BIRLA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, MESRA, RANCHI

(END SEMESTER EXAMINATION)

CLASS : BTECH SEMESTER : V
BRANCH : CIVIL SESSION: MO/2021

SUBJECT:- CE 303 GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING

TIME : 3 HOURS FULL MARKS: 50

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Before attempting the question paper, be sure that you have got the correct question paper.
2. The question paper contains total 50 marks.
3. Attempt all questions.
4. The missing data, if any, may be assumed suitably.

NOTE: As it is a pen paper-based examination, so, the candidate needs to write their name, roll number,
Course Code, Course name at the first page of the answer script. The students need to scan the answer script
(all the pages marked serially) and merge all the files into a single pdf file before uploading in the MS team.

Q1. (a) In which failure ultimate bearing capacity is well defined and occurs in which type of soil? [1]
Q1. (b) Show that the ratio of the compactive energy used in the IS heavy compaction test and [1]
the IS light compaction test is approximately 4.56.
Q1. (c) When an undrained triaxial compression test was conducted on specimen of clayey silt, [4]
the following results were obtained:
Specimen No. 1 2 3
σ 3 (kN/m2) 17 44 56

σ 1 (kN/m2) 157 204 225

u (kN/m2) 12 20 22

Draw the associated Mohr’s circles and determine the values of the shear parameters
considering the (a) total stress and (b) effective stresses.
Q1. (d) A land development project requires construction of a compacted fill. The potential [4]
borrow areas are Site A and Site B. The in-place properties of soil at these sites are as
below:
Site A Site B
In-place void ratio 0.79 0.65
In-place moisture content 18% 15%
The fill at the end of construction will have a total volume of 40,000 m 3, a total density
of 2 ton/m3, and a placement water content of 21%.
Soils from either site is to be excavated and transported to the sites in trucks of 10 m 3
capacity. During the excavation and placing of soil in the truck the soil bulks in volume by
10 percent. At the site the required amount of water is added and compacted to the
required extent using rollers.
The cost of excavation of soil, its transportation and its compaction excluding the water
charges is Rs. 260/- per truck for Site A and Rs. 225/- per truck for Site B. Water charges
per truck is Rs. 100/-. Specific gravity of soil solids is 2.65. Find out which of the site is
more economical?

Q2. (a) Terzaghi analysis is suitable for shallow foundations only. Why? [2]
Q2. (b) In a falling head permeability test, the sample used is 20 cm long having the cross- [3]
2
sectional area of 24 cm . Calculate the time required for a drop of head from 25 cm to 12
cm if the cross-sectional area of the stand pipe is 2 cm 2. The sample of soil is made of
three layers. The thickness of the first layer from the top is 8 cm has a value of
coefficient of permeability (k1) = 2 x 10-4 cm/s, the second layer of thickness 8 cm has a
value of coefficient of permeability (k2) = 5 x 10-4 cm/s and the bottom layer of thickness
4 cm has a value of coefficient of permeability (k 3) = 7 x 10-4 cm/s. Assume the flow is
taking place perpendicular to the layers.
Q2. (c) In an SPT test the number of blows required to drive the sampler between 15 cm-45 cm is [2]
35. What will be the corrected ‘N’ value assuming the water table at ground level, soil as
fine sand and overburden correction factor as 0.6?
Q2. (d) Discuss the difference between well graded soil, poorly graded soil and gap graded soil [3]
with the help of their corresponding Grain size distribution plots?

Q3. (a) A school building stands over a stratum of sand. Beneath the sand stratum there is an 8 m [3]
thick clay layer, and this clay layer is underlain by an impermeable rock stratum. The
clay layer settles by 120 mm in 2 years. The coefficient of consolidation for this clay was
found to be 6 x 10-3 cm2/s. Determine the likely ultimate consolidation settlement and
determine the time to take to undergo 90 % of this settlement.
Q3. (b) A plate load test was carried out on a ground having a uniform sand stratum up to [4]
sufficient depth. The size of the plate was 40 cm x 40 cm
Load (kN) 5 10 20 28 38 50 56
Settlement
0.8 1.3 2.25 3.6 6 8.25 11.5
(mm)
Plot the load settlement curve. Also determine the bearing capacity and load that can
be taken by a column footing of size 2m x 2m in this soil for an allowable settlement of
25 mm
Q3. (c) Consider the Mohr’s circle at failure for general c-φ soil. Based on geometry establish the [3]
relationship between the principal stresses at failure.

Q4. (a) Determine the ultimate bearing capacity of a strip footing, 2 m wide, with its base at a [3]
depth of 1m resting on a dry sand. γ d = 18kN/m , Ø=42
2 0

Ø (in degree) Nc Nq Nγ
40 95.7 81.3 100.4
45 172.3 173.3 297.5

Q4. (b) A cylinder specimen of a saturated soil fails under an axial stress 150 kN/m 2 in an [3]
unconfined compression test. The failure plane makes an angle of 52 O with the horizontal.
Draw the Mohr’s circle and obtain the cohesion and angle of internal friction of the soil.
Q4. (c) If the length and width of a rectangular footing is 6 m x 3m and a vertical load act at an [2]
eccentricity of 1 m from x axis, what will be the effective area?
Q4. (d) Calculate the number of piles required to transmit a load of 4000 KN on a stiff clay whose [2]
 apparent cohesion is 150 kPa. Length of pile is 10m and diameter 200mm. α = 0.6, F.S =
2.5 and 100 % efficiency.

Q5. (a) Differentiate between cased pile, uncased pile, and bored pile [2]
Q5. (b) What is the assumption on which dynamic formulae is derived [2]
Q5. (c) A clay layer of 3.66 m thick rests beneath a deposit of submerged sand 7.92 m thick. The [3]
top of the sand is located 3.05 m below the surface of a lake. The saturated unit weight
of sand is 19.62 kN/m 3 and of the clay is 18.36 kN/m 3. Compute the (a) total vertical
pressure, (b) pore water pressure and (c) effective vertical pressure at the mid height of
the clay layer. Also, draw the pressure distribution diagram up to the mid height of clay
layer.
Q5. (d) A soil sample has a liquid limit of 20% and plastic limit of 12%. The following data are also [3]
available from the sieve analysis:
Sieve Size % Passing
2.032 mm 100
0.422 mm 85
0.075 mm 38
Classify the soil based on the IS soil classification with proper justification. The plasticity
chart (Reference IS 1498: 1970) is also provided below.

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