Absorbed water Water held mechanically (by surface tension) in a soil mass Activity Ratio of the plasticity index to the clay fraction Adhesion Shearing resistance between soil and another material under zero externally applied pressure Adsorbed water Water in a soil mass, held by physio-chemical forces, having physical properties are substantially different from absorbed or … Read more
The principle terms used by civil engineers to describe soils are Gravel (particle size larger than 4.75 mm) Sand (particle size within 4.75 mm to 0.075mm) Silt & Clay (particle size less than 0.075mm) Most natural soils consist of a mixture of two or more of these constituents and may contain an admixture of organic … Read more
The embankments are constructed with locally available soils, provided it fulfils the specified requirements. Procedure of compaction to be adopted will depend on the type of soil being used in construction. General guidelines to deal with compaction of various types of soils for attaining optimum dry density/relative density at minimum effort, have been briefly given … Read more
As civil engineer, we built everything on the surface of earth. So it is important to know the structure of earth. Our planet earth was formed some 4500 million years ago. During this time period it has gone through many changes. Previously it was a ball of molten mass and gradually as the time elapsed, … Read more
Prior to construction of a structure, soil investigation is done in order to get the idea of subsurface condition. The scope of a soils investigation is generally depends on many factor, such as Type, size & importance of the structure The client Engineer’s familiarity with the soils at site Local building code Economy If an … Read more
There are three principle factors to consider before choosing the most appropriate type of foundation for a given structure. These are as follow Function of the structure and loads it must carry The sub surface condition Cost of foundation in comparison with cost of the superstructure Because of these factors, there exist several acceptable solutions … Read more
Phase problems are very important in soil engineering. Below are given most commonly used formulas to solve problems related to weight volume calculations. The notations used in these formulas are as follows, γb = Bulk density of soil mass γw = Density of water γsat = Saturated density γsub = Submerged density G = … Read more
As per IS-2911-Part1 / Sec-2, the ultimate load carrying capacity (Qu) of pile in cohesive soils is given by the given below, where the first term represents the end bearing resistance(Qb) and the second term gives the skin friction resistance(Qs). Where, Qu = Utimate load capacity, kN Ap = Cross-sectional area of pile tip, … Read more
Piles can either be driven into the ground (driven piles) or be installed in a predrilled hole (bored piles or drilled shafts). The construction of bore cast in situ concrete pile consists of 4 primary phases 1.Pile boring, 2.Reinforcement cage lowering, 3.Flushing 4.Pile concreting. Now we will discuss each phase one by one. 1. Pile … Read more
As per IS-2911-Part1/sec2, the ultimate load carrying capacity of pile, Qu, consists of two parts. One part is due to friction, called skin friction or shaft friction or side shear, Qs and the other is due to end bearing at the base or tip of the pile toe, Qb. The equation given below is used … Read more