ECE 402

Geotechnical Engineering
Design and Construction

Introduction

By:
Dr. K H S M Sampath
Course Objectives
• This course teaches the civil engineering student how to
select, design and demonstrate the construct aspects of an
optimum foundations/geotechnical structures in a given
situation taken into consideration the site condition, ground
improvement, temporary supports if necessary, and
construction aspects.

• Except for a number of lectures on dewatering, provisional

structures and ground improvement the course is
conducted as an open-ended design from site investigation
stage to the end of construction.
 Learning Outcomes (LO)
At the end of the course the student will be able to:
1. Develop a site investigation program and evaluate material parameters
required for design using appropriate techniques.
2. Describe different techniques of ground improvement and dewatering
and analyse provisional structures.
3. Evaluate alternative proposals for foundations and supporting structures
considering constructability, value engineering, safety and economy.
4. Perform detailed design of all geotechnical structures and provisional
structures for the selected proposal, prepare a Bill of Quantities and
select suitable machinery and construction procedures considering safety
aspects.
5. Produce the detailed design report and present it to a panel.
Course Outline
Course Summary
• Credits: 3
• GPA/NGPA: GPA
• Module Type: FC
• Pre-requisites: ECE 303
• Lectures (hrs)/wk : 14/14
• Tutorials/Practical/Other (hrs)/wk: 56/14
• Tutorials: 2
• Practical: -
• Assignments: 4
 Assignments & Tutorials
• Assignment 1 : Designing a site investigation plan (LO 1)

• Assignment 2 : Designing a dewatering system (LO 1, 2)

• Assignment 3 : Evaluation of alternative for geotechnical design proposals (LO 1, 3)

• Assignment 4 : Detailed designing of a selected geotechnical proposal (LO 3, 4)

• Tutorial 1 : Plan and execute a site investigation programme (LO 1)

• Tutorial 2 : Ground improvement (LO 2)

Mode of Assessment
• 1. Course work on assignment 1 (LO 1)
20%
• 2. Course work on assignment 2 (LO 1,2)
• 3. Course work on assignment 3 (LO 1,3)
20%
• 4. Course work on assignment 4 (LO 3,4)

• Mid-semester examinations (LO 1, 2) - 20%

• End-semester written examinations (LO 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) - 40%
References:
• Das, B.M. (2014). Principles of Geotechnical Engineering, 8th ed. Cenage
Learning.

• Tomlinson, M.J. (2001). Foundation Design and Construction. 7th ed.

Prentice Hall
Thank You