GEOTECHNICAL

ENGINEERING
Prof K. Rajagopal
gopalkr@iitm.ac.in
 Soil – the most preferred one

• Soil is the most widely used construction

material.
• Naturally occurring material. Properties are
mostly uncertain & highly variable.
• Soil that is best for agriculture poses most
problems for construction engineers.
• Soil most preferred by engineers for
construction is not fit for growing crops.
 Typical Tasks of a
Geotechnical Engineer
Anything and everything dealing with construction in, on or
with soil and rock like:
• Foundations for buildings, bridges etc.
• Embankments for roads, railways, flood control works
• Tunnels and Deep excavations in urban areas (e.g. Chennai
metro works)
• Dams and irrigation canals
• Construction of port and harbour structures
• Construction of air port runways
• Construction of engineered land fills
• Earthquake engineering
• Land reclamation like in Navi Mumbai – Vashi, etc.
• Erosion control on river banks, hill slopes, sea shores etc.
 Geotechnical Engineering courses
Core courses
• Geology and Soil Mechanics (4th semester)
Formation of soils, index properties of soils, flow through soils,
compaction and consolidation, stress distribution, etc.
• Geotechnical Engineering (5th semester)
Construction and design aspects – retaining walls, road and
railway embankments, shallow and deep foundations,
• Construction Materials Laboratory (5th Semester)
Electives
• Ground Improvement
• Foundation Engineering
• Introductory Rock Mechanics
• Dynamics of Foundations
• Principles of Reinforced Soil Structures

Dual Degree Students – M.Tech. core courses in Geotechnical

Engineering stream
Some engineering problems encountered with soils
•Unpredictable behaviour
•Limited strength
•Highly compressible
•Water can flow through easily
•Easily eroded from its place
•Collapsible/liquefaction
•Strength changes with season
•Expand and contracts in volume
 Some Challenging
Geotechnical Projects
 Construction of airport at
Pakyong, Sikkim

∼100m

∼100m

How do we create wide and long level ground in Himalayas with

good visibility for airplanes to land and take off ??
 Cross-section of the
Schematic of runway
slope formation
Construction of 33 m high embankment at Shillong bypass Road
 Problems to be Overcome

Highly mountainous area – difficult terrain

Sensitive ecological system
Heavy and intense rainfall – about 5m annually
Seismically active area
Many streams in the area & water stagnation
Heavy machinery is difficult to operate
Severe erosion of surface soil
 Construction of Ghat road at
Kanakadurga Temple Vijayawada

22m high wall 44m high wall

 Proposed methodology

Extra space gained

Proposed
Soil fill
Existing
hillock Height
varying from
20 to 44 m
 Anticipated problems
• Limited access to construction site
• Heavy rain fall
• Large surface run-off from upper reaches
• Limited space for mobility of equipments
• Large height of walls of this kind
• Hill slopes with disintegrated rock with
several joints/fissures
• Frequent boulder falls

13
Concept of flexible support to retain soil
Reinforced Soil Walls at Kanakadurga Temple, Vijayawada

Original 3.5 m narrow road Soil stabilised with geotextile layers and
small blocks – Reinforced Soil

Nearly 20 m wide road after construction

Large parking lot at top of hill
View of 22 m high Wall from Krishna River
Four-tier wall – 44 m high (one of the highest in the world)
Challenges in Railway Track Engineering

Tunnel formed below

railway embankment due to
water flow! near Chennai
Large ground
movements – tilting
of mile stones
 Track bed stabilization near Chennai

Railway track with distress geogrid being carried for installation

Track was lifted to place geogrid layer and Reinforced Section of railway track
ballast replaced and compacted
Track bed stabilisation in Konkan Railway line

Track went on sinking into soft ground below

Geotextile layer placed below track to separate the ballast and soft ground
 Rajasthan and Sirhind Canals in Punjab

•Built after independence about 50 years back

•Lives in Punjab and Rajasthan heavily dependent on this water
•Severe leakage of water through canal linings
•Water logging and loss of agricultural productivity
•Not enough water at tail end
 Proposed Solution

• Canals to be lined with thick geomembrane to

reduce leakage of water
• Geomembrane is a plastic sheet made of High
Density Polyethylene (HDPE)
• Thick geotextiles for drainage around canals
Kansai International Air Port, Osaka, Japan .. Built
entirely on an artificial island in the open sea
•Air port is 5 km off the coast of Japan in
Osaka bay
•Area of artificial island 1,275 acres
(approximately 5.1x106 sq. m.) almost
double the size of IITM campus

•Depth of water is 20 meters.

•Depth of soft clay layer is very very
large leading to settlements exceeding
10 metres
Innovative
support system
 LANDFILLS
•Engineered depressions in the ground with proper seals all
around
•To store domestic and industrial waste such that the ground
or the ground water does not get polluted ..

Steep slope

REQUIREMENTS: Large volume storage, should not leak

toxic leachates into sub-soil
Zerosite containment landfill pond at
Hindustan Zinc, Vizag
Construction of a landfill at Visakhapatnam HZL factory
Completed Landfill Pond

Soil slopes protected with vegetation

CHENNAI METRO RAIL
MAP of CHENNAI METRO
• Approximately 50% elevated
• Remaining underground
 Challenges
• Bridge foundations
• Tunneling below existing structures
• Deep excavations for construction of
stations and utilities
• Difficult ground conditions
• High water table at many places.
 Related courses
• Metro Systems and Engineering
• Underground Space Technology
SOME EARTHQUAKE
GEOTECHNICAL
PROBLEMS
Collapse of a storage silo at Kandla Port, Gujarat
Deep pit formed by sand boils, result of liquefaction
Collapse of a passenger embarkation jetty in Gujarat
 Uttarakhand Tragedy in 2013
Cloud burst leading to extensive damage to
buildings, roads, communication net works, etc.

Erosion of soil due to

surface water flow

Role of vegetation
in soil protection
Uttarakhand disaster – land slip/land slide
Uttarakhand disaster - 2013
Uttarakhand – landslide on a steep slope
Typical landslide – failure of road communication
 Steps needed for hill slope stabilization

• Growth of vegetation on slopes

• Do not obstruct flow of water
• Avoid long continuous slopes
• Have stepped constructions to slow down
surface water
• Use flexible and permeable retaining structures
• Respect the nature
Is it nature’s wrath? or inappropriate management??
could it have been prevented ??
Some Ancient technique of construction –
Machu Pichu, Peru
• Series of terraces to reach to the top
• Terraces served to stabilise the hill slopes,
space for agriculture, townships, obstruct enemy
Soil + Water = ?

DISASTER, What else !

Major task of a geotechnical engineer
is to keep them apart safely