Dr.

Francisco Grajales I sem 2020

SOIL MECHANICS
HOMEWORK # 8
TOPICS: STRESSES IN SOILS

Important Note: The homework must be solved by hand, unless specifically indicated.

PART I: RESEARCH (30 pt)

Question 1 (10 pt)

Read the paper by Terzaghi (1936) and the explanation by Atkinson and Bransby (1978).
Explain the principle of effective stress ant its significance in soil mechanics and foundation
engineering.

Question 2 (20 pt)

On Friday, June 5, 2020 a landslide destroyed 8 homes in the town of Alba, Norway. You have
been hired as a consulting engineer to assess the situation. Watch the video in the link provided
below. Watch the video and explain what happened. How is this failure related to effective
stress? For help with this research task, you can read the attached document by Osterman (1965)
and reliable publications available in the internet, such as those presented by the Norwegian
Geotechnical Institute (NGI).
• Link to Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3amom2Nz_k
• Link to NGI: https://www.ngi.no/eng/Services/Technical-expertise/Landslides/Quick-clay

PART II: PROBLEMS (70 pt)

Problem 1 (20 pt)

A rectangular area is subjected to a uniformly distributed load of q = 225 kPa. Determine the increase in
vertical stress at a depth of 3 meters under points A, B and C.
Dr. Francisco Grajales I sem 2020

Problem 2 (20 pt)

A soil profile consisting of three layers is shown in the figure below. Calculate the values of total stress,
pore water pressure and effective stress at points A, B, C and D and plot their variation with depth.

Layer 1: H = 5m, e = 0.7, Gs = 2.69

Layer 2: H = 8m, e = 0.55, Gs = 2.7
Layer 3: H = 3 m, w = 38%, e = 1.2

Problem 3 (30 pt)

Use the equations for the increase in stress due to a strip loading to obtain the pressure bulb for increases
in normal stress (vertical and horizontal) and increase in shear strength. Since the problem is symmetric,
you can graph only half of the semi-infinite space. For this problem you will need to use iteration loops
and contour plots. Such mathematical operations can be performed in MS Excel and also softwares such
as Matlab.
Dr. Francisco Grajales I sem 2020