Geotechnical Engineering 1

Soil Mechanics
 Introduction

Engr. Kristine May Maturan College of Engineering Technology Cor Jesu College, Inc.
 GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING 1

Geotechnical engineering is the branch of Civil Engineering

concerned with the engineering behavior of earth
materials. Geotechnical engineering uses principles of
*Soil Mechanics and **Rock Mechanics to investigate
subsurface conditions and materials
*Soil mechanics is the branch of science that deals with the study of the
physical properties of soil and the behavior of soil masses subjected to
various types of forces.
**Rock mechanics is the theoretical and applied science of the mechanical
behaviour of rock and rock masses.

Engr. Kristine May Maturan College of Engineering Technology Cor Jesu College, Inc.
 GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING 1
Examples of
Geotechnical engineering construction

Engr. Kristine May Maturan College of Engineering Technology Cor Jesu College, Inc.
 GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING 1
Examples of
Geotechnical engineering construction

Engr. Kristine May Maturan College of Engineering Technology Cor Jesu College, Inc.
 GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING 1
Examples of
Geotechnical engineering construction

Engr. Kristine May Maturan College of Engineering Technology Cor Jesu College, Inc.
 GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING 1
Examples of
Geotechnical engineering construction

Engr. Kristine May Maturan College of Engineering Technology Cor Jesu College, Inc.
 GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING 1

Geotechnical Engineering is simply the branch of

engineering that deals with structures built of, or in, natural
soils and rocks.

Engr. Kristine May Maturan College of Engineering Technology Cor Jesu College, Inc.
 GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING 1

• Karl Terzaghi (1883 – 1963)

• Published the book Erdbaumechanik auf Bodenphysikalisher
Grundlage in 1925 which gave birth to a new era in the
development of soil mechanics.
• He is known as the father of modern soil mechanics.

Engr. Kristine May Maturan College of Engineering Technology Cor Jesu College, Inc.
 GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING 1
According to Karl Terzaghi (1883-1963):
“Unfortunately, soils are made by nature and not by man, and
the products of nature are always complex... As soon as we
pass from steel and concrete to earth, the omnipotence of
theory ceases to exist. Natural soil is never uniform. Its
properties change from point to point while our knowledge of
its properties are limited to those few spots at which the
samples have been collected. In soil mechanics the accuracy
of computed results never exceeds that of a crude estimate,
and the principal function of theory consists in teaching us
what and how to observe in the field.”

Engr. Kristine May Maturan College of Engineering Technology Cor Jesu College, Inc.