CE 427:

FOUNDATION
ENGINEERING 2
Class Activities:
1. Attendance
2. Pre-assessment
3. Introduction
4. Review on the Geotechnical Engineering
5. Problem Solving Activity
Intended Learning Outcome;
• Define Foundation Engineering
• Recall formulas weight-volume relationships
• Solve problems on weight-volume relationships
• Classify Soils based on USDA , AASHTO and USCS
• Solve problems related to Atterberg’s Limits.
Group Answer-Pre assessment
1.Discuss
K – What I Know W – What I Want to Know L – What I Learned (fill in
after topic)
L – What I Learned (fill in
K – What I Know W – What I Want to Know
after topic)
(Write 3–5 things you (Write 2–3 questions you (To be completed at the
already know about have about foundations, end of the unit.)
foundations or soil in soils, or how buildings
construction.) stand.)

• 2.“Why do you think engineers spend time studying the soil before
building a structure?”
 Pre-assessment-individual
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tF-DFecppA/viewform?usp=header
2.
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bjWqO3Nzdg/
viewform?usp=header
3.https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/
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4.
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5.
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6. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfpNiTv-
CE 427: FOUNDATION
ENGINEERING 2
• Course Description;
• Course Description: This course starts with a review of fundamental
concepts of soil mechanics and an introduction to subsurface
exploration. It deals with lateral loads; earth retaining structures and
excavations; performance requirements, applied loads based on codes,
and selection of foundations; shallow foundation design; and deep
foundation design. It is noted that the application of foundation
engineering necessitates background and significant knowledge in the
areas of structural analysis, concrete and steel design, and construction
methods but this course will solely focus on the geotechnical aspects
of foundation engineering.
Review: Geotechnical Engineering
• Definition of Soil
• It is defined as unconsolidated material composed of solid particles
produced by mechanical and chemical disintegration of rocks
Origin of Soil Soil
is formed by weathering of rocks due to mechanical disintegration (or)
chemical decomposition; when the rock surface is exposed to
atmosphere for long duration.
Review: Geotechnical Engineering
• Types of Soil Soil can be classified into two broad categories: 1.Residual Soil
• 2.Transported Soil
• Residual soils
• If the soil deposited at the place of its formation just near (or) above parent
rock, it is known as residual soil. The properties of the residual soil resembles
that of the parent rock in general The depth of residual soils varies from 5 to 20
m.
• (2) Transported soils
• Soil transported from the origin called transported soil. soil has been deposited
at a place away from the place of origin by various transporting agents such as
air, water and ice or snow The engineering properties of transported soil at a
place of deposition are entirely different from the properties of the parent rock
Most of the soil deposits are transported soil only.
Review: Geotechnical Engineering
• Classification of Transported Soil
Alluvial Soil
Aeolian Soil
Glaciers deposit
Marine Deposit
Colluvial soils
Review: Geotechnical Engineering
• Alluvial Soil
Running water carries large quantities of soil either in suspension (or)
by rolling on a long bed.
Water erodes hills and deposits soils in the valleys.
Deposits made in lakes are called as lacustrine deposits
Deposits made when the flowing water carries soil to ocean is called
marine deposits
Review: Geotechnical Engineering
• Aeolian Soil
• A type of soil that is transported from one place to another by the
wind called Aeolian soil It consist primarily of sand or silt-sized
particles. The particles size of the soil depends upon the velocity of
wind The finer particles are carried far away from the origin.
• Marine deposits: These are mainly confined on a long a narrow belt
near the coast, These are thick layers of sand above deep deposits of
soft marine clays These deposits have very low shearing strength and
are highly compressible. It contain a large amount of organic matter.
these are softly and highly plastic
Review: Geotechnical Engineering
• Glaciers Deposits • when annual snowfall is greater than snow melt
then Snow accumulates along with soil it compresses into ice and
begins to flow during summer • Glaciers carry soil when they flow
A. Glacial Till unconsolidated deposit directly by ice • containing any
proportion of gravels, sands, clay, boulders.,
B.Glacial Outwash stratified deposits formed from melting of ice in
the summer contains large rocks and boulders ,gravelly, sandy,
stratified soils
Review: Geotechnical Engineering
• Colluvial soils
• Under the influence of gravity Solid particles are removed from the
mountains top and get accumulated at the base of the steep slopes.
The soils thus formed are stony and are never stratified.
Review: Geotechnical Engineering
• Different types of soils:
1. Bentonitte: It is a type of clay with very high percentage of clay
mineral montmorilonitte. It results from decomposition of volcanic ash.
2. Clay: It consists of microscopic and sub microscopic particles The soil
size is less than 0.002mm
3. Sand: I t is a coarse grained soil having particles size between 0.075
to 4.75mm. The particles are visible in eye
Review: Geotechnical Engineering
• Different types of soils:
4. Silt: It is fine graded sand particles size from 0.002 -0.0075mm. The
particles are not visible through eyes.
5. Gravel: Coarse soil of size from 4.75 to 80mm
6. Cobbles: These are large size particles in range of size 80 to 300mm
7. Kankar: Impure form of limestone, it contains calcium carbonate.
8. Loam: It is a mixture of sand, silt and clay in alternate layers
9. Boulders: These are large size particles of size>300mm
Review: Geotechnical Engineering
• Cohesive soils:
• Soil which absorbs water and having particles attraction such that it
deforms plastically at varying water content are known as cohesive
soil
• Example: clay sand, plastic silt and clay
• cohesionless soils
• The soil composed of bulky grains are cohesive less soils Its plasticity
effects is insignificant
• Example: non plastic silt and sand gravel
Review: Geotechnical Engineering
• Three-phase System
Three-phase System Soils can be classified as partially saturated
(with both air and water present), fully saturated (no air content)
perfectly dry (no water content). In a saturated soil or a dry soil,
Review: Geotechnical Engineering
• Phase Relations of Soil Symbols for Phase Relations of soils
Review: Geotechnical Engineering
• Phase Relations of Soil Symbols for Phase Relations of soils
Review: Geotechnical Engineering
• Volume Relations
• As the amounts of both water and air are variable, the volume of
solids is taken as the reference quantity. Thus, several relational
volumetric quantities may be defined. The following are the basic
volume relations:
Weight-Volume relationship
Review: Geotechnical Engineering
Review: Geotechnical Engineering
Review: Geotechnical Engineering
Review: Geotechnical Engineering
Review: Geotechnical Engineering
Review: Geotechnical Engineering
Review: Geotechnical Engineering
Review: Geotechnical Engineering
Review: Geotechnical Engineering
Recall:
Examples;
• Example 1:
A soil has void ratio = 0.72, moisture content = 12% and Gs = 2.72.
Determine its
(a) Dry unit weight
(b) Moist unit weight, and the
(c) Amount of water to be added per m³ to make it saturated.
• Use γw=9.81 kN/m3
Examples;
• Solution:
• Given:
• Void ratio e=0.72
• Moisture content w=12
• Specific gravity Gs=2.72
• Unit weight of water γw=9.81 kN/m3
Example #1
• Solution:
• Given:
• Void ratio e=0.72
• Moisture content w=12
• Specific gravity Gs=2.72
• Unit weight of water
γw=9.81 kN/m3

c .
Examples 2.
In its natural state, a moist soil has a total volume of 9344.56 cm3 and a
mass 18.11 kg. The oven-dry mass of soil is 15.67 kg. If Gs = 2.67, calculate
the moisture content, moist unit weight, void ratio and degree of
saturation.
Examples 2. Solution
Examples 2. Solution
Examples 2. Solution
Examples 3.
• The moist unit weight of a soil is 19.2 kN/m³. Given that Gs=2.69 and
w=9.8%
• determine
a. Dry unit weight
b. Void ratio
c. Porosity
d. Degree of saturation
Soil Classification
Classification of soil is the separation of soil into classes or groups of each having similar
characteristics and similar behavior.
• Major Soil Classification Systems:
1.Unified Soil Classification System (USCS):
This system, widely used in geotechnical engineering, categorizes soils
into three major groups:Coarse-grained soils: Contain 50% or less
fines (silt and clay). Further divided into gravels and sands based on
particle size.
2.Fine-grained soils: Contain more than 50% fines. Subdivided based
on plasticity characteristics using the Casagrande plasticity chart.
3.Highly organic soils: Include peat, muck, and humus, characterized
by high organic matter content.
OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health
Administration) soil classification
• categorizes soil types based on their stability, primarily for excavation safety. The four categories are: Solid
Rock, Type A, Type B, and Type C, with Solid Rock being the most stable and Type C the least. This
classification is crucial for determining appropriate safety measures during excavation work to prevent
cave-ins and other hazards.
• Here's a breakdown of each category:
• Solid Rock:
• While theoretically the most stable, it's rarely encountered in trenches due to the fracturing caused by
excavation.
• Type A:
• These are cohesive soils with an unconfined compressive strength of 1.5 tsf (tons per square foot) or
greater. Examples include clay, silty clay, and sandy clay. Type A soils must be free of fissuring, previous
disturbance, and other factors like groundwater that would make them unstable.
• Type B:
• This category includes granular soils (like silt and sandy loam) and cohesive soils that don't meet the
criteria for Type A. It also includes previously disturbed soils and fissured or cracked rock, even if it would
otherwise be considered Type A.
• Type C:
• This is the least stable category, including granular soils (like gravel, sand, and silt), submerged soil, and
soil from which water is freely seeping. Unstable or previously disturbed rock also falls under this category.
Soil Classification
Textural Classification:
Based on the proportions of sand, silt, and clay
particles, it defines various soil textures like sandy
loam, clay loam, silt loam, etc.
2. USDA Textural Triangle: A graphical tool used to
classify soils based on their textural class.
• The United States Department of Agriculture
defines twelve major soil texture classifications
( sand, loamy sand, sandy loam, loam, silt loam,
silt, sandy clay loam, clay loam, silty clay loam,
sandy clay, silty clay, and clay). Soil textures are
classified by the fractions of sand, silt, and clay in a
soil. Classifications are typically named for the
primary constituent particle size or a combination of
the most abundant particles sizes (e.g. sandy clay,
silty clay). Loams are soils having roughly equal
proportions of sand, silt, and/or clay in a soil
sample.
• Texture affects many soil properties, such as
infiltration, structure, porosity, water holding
capacity, and chemistry. For more information on
the role and importance of soil textur
AASHTO Soil Classification System
Guide
• The AASHTO (American Association of State Highway and
Transportation Officials. ) classification system was created in
1928 and is one of the first engineering classification systems. The
system was developed for use in highway construction and rates soils
for their suitability for support of roadway pavements. Soil material
under the AASHTO system only includes soils which pass the 3-inch
sieve.
AASHTO Soil Classification System
Guide
• Particle Size Distribution • Wet sieving is carried out for separating
fine grains from coarse grains by washing the soil specimen on a 75
micron sieve mesh.
• Dry sieve analysis • It is carried out on particles coarser than 75
micron. • Samples (with fines removed) are dried and shaken through
a set of sieves of descending size. • The weight retained in each sieve
is measured. • The cumulative percentage quantities finer than the
sieve sizes (passing each given sieve size) are then determined. • The
resulting data is presented as a distribution curve with • grain size
along x-axis (log scale) and • percentage passing along y-axis
(arithmetic scale).
• Cu < 2 are uniform size as
Cc 1-3
• Cu < 4 are well graded
sand as Cc 1-3
• Cu < 6 are well graded
gravel as Cc 1-3 Cu and
• Cc not meet the above
requirements are
classified as gap graded
• Atterberg Limits: These are water contents at certain limiting or
critical stages in soil behavior. These limits are: Liquid Limit (LL): The
water content, in percent, at the point of transition from plastic to
liquid state Or The minimum moisture content at which soil begins to
behave as a liquid and begins to flow
• Atterberg Limits: These are water contents at certain limiting or
critical stages in soil behavior.
• These limits are: Liquid Limit (LL): The water content, in percent, at
the point of transition from plastic to liquid state Or
• The minimum moisture content at which soil begins to behave as a
liquid and begins to flow
• Plastic Limit (PL): The water content, in percent, at the point of
transition from semisolid to plastic state. Or the moisture content at
which soil begins to behave as a plastic material
• Shrinkage Limit (SL): The water content, in percent, at the point of
transition from solid to semisolid state Or The moisture content at
which no further volume change occurs with further reduction in
moisture content
STAGES OF CONSISTENCY
• Liquid Limit Test:
Turn the crank at a rate of about two
• Take about 120g of the given soil sieved through 425 micron revolutions per second and
• sieve and count the blows necessary to close the groove
• mix it thoroughly with distilled water to form a uniform in the soil
for a distance of about 12mm.
• paste. Take the water content sample from the
• The amount of water to be added shall be such, so as to closed part of the
groove.
• require 30 to 35 Blows of the cup
Weigh the sample.
• to cause the required closure of the groove. Remove the remaining soil from brass cup
• Place a small amount of soil to the correct depth of the and
return it to the porcelain dish.
• grooving tool, well centred in the cup with respect to the
• hinge.
• Smooth the surface of the soil pat carefully, and
• using the grooving tool, cut a clean straight groove that
• completely separates the soil pat into two parts.
Add a small amount of water to the soil
further in the dish and
carefully mix to a consistency to yield
a blow count of between 25 and 30 blows.
Repeat the sequence for two additional
tests
for blow counts of between 20 and 25 and
between 15 and 20, for a total of four test
determinations
w % values are plotted against the
logarithm of the number of blows, N.
• Repeat this sequence three more times.
• place the moisture cup in the oven for 24 hours
• Put the weights of dry crumble sample of
different
• trials
• PL = Average of w1, w2, w3….
• Where w1 plastic limit water content of trail 1
sample =
• {[Wet weight – Dry weight] x 100} / Dry weight
Problem Set 1 (Submit at exactly
5pm today)
• 1. Field density testing (e.g., sand replacement method) has shown bulk density of a
compacted road base to be 2.06 t/m3 with a water content of 11.6%. Specific gravity of
the soil grains is 2.69. Calculate the dry density, porosity, void ratio and degree of
saturation.
• 2. A cylindrical specimen of moist clay has a diameter of 38 mm, height of 76 mm and
mass of 174.2grams. After drying in the oven at 105oC for about 24 hours, the mass is
reduced to 148.4 grams. Find the dry density, bulk density and water content of the
clay. Assuming the specific gravity of the soil grains as 2.71; find the void ratio and the
degree of saturation.
• 3. Field density testing on a soil sample has shown bulk density of a compacted road
base to be 2.06 t/m3 with water content of 11.6%. Specific gravity of the soil grains is
2.69. Calculate the dry density, porosity, void ratio and degree of saturation.
• 4. A soil sample assumed to consist of spherical grains all of same diameter will have
max void ratio, when the grains are arranged in a cubical array. Find the void ratio, dry
unit weight. Take unit weight of grains 20kN/m2 .
• 5. A soil sample of 5 kg with a natural water content of 3%. How much water to be
added to rise the water content to 12%.

6. The dry density of a sand with porosity of 0.387 is 1600 kg/m³. Find the void ratio of
the soil and the specific gravity of the soil solids.
• Thank you!