95.45% C. 100.67%
B. 92.24% D. 103.54%

34. What is the degree of saturation?

A. 46.63% C. 48.64%
B. 32.87% D. 52.47%

Situation 3 - Given the following properties of a soil:

Specific gravity of solids = 2.70; Void ratio = 0.73; Degree of saturation = 0.92

35. Determine the nearest value to the moisture content of the soil.
A. 27.04% C. 26.45%
B. 28.45% D. 24.87%

36. Determine the nearest value to the dry unit weight of the soil.
A. 16.43 C. 14.65
B. 17.11 D. 15.31

37. Determine the nearest value to the moisture content when the soil is saturated.
A. 24.87% C. 26.45%
B. 27.04% D. 28.45%

Situation 4 - The liquid and plastic limits of clay are 72% and 38%, respectively.

38. Which of the following represents these percentages?

A. Relative density C. Moisture content
B. Porosity D. Degree of saturation
 Mapua University
Civil Engineering Department
CE199L-2

39. What is the plasticity index of this clay?

A. 34 C. 36
B. 33 D. 35

40. If the moisture content of this clay is 15%, what is the liquidity index?
A. –0.083 C. –0.754
B. –0.676 D. –0.574

Situation 5 - A square footing 3 m. on a side is founded 1.2 m. below the ground surface
from which the bulk unit weight of the soil is 20 kN/m3, cohesion strength is 10 kPa, and
the angle of internal friction is 20° (Nc = 17.69, Nq = 7.44 Nγ = 3.64). The ground water
table is at a level where it does not affect the condition of the footing. Using Terzaghi’s
bearing capacity formula, evaluate the contribution of the following to the ultimate bearing
capacity:

41. Cohesion strength, kPa

A. 87.36 C. 229.97
B. 178.56 D. 495.89

42. Soil overburden, kPa

A. 178.56 C. 495.89
B. 229.97 D. 87.36

43. Footing dimension, kPa

A. 229.97 C. 495.89
B. 87.36 D. 178.56

Situation 6 - The moist unit weight and degree of saturation of a soil are given in the
following table.

Degree of Saturation (%) Moist Unit Weight (kN/m3)

55 17.71
81 18.88

44. Determine the specific gravity of the soil.

A. 2.611 C. 2.554
B. 2.869 D. 2.765

45. Determine the dry unit weight in kN/m3.

A. 15.235 C. 16.589
B. 17.777 D. 18.054

46. Determine the saturated unit weight in kN/m 3.

A. 21.222 C. 18.444
B. 17.696 D. 19.735

Situation 7 - A retaining wall 6 m high supports cohesionless soil having a dry density of
1600 kg/m^3, angle of shearing resistance of 32°, and void ratio of 0.68. The surface of
the soil is horizontal and level with the top of the wall. Neglecting wall friction, and
using Rankine’s formula for active pressure of a cohesionless soil,

47. Find the nearest value of the Rankine active pressure coefficient.
A. 0.307 C. 0.316
B. 0.312 D. 0.325

48. Find the nearest value to the thrust on the wall in kN per lineal meter if the soil
is dry.
A. 82.30 C. 86.74
B. 84.59 D. 88.12

49. Find at what height below the surface of the soil the thrust on the wall acts if owing
to inadequate drainage, it is waterlogged to a level of 3.5 m below the surface of the
soil.
A. 4.21 m C. 4.35 m
 Mapua University
Civil Engineering Department
CE199L-2

B. 4.30 m D. 4.41 m

Situation 8 - Two samples of a cohesive soil were subjected to a tri-axial shear test. The
results were as follows:

Test σ3 (kN/m^2) σ1 (kN/m^2)

No.
1 100 240
2 300 630

50. Determine the angle of friction in degrees.

A. 17.66 C. 18.79
B. 20.58 D. 19.87

51. Determine the cohesion of the soil in kPa.

A. 16.11 C. 12.99
B. 10.94 D. 19.34

52. Determine the resulting major principal stress, in kPa, for a soil having a chamber
confining pressure of 350 kPa.
A. 761.03 C. 707.74
B. 727.50 D. 747.44

Situation 9 - The results of the sieve analysis of soils A, B, and C are shown below. It
is required to classify these soils according to USCS.

SOIL SAMPLE
Sieve No. Diameter A B C
Percent Passing
4 4.760 90 100 100
6 2.380 64 90 100
10 2.000 54 77 98
20 0.840 34 59 92
40 0.420 22 51 84
60 0.250 17 42 79
100 0.149 9 35 70
200 0.074 4 33 63
LL - - 42 47
PL - - 19 24

53. Classification of soil A

A. GW C. SW
B. GM D. SP

54. Classification of soil B

A. SC C. SM
B. MH D. CH

55. Classification of soil C

A. ML C. CH
B. CL D. MH

Situation 10 - The results of a triaxial test on a cohesive soil are as follows:

Maximum axial stress, σ1 = 220 kPa
Deviator stress, Δd = 140 kPa
Angle of shearing resistance, ϕ = 21°

56. Compute the value of the confining pressure in kPa.

A. 90 C. 80
B. 70 D. 75

57. What is the cohesion of the soil in kPa?

A. 19.6 C. 18.5
 Mapua University
Civil Engineering Department
CE199L-2

B. 20.2 D. 17.4

58. What is the shearing stress at failure plane, in kPa?

A. 65.35 C. 62.23
B. 68.32 D. 70.45

Situation 11 - Given the laboratory results of the Atterberg Limits Test.

Liquid Limit Test

Test Number 1 2 3 4
Number of Blows 39 28 19 13
Weight of Wet Soil + Container, g 23.43 21.05 21.40 22.50
Weight of Dry Soil + Container, g 20.21 18.32 18.65 19.43
Weight of Container, g 12.74 12.43 13.11 13.54

Plastic Limit and Water Content Test

Test PL NWC
Test Number 1 2 1 2
Weight of Wet Soil + Container, g 23.50 23.10 17.33 17.11
Weight of Dry Soil + Container, g 20.42 20.19 14.84 14.36
Weight of Container, g 12.45 12.54 9.76 9.34

59. Determine the nearest value to the liquid limit of the soil.
A. 49.4% C. 48.3%
B. 47.3% D. 46.6%

60. Determine the nearest value to the plastic limit of the soil.
A. 38.34 C. 37.49
B. 35.43 D. 39.65

61. Determine the nearest value to the liquidity index of the soil.
A. 1.34 C. 1.51
B. 1.87 D. 2.32

Situation 12 - The results of field unit weight determination of a soil sample using the
sand cone method is as follows:
Volume of soil = 0.00134 m3; Mass of soil = 2250 grams; Dry mass of soil = 1734 grams
In a laboratory, this soil yields a dry density of 1.425 g/cc at optimum moisture content
of 13.8%.

62. What is the field unit weight of soil?

A. 15.78 C. 17.32
B. 16.47 D. 18.32

63. What is the in-situ water content of the soil?

A. 29.76% C. 28.54%
B. 31.34% D. 26.93%

64. Determine the relative compaction of the soil.

A. 90.81% C. 95.28%
B. 92.34% D. 96.23%

Situation 13 - The result of sieve analysis of three soils is given. It is required to

classify these soils according to the AASHTO classification system.
SIEVE ANALYSIS
Percent Passing
Sieve No. Diam (mm)
Soil A Soil B Soil C
4 4.760 90 100 100
8 2.380 64 90 100
10 2.000 55 77 78
20 0.840 33 59 91
40 0.420 24 50 85
60 0.250 17 42 79
 Mapua University
Civil Engineering Department
CE199L-2

100 0.149 9 36 70
200 0.074 5 33 63
LL --- 46 47
PL --- 29 24

65. What is the classification of Soil A?

A. A-1-a(0) C. A-3(0)
B. A-1-b(0) D. A-2-4(0)

66. What is the classification of Soil B?

A. A-2-5(0) C. A-2-6(1)
B. A-2-4(0) D. A-2-7(1)

67. What is the classification of Soil C?

A. A-6(13) C. A-7-5(13)
B. A-5(13) D. A-7-6(13)

Situation 14 - A 6-m high vertical retaining wall supports a horizontal backfill. The
backfill has a moisture content of 18%, void ratio of 0.65, G – 2.68, and ϕ = 28°. Consider
1 m length of wall.

68. Calculate the total active force on the wall when the water table is at the top of the
wall.
A. 234.7 C. 256.8
B. 278.4 D. 241.5

69. Calculate the total active force on the wall when the water is lowered to 4 m from the
bottom of the wall.
A. 175.2 C. 184.7
B. 196.3 D. 140.2

70. Calculate the total active force on the wall when the water is at the bottom of the
wall.
A. 122.2 C. 96.8
B. 114.5 D. 138.7

--- END ---

WARNING: Failure to submit your Test Questions (Complete) set will cause the
cancellation of your Test-Results for the subject.
Mapua University
Civil Engineering Department
CE199L-2
Mapua University
Civil Engineering Department
CE199L-2