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Civil Engineering 240-456: Foundation Engineering
Course Description: 3 cr. U/G. Site investigation; foundation
bearing capacity andsettlement; design of spread and combined
footings; lateral earth pressures; retaining wall
design; slope stability analysis; pile foundations. Prereq: Jr
St; Civ Eng 335(P)
Textbook: Braja M. Das, Principles of Foundation Engineering,
Fourth Edition, ITP, 1999.
Prerequisites by Topics:
Knowledge in soil mechanics especially shear strength of
soil
Working knowledge in mechanics of materials is essential. This
includes Statics andStrength of materials.
Course Objectives:
Broad Objectives
Students will learn how to design shallow and deep foundations,
retaining walls, and
slopes. Students will learn how to utilize their knowledge in
soil mechanics to perform
various types of engineering calculations. This includes
consolidation analysis for
foundations, and stability analysis of slopes and retaining
walls.
Learning Outcomes
Students will be able to design and analyze a variety of
geotechnical engineering
structures including foundations, piles, retaining walls,
geosynthetic-reinforced soilstructures, and slopes.
Students learn how to interact professionally among themselves
during their
assigned design projects where they will be divided into teams
(3 students each).
Students are responsible for submitting professionally-written
reports for their designprojects.
Students will present their projects to the class (1015 minutes
presentations).
Topics Covered:
Review
o Soil Properties and soil classificationo Compaction
o Stress analysiso Consolidation
o Shear strength
Topicso Shallow foundations
o Mat foundationo Lateral earth pressure and retaining wall
o Sheet pileso Piles in sand
o Piles in clayo Slope stability
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Projects
o Project 1: Design of a spread footing
o Project 2: Design of a retaining wallo Project 3: Design of
piles
Class/Laboratory Schedule: Two 75-minute lectures per week.
Contribution of Course to Meeting the Professional
Component:
Students will learn how to utilize the soil mechanics knowledge
they acquired in the SoilMechanics course to perform various types
of engineering calculations. This includes
consolidation analysis for foundations and stability analysis of
slopes and retaining walls.They will learn the basics of foundation
engineering in this course. This includes the design
of shallow and deep foundations, retaining walls, and slopes.
This course will prepare themfor other geotechnical courses such as
advanced foundation engineering (CE 690) and
advanced soil mechanics (CE 735).
Relationship to Program Objectives:
1c Students use simple mathematics to derive relationships among
soil properties.They use elementary partial differential equations
to solve simple boundary-valueflow and consolidation problems. Soil
Mechanics (CE 335), Statics (CE 201), and
Strength of Materials (CE 303) are heavily utilized in this
course.1d Students solve problems related to the theoretical part
of this course.
2d Design of shallow and deep foundations, retaining walls,
geosynthetic-reinforced soil
structures, and design of slopes will be dealt with throughout
this course.2e Projects include written reports and oral
presentations.
2f Students who have a special interest in geotechnical
engineering can pursue a higherdegree in CE with emphasis on
geotechnical engineering. They also can pursue a
career in geotechnical engineering.3d Occasionally, students
will be assigned projects that will require teamwork.
Prepared by: Sam Helwany, October 15, 2001
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Methods of Assessment:
Course Evaluations by Students
Graded Projects
Graded Examinations
Instructor Judgment
FE Examination PE Examination
Resources Commonly Available:
Instructor
Overhead Projector
Computer Software: Spreadsheet
Desirable Student Competencies:
Ability to work in team settings
Ability to prepare professional reports for design projects
Ability to use computers and some computer graphics
