ECE 2303 SOIL MECH 1 3rd Year
Tulatia Mungathia ©2014: Sem 1 CCEE Page 1
ECE 2303 SOIL MECHANICS I
COURSE OUTLINE
1. Origin and composition of soils.
2. Soil structure.
3. Physical and mechanical properties of soil
...
ECE 2303 SOIL MECH 1 3rd Year
Tulatia Mungathia ©2014: Sem 1 CCEE Page 1
ECE 2303 SOIL MECHANICS I
COURSE OUTLINE
1. Origin and composition of soils.
2. Soil structure.
3. Physical and mechanical properties of soil.
4. Soil classification: classification tests; sieve analysis, hydrometer analysis, atternberg limits.
5. Compaction of soil.
6. Permeability: flow of water in soils, Darcy's law of flow.
7. Seepage: capillarity, flow nets seepage forces and piping.
8. Effective stress and stress distribution in soils.
9. Laboratory work.
REFERENCES
1. Mohr circles, stress paths and geotecchnics by R.H.G Parry
2. Basic and applied soil mechanics by G. Ranjan & A.S.R Rao
3. Elements of soil mechanics by G.N Smith
4. Solving problems in soil mechanics by H.C Sultaon
5. Soil Mechanics by F.F Craig
6. Hand book of soil mechanics: Soil testing by Arpad Kezdi
ECE 2303 SOIL MECH 1 3rd Year
Tulatia Mungathia ©2014: Sem 1 CCEE Page 2
CHAPTER 1
ORIGIN AND COMPOSITION OF SOILS
Introduction
Soil Mechanics
** Soil Mechanics is one of the youngest disciplines of Civil Engineering involving the study of soil,
its behavior and application as an engineering material.
*According to Terzaghi (1948): "Soil Mechanics is the application of laws of mechanics and
hydraulics to engineering problems dealing with sediments and other unconsolidated accumulations of
solid particles produced by the mechanical and chemical disintegration of rocks regardless of whether
or not they contain an admixture of organic constituent."
Definition of Soil
* The term Soil has various meanings, depending upon the general field in which it is being considered.
*To a Pedologist ... Soil is the substance existing on the earth's surface, which grows and develops
plant life.
*To a Geologist ..... Soil is the material in the relative thin surface zone within which roots occur, and
all the rest of the crust is grouped under the term ROCK irrespective of its hardness.
*To an Engineer .... Soil is the un-aggregated or un-cemented deposits of mineral and/or organic
particles or fragments covering large portion of the earth's crust.
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