What soil mechanics is

What this module covers

• Explain what soil mechanics and geotechnical engineering set out to do
• Describe how soil differs from manufactured materials such as steel and concrete
• Recognise the main sources of uncertainty in the ground
• Identify how foundations, slopes, earthworks and retaining systems depend on soil behaviour
• Judge what ground information a given project needs, and why

Lessons

1. 1.1

   Soil as an engineering material

   Every structure meets the ground; the ground was not manufactured to a specification.

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2. 1.2

   What geotechnical engineering does

   Foundations, slopes, earthworks and retaining systems — and why ground behaviour can govern the whole design.

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3. 1.3

   What ground information does a project need?

   An interactive: match a project to the ground questions it must answer.

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