Refresher Course on Geotechnical Engineering, Short Course Programme

Geotechnical engineers, whether they be engineering geologists or civil engineers, need to have a good understanding of how soils behave in principle and how to model that behaviour mathematically to be able to apply their understanding to any problem they encounter.

The aim of this course is to develop the abilities of the delegates in the application of soil mechanics principles to selected aspects of geotechnical engineering, such that they can then confidently extend and apply those abilities to more complex problems in practice using mentors, text books and papers to guide them.

The course will be taught via a series of lectures followed by tutorial questions with case studies to illustrate the material. Delegates will be encouraged to undertake some additional guided study after the course to further reinforce their learning. The course comprises a review of the scope and extent of geotechnical engineering, and the requirements for a successful solution to a problem, before discussing soil characterisation, ground modelling and parametric assessment. The underlying mechanics and principles of foundations, walls and slopes will then be reviewed and applied to design scenarios.

The indicative content comprises the following:

Overview of Geotechnical Engineering

• The 3 pillars
• Basis for a successful solution to a problem
• Ground risk management

Soil Characterisation

• Soil classification
• Requirements of a site investigation
• Ground modelling
• Parametric assessment

Reprise of Fundamental Soil Mechanics Principles

• Quantification of soils
• Total and effective stresses
• Conceptual models for strength and compressibility
• Fundamentals of how water flows through soils

Foundations

• Types of foundation
• Failure modes for shallow foundations and piles
• Shear failure and bearing capacity theory
• Stress distribution and settlements
• Shallow foundation design
• Pile foundation design

Retaining Walls

• Types of wall
• Earth pressures and influence of movements
• Principles of movements around excavations
• Mechanics and fundamental design of gravity walls
• Mechanics and fundamental design of embedded walls

Slope Stability

• Types of failure
• Effect of material type on the time to failure
• Principles of circular slope stability analysis
• Introduction to the design of remedial measures

The intended audience for this course are graduate civil and structural engineers wanting to develop their understanding and skills, engineering geologists with some design experience wanting to develop or refresh their understanding, and graduate and recently chartered geotechnical engineers wanting to refresh their understanding.

At the end of this course delegates should have:

• Refreshed their knowledge of the fundamental composition of soils and how they are classified, and established a conceptual framework for how soils behave
• Practiced their skills in ground modelling and parametric assessment
• Developed their knowledge and understanding of bearing capacity theory and its applicability to shallow foundation design and piles
• Developed their knowledge and understanding of earth pressure theory, its relationship to ground strain, and retaining wall design
• Developed their knowledge and understanding of the principles of slope stability analysis, and applied that to slopes and their remediation.

If you have any questions you can contact us by:

Email
Telephone +44 (0)115 848 2813

There is currently no module information available for this course.