Geotechnical Engineering is an important component of education and training of Civil Engineers. All super-structures are to be supported on well-designed foundations for their safety and subsequent performance. Construction of foundation and substructures of tall buildings involves deep excavation for which suitable earth retaining structures are to be provided. The course imparts the principles of analysis and design for foundation and deep excavation of tall buildings.

Upon successful completion of this course, the students will be able to:

• Design different types of foundation system and components of substructure which interact with surrounding
• Design and construct control of earth retaining structures for deep
• Evaluate the geotechnical information which is used in the tall building
• Coordinate effectively with geotechnical engineers and collaboratively solve design problems.

None.

I. Overview of Soil and Rock Mechanics for Foundation and Deep Excavation

1. Principle of Soil Mechanics for Building Foundation
2. Principle of Rock Mechanics for Building Foundation engineering
3. Soil and rock investigation for foundation and deep excavation works

II. Design of shallow foundations (Mat, isolated and combined footings)

1. Types of shallow foundation
2. Design of shallow foundation
3. Bearing capacity determination and influencing factors
4. Settlement of foundation immediate settlement, consolidation settlement
5. Case histories

III. Design of deep foundations (Piles)

1. Classification of deep foundations, types of pile foundation
2. Load transfer mechanism: friction resistance, pile tip bearing load
3. Vertical bearing capacity and settlement of piles
4. Time effects, group action of piles, negative skin friction
5. Lateral loads on piles, pile testing and pile dynamic analyses
6. Bored Pile constructions and quality control
7. Pile load tests- Static Load test & Dynamic Load test
8. Case histories

IV. Piled Raft Foundation of tall building

1. Pile group effect
2. Principle of Piled Raft Foundation
3. Interaction in vertical load reaction between piles, raft and soils in piled raft foundation
4. Principle of piled raft design and analysis methods
5. Use of 3D geotechnical numerical in piled raft analysis
6. Case histories

V. Deep Excavation

1. Type of Earth Retaining structures – Flexible wall & Rigid Walls
2. Diaphragm wall and Piled wall design and construction considerations
3. Lateral support system and design consideration (Internal struts, Bracing, Tie-back anchors
4. Excavation sequence – Bottom-up versus Top Down Construction Method

 VI. Seismic Design of Building Foundation - Soil Structure Interaction

1. Inertial interaction
2. Kinematic interaction
3. Foundation damping

VII. Collaboration between geotechnical and structural engineers

1. Information needed by structural engineers
2. Information needed by geotechnical engineers

No designated textbook, but lecture notes will be provided by the instructor.

1. Tomlinson, M. J., (1995): Foundation Design and Construction, Pitman Books Ltd., London.
2. Winterkorn, H. F. and Fang, H. Y., (1994): Foundation Engineering Handbook, Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, New

• Geotechnique, Institution of Civil Engineers, London
• Journal of Geotechnical Engineering, American Society of Civil Engineers
• Soil and Foundations, Japanese Geotechnical Society
• Canadian Geotechnical Journal, Canadian Geotechnical Society

• Lecture Videos: 25 hours (online)
• Lecture Presentations: 20 hours (online)
• Faculty Interaction: 10 hours (on campus)
• Self-Study: 135 hours

The teaching and learning method involves two ways as mentioned below:

Online Component (75%):

• Study materials (presentations, videos, articles, etc.) through an online system
• Interactive medium of communication with faculty (instructor and TA), professional engineers and other students through chat
• Weekly assignments

In-class Component (25%):

• Lectures and discussion with faculty

The final grade will be computed according to the following weight distribution:

• Online Quizzes and progress: 10% (Online)
• Online Assignments: 40% (Online submission)
• Final Exam (Open Book): 50% (on-campus)

An “A” would be awarded if the student demonstrates thorough knowledge of concepts and techniques together with a high degree of skill and originality in the use of those concepts and techniques. A “B+” would be awarded if the student demonstrates thorough knowledge of concepts and techniques together with a fair degree of skill in the use of those concepts and techniques. A “B” would be awarded if the student demonstrates good level of knowledge of concepts and techniques with considerable skill in using them. A “C+” would be awarded if the student demonstrates that more efforts is required in relation to the required knowledge of concepts and techniques. A “C” would be awarded if the student demonstrates that intensive efforts is needed in relation to the required knowledge of concepts and techniques. A “D” would be awarded if the students’ understanding of the concepts and techniques is unacceptably low.