Introduction to Geotechnical Engineering, An, 2nd edition

Published by Pearson (October 18, 2010) © 2011

  • Thomas C. Sheahan

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Intended for use in the first of a two course sequence in geotechnical engineering usually taught to third- and fourth-year undergraduate civil engineering students.
An Introduction to Geotechnical Engineering offers a descriptive, elementary introduction to geotechnical engineering with applications to civil engineering practice.
  • Focuses on the engineering classification, behavior, and properties of soils necessary for the design and construction of foundations and earth structures.
  • Emphasis is placed on the practical, and admittedly empirical, knowledge of soil and rock behavior required by geotechnical engineers for the design and construction of foundations, embankments, and underground structures.
  • To strengthen the connection between the fundamental and applied, the authors indicate wherever possible the engineering significance of the property being discussed, why the property is needed, how it is determined or measured, and, to some extent, how it is actually used in specific design applications.
  • Simple geotechnical designs are illustrated, such as determining the flow, uplift pressures, and exit gradients in 2-D seepage problems, and estimating the settlement of shallow foundations on sands and saturated clays.
  • Chapter 3 on Geology, Landforms, and Origin of Geo-Materials is new to this edition because these topics are so critical to understanding the properties and subsequent behavior of geo-materials under various loading conditions.
  • Stress distribution and settlement analyses, including immediate settlement, are in a new Chapter 10 to separate these practical procedures from the more basic time-rate and compressibility behavior of natural and compacted soils and rock masses described in Chapters 8 and 9.
  • New material on Janbu’s Tangent Modulus Method, in situ determination of compressibility of soil and rock, Burland’s “intrinsic properties” of soils, and finite difference solution to the Terzaghi consolidation equation.
  • Extension of the Schmertmann method for prediction of field compression curves to overconsolidated soils, along with updated coverage of Mesri’s work on secondary compression.
  • Shear strength properties of soils and rocks are now discussed in three new chapters.
    • Chapter 11 on the Mohr circle, failure theories, and strength testing of soil and rocks has new material on the obliquity relations and in situ tests for shear strength.
    • Chapter 12 is an introduction to shear strength of soils and rock and is primarily suitable for undergraduate students. More advanced topics in shear strength of soils and rocks are discussed in Chapter 13, which graduate students and practicing geotechnical engineers should find useful. New material in Chapter 12 includes multi-stage testing, in situ tests for the shear strength of sands and the strength of compacted clays, rocks, and transitional materials.
    • The stress path method is now in Chapter 13, which also includes sections on critical state soil mechanics and an introduction to constitutive models. Advanced topics are discussed on the shear strength of sands that start with the fundamental basis of their drained, undrained, and plane strain strengths. The residual shear strength of sands and clays provides a transition into the stress- deformation and shear strength of clays, where we discuss failure definitions, Hvorslev strength parameters, stress history, Jürgenson-Rutledge hypothesis, consolidation methods to overcome sample disturbance, anisotropy, plane strain strength, and strain rate effects. Chapter 13 ends with sections on the strength of unsaturated soils, properties of soils under dynamic loading, and failure theories for rock.

Table of Contents

  • Chapter 1 Introduction to Geotechnical Engineering
    • 1.1 Geotechnical Engineering
    • 1.2 The Unique Nature of Soil and Rock Materials
    • 1.3 Scope of This Book
    • 1.4 Historical Development of Geotechnical Engineering
    • 1.5 Suggested Approach to the Study of Geotechnical Engineering
    • 1.6 Notes on Symbols and Units
    • 1.7 Some Comments on How to Study in General
    • Problems
  • Chapter 2 Index and Classification Properties of Soils
    • 2.1 Introduction
    • 2.2 Basic Definitions and Phase Relations for Soils
    • 2.3 Solution of Phase Problems
      • 2.3.1 Submerged or Buoyant Density
      • 2.3.2 Unit Weight and Specific Gravity
    • 2.4 Soil Texture
    • 2.5 Grain Size and Grain Size Distribution
    • 2.6 Particle Shape
    • 2.7 Atterberg Limits
      • 2.7.1 Cone Liquid Limit
      • 2.7.2 One Point Liquid Limit Test
      • 2.7.3 Additional Comments on the Atterberg Limits
    • 2.8 Introduction To Soil Classification
    • 2.9 Unified Soil Classification System (USCS)
      • 2.9.1 Visual-Manual Classification of Soils
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Bob Holtz, PhD, PE, D.GE, has degrees from Minnesota and Northwestern, and he attended the Special Program in Soil Mechanics at Harvard under Professor A. Casagrande. Before coming to the UW in 1988, he was on the faculty at Purdue and Cal State-Sacramento. He has worked for the California Dept. of Water Resources, Swedish Geotechnical Institute, NRC-Canada, and as a consulting engineer in Chicago, Paris, and Milano. His research interests and publications are mostly on geosynthetics, soil improvement, foundations, and soil properties. He is author, co-author, or editor of 23 books and book chapters, as well as more than 270 technical papers, discussions, reviews, and major reports.

Professor Holtz is a Distinguished Member of ASCE, was President of the ASCE Geo-Institute 2000-1, and currently serves as the International Secretary for the Geo-Institute. He is a Member Emeritus of TRB Committee on Soil and Rock Properties, a Past President of North American Geosynthetics Society; and a member of several other professional and technical organizations. He has taught numerous short courses and given many presentations at seminars and conferences, both in the U.S. and abroad. In 2010 he was named the 46th Karl Terzaghi Lecturer, which has been presented at several US venues and in Brazil, China, and Canada. In 2008, he was named the Puget Sound Academic Engineer of the Year.

Throughout his academic career, Professor Holtz has had an active consulting practice, involving geosynthetics, foundations, soil reinforcing, soil improvement, properties and containment of nuclear wastes, slope stability and landslides, investigation of failures, and acting as an expert witness. His clients have included federal, state, and local public agencies, civil and geotechnical engineering consultants and contractors, attorneys, and manufacturers, both in North America and overseas.

William D. Kovacs, F. ASCE, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor and former Chairman of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering from 1984 to 1990, Dr. Kovacs has conducted sponsored research under the aegis of the National Science Foundation (NSF), the United States National Bureau of Standards (USNBS), the Bureau of Reclamation (USBR), the Naval Facilities Command (NAVFAC), the United States Geological Survey (USGS), and the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACOE). He is the author and co-author of over sixty-five publications. A registered professional engineer, a member of the Chi Epsilon Civil Engineering Honor Society, and a recipient of predoctoral grants in 1967 and 1968, Dr. Kovacs’ geotechnical engineering research interests focus on: In Situ Testing; Foundation Engineering; Dynamic Soil Property Evaluation; and Earthquake Engineering

Dr. Kovacs received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, his M.S. from the University of California, Berkeley, the B.C.E. from Cornell University, and P.E. (CA 1965, IN 1974-2002, RI 1998).

Thomas C. Sheahan is a Professor and the Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Northeastern University. Dr. Sheahan received his Sc.D. in Civil Engineering from M.I.T., his M.S. in Civil Engineering from M.I.T., and his B.S. in Civil Engineering from Union College.Dr. Sheahan's areas of expertise include: Rate Effects in Soils; Offshore Geohazards; Sampling Disturbance Effects; and Laboratory Instrumentation. He is licensed as a professional engineer in California and Massachusetts. Among his most recent honors and awards are the Northeastern College of Engineering Dean’s Meritorious Service Award (2009), the ASTM Committee D-18, Special Service Award (2009), the ASTM Committee on Publications, Certificate of Appreciation (2008), and the Tau Beta Pi National Capers and Marion McDonald Mentoring Award (2007).

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