COURSE PACKET 01 4.

Ground Improvement and Soil

Stabilization
GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING 5. Site Investigation and Soil Testing
- is a specialized field of civil 6. Earthquake and Seismic Design
engineering focused on the behavior 7. Environmental and Sustainable
of earth materials like soil and rock. It Development
applies principles of soil and rock 8. Infrastructure Development
mechanics to design and construct safe 9. Prevention of Structural Failures
and stable foundations, slopes, retaining
structures, and other systems
interacting with the ground. Essentially, Foundation Design and Stability
it ensures that structures built on or - Geotechnical engineering provides the
within the earth are stable and reliable. knowledge needed to design safe and
- is the foundation of all civil engineering efficient foundations for buildings,
projects, ensuring that structures are bridges, towers, and other structures.
safe, stable, and sustainable by - It ensures the soil can support the load
understanding and managing the without excessive settlement or failure.
behavior of soil and rock beneath the
ground. Slope Stability and Landslide
Prevention
- Understanding soil behavior helps in
SOIL MECHANICS assessing and designing slopes for
- is a branch of engineering that studies roads, embankments, and dams.
the behavior of soil as a construction - It prevents disasters like landslides,
material. It focuses on understanding slope failures, and erosion.
how soil responds to stresses and
loads, particularly in relation to Earth Retaining Structures
supporting structures and infrastructure. - Geotechnical principles are used to
Key aspects include soil's strength, design retaining walls, sheet piles, and
compressibility, and ability to transmit other structures that hold back soil or
water. water.
- These are critical in basement
IMPORTANCE OF GEOTECHNICAL construction, highway cuts, and
ENGINEERING waterfront projects.

1. Foundation Design and Stability Ground Improvement and Soil

2. Slope Stability and Landslide Stabilization
Prevention - Some soils need to be improved
3. Earth Retaining Structures (compacted, drained, reinforced) before
construction.

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- Geotechnical engineers evaluate and COURSE PACKET 02
implement the best ground improvement
techniques. FORMATION AND ORIGIN OF SOIL

Soil Investigation and Testing SOIL

- Geotechnical engineers conduct - is the loose, weathered material on
subsurface investigations (boring, Earth's surface that supports plant life
sampling, testing) to determine soil and is a complex mixture of minerals,
properties before any construction organic matter, water, and air
begins.
- These studies help prevent costly ORIGIN OF SOIL
surprises and design.
- ROCK is defined as a natural
Prevention of Structural Failures aggregate of mineralogical composition
- Many structural failures (e.g., leaning that is bounded by strong and cohesive
buildings, cracked foundations, force. Rocks are one of the essential
collapsing retaining walls) are due to types of construction material used from
poor understanding of subsurface ancient times. Rocks are formed when
conditions. the modern magma cools down after
- Geotechnical engineering helps reaching the earth’s surface.
prevent these by proper soil evaluation
and design. - SOIL is prepared when the
disintegration of rock occurs. Rocks
FIELDS OF GEOTECHNICAL are hard, and the soil is loose. Rocks
ENGINEERING are used as masonry to construct walls
and foundations. Soil is used as filling
1. Soil Mechanics materials on construction sites. Rocks
2. Rock Mechanics are hard and impermeable; soils are
3. Foundation Engineering porous and permeable.
4. Slope Stability Engineering
5. Earth Retaining Structures WEATHERING
6. Ground Improvement and Soil
Stabilization WEATHERING is the breakdown of
7. Geosynthetics Engineering rocks into smaller particles, which
8. Geoenvironmental Engineering eventually become soil.
9. Earthquake Geotechnical Engineering
10. Underground and Tunneling Types of Weathering:
Engineering A. Mechanical Weathering
11. Pavement Geotechnics B. Chemical Weathering
12. Offshore and Marine Geotechnics C. Biological Weathering

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MECHANICAL WEATHERING SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
➢ Also called as “Physical Weathering” - Formed from the compaction and
➢ Breakdown of rocks without cementation of sediments (fragments
changing their chemical composition. of other rocks, minerals, or organic
➢ Caused by: material).
✓ Temperature changes (freeze-thaw - Often layered and may be weak or
cycles) permeable; stability depends on type
✓ Abrasion by wind, water, or ice and condition.

TYPES OF ROCKS
CHEMICAL WEATHERING
➢ Breakdown of rocks due to chemical METAMORPHIC ROCKS
reactions with water, air, or acids. - Formed when existing rocks are
➢ Alters the mineral composition of changed by heat, pressure, or
rocks. chemical processes, without melting.
➢ Common processes: - Generally hard and strong; used in
✓ Oxidation (e.g., rusting of iron construction and decorative stone.
minerals)
✓ Hydrolysis (reaction with water) TYPES OF SOIL
✓ Carbonation (reaction with carbonic - For soil to form from rocks, it takes an
acid from CO₂) average of 500 years or more. The soil
is usually formed when rocks break up
BIOLOGICAL WEATHERING into their constituent parts. When a
➢ Caused by living organisms such as range of different forces act on the rocks
bacteria, fungi, and they break into smaller parts to form the
plant roots. soil. These forces also include the
➢ Often works with physical and impact of wind, water and the reaction
chemical weathering from salts.

TYPES OF ROCKS SANDY SOIL

- It consists of small particles of
IGNEOUS ROCKS weathered rock.
- Formed from the cooling and - Sandy soils are one of the poorest
solidification of molten magma or types of soil for growing plants
lava. because it has very low nutrients and
- Usually strong and durable; good for poor water holding capacity, which
foundations and aggregates. makes it hard for the plant’s roots to
absorb water.
- This type of soil is very good for the
drainage system.

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SILT SOIL COURSE PACKET 03
- Silt, which is known to have much
smaller particles compared to sandy soil SOIL COMPOSITION AND
and is made up of rock and other STRUCTURE
mineral particles, which are smaller than
sand and larger than clay. SOIL COMPOSITION
- It is the smooth and fine quality of
the soil that holds water better than SOIL is a three-phase system,
sand. composed of:
- Silt is easily transported by moving
currents and it is mainly found near 1. Soil Particles (Soil Solids)
the river, lake and other water bodies. ➢ These are the mineral grains and
organic matter that
CLAY SOIL make up the soil skeleton.
- Clay is the smallest particle amongst ➢ Mineral matter: Derived from
the other two types of soil. The particles weathered rocks (sand, silt, clay).
in this soil are tightly packed together ➢ Organic matter: Decomposed plant
with each other with very little or no and animal material that enriches the
airspace. soil and affects its properties (especially
- This soil has very good water storage in topsoil).
qualities and makes it hard for moisture
and air to penetrate into it. 2. Water - occupies some of the voids
- It is very sticky to the touch when wet, between soil particles.
but smooth when dried. ●​ Gravitational water drains freely
due to gravity.
LOAMY SOIL ●​ Capillary water held between
- Loam is a combination of sand, silt and particles.
clay. It has the ability to retain moisture ●​ Hygroscopic water thin film
and nutrients; hence, it is more suitable tightly bound to particle surface
for farming. This soil is also referred to
as agricultural as it includes an 3. Air
equilibrium of all three types of soil ➢ Fills the remaining pore spaces not
materials being sandy, clay, and silt and occupied by water.
it also happens to have humus. ➢ Essential for plant roots and
- It also has higher calcium and pH microorganisms in topsoil.
levels because of its inorganic origins. ➢ In saturated soils, air is minimal or
absent.

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COURSE PACKET 04 MECHANICAL ANALYSIS OF SOIL
- Mechanical analysis is the
SOIL PROPERTIES determination of the size range of
- Soil properties are characteristics that particles present in a soil, expressed as
describe the physical, chemical, and a percentage of the total dry weight.
biological components of soil and how - Two methods generally are used to
these components interact. These find the particle-size distribution of soil:
properties influence a soil's ability to (1) sieve analysis - for particle
support plant growth, water retention, sizes larger than 0.075 mm in diameter,
and overall ecosystem health. and
- Properties: (Physical) (2) hydrometer analysis - for
1. Specific Gravity/Density particle sizes smaller than 0.075 mm in
2. Soil Particle Size diameter.
3. Particle Shape
SIEVE ANALYSIS
SPECIFIC GRAVITY, Gs - Sieve analysis (grain size analysis)
- Specific gravity is defined as the ratio consists of shaking the soil sample
of the unit weight of a given material through a set of sieves that have
to the unit weight of water. progressively smaller openings.
- The specific gravity of soil solids is - The current size designation for U.S.
often needed for various calculations in sieves uses 100 mm to 6.3 mm, and
soil mechanics. they are listed in Table 1-5.
- Specific gravity of common soils - After the 6.3-mm size designation, a
usually falls within the range of 2.6 to number designation is used, i.e., No. 4
2.9. to No. 400. These are shown in Table
1-6.
SOIL-PARTICLE SIZE - Several other countries have their own
- The sizes of particles that make up soil sieve sizes that are commonly referred
vary over a wide range. to by their aperture sizes. Here in the
- Soils generally are called gravel, Philippines, Table 1-5 and 1-6 are used.
sand, silt, or clay, depending on the
predominant size of particles within the HYDROMETER ANALYSIS
soil. - Hydrometer analysis is based on the
- To describe soils by their particle size, principle of sedimentation of soil grains
several organizations have developed in water.
particle-size classifications. (Chapter 03: - When a soil specimen is dispersed in
Soil Classification) water, the particles settle at different
velocities, depending on their shape,
size, weight, and the viscosity of the
water.

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- For simplicity, it is assumed that all the
soil particles are spheres and that the
velocity of soil particles can be
expressed by Stokes’ law

PARTICLE SHAPE
- The shape of particles present in a soil
mass is equally as important as the
particle size distribution because it has a
significant influence on the physical
properties of a given soil.
- The particle shape generally can be
divided into three major categories,
namely, bulky, flaky, and needle
shaped.

PARTICLE SHAPE
- Bulky particles are formed mostly by
mechanical weathering of rock and
minerals. Geologists use such terms as
angular, subangular, subrounded,
and rounded to describe the shapes of
bulky particles.

PARTICLE SHAPE
- Flaky particles have very low
sphericity - usually 0.01 or less. These
particles are predominantly clay
minerals.

PARTICLE SHAPE
- Needle-shaped particles are much
less common than the other two particle
types. Examples of soils containing
needle-shaped particles are some coral
deposits and attapulgite clays.

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