Term 2

What is Engineering Geology?

Geology is the study of the origin, internal structure, composition and behaviour of the Earth as a
whole, but specifically of the accessible crust as it is exposed at the surface, in deep mines and
boreholes.

Engineering can be defined as the science which uses scientific knowledge in practical applications, eg.
Civil, electric, mechanical, etc.
Engineering Geology: Application of geology in engineering practice.
–More specifically: ensuring that factors influencing positioning, design, construction , operation and
maintenance of engineering works are properly defined

Rock/soil Mech vs Eng. Geol

Rock & soil mechanics can be regarded as disciplines pure research can be done

Engineering geology is more an application of different techniques in practice

Predictions about
– Nature of materials
– Distribution below surface
– Behaviour under load (engineering characteristics)
– Also, depth and nature of water table

Typical investigation
– Digging or drilling of exploratory holes
– Testing of soil/rock samples
– Potentially some geophysical surveys
– Investigation related to type of structure to be built AND type of terrain on which it is to be
built

Broad Course outline

Introduction
Running Water
Shorelines
Mass Wasting
Weathering & Soil
Problem soils (Collapsible soil, Compressible soil, Heaving clay, Dolomite, Pedocrete, Excavatibility
problems)

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 1. Hydrologic cycle
The hydrologic cycle is a summary of the circulation of Earth’s water supply

Processes involved in the hydrologic cycle

Precipitation ( neerslag)
Evaporation ( verdamping)
Infiltration ( infiltrasie)
Runoff ( afloop)
Transpiration ( transpirasie)

Sources of Earth’s water

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2. Running water

• Begins as sheetflow (plaatvloei)

○ Infiltration capacity is controlled by
▪ Intensity and duration of rainfall
▪ Prior wetted condition of the soil
▪ Soil texture
▪ Slope of the land
▪ Nature of the vegetative cover
○ Sheetflow develops into tiny channels called rills
• Streamflow
○ Two types of flow determined primarily by velocity
▪ Laminar flow
▪ Turbulent flow
○ Factors that determine velocity
▪ Gradient , or slope
▪ Channel characteristics including shape, size, and roughness
▪ Discharge the volume of water moving past a given point in a certain amount of
time (m3/s)
Laminar flow
– flow occurs as stream lines, i.e. movement on a molecular scale owing to constant vibration and
translation of fluid molecules

Turbulent flow
– highly distorted stream lines, irregular component of fluid motion
– eddies , affect on settling velocities of particles

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• Changes from upstream to downstream

○ Profile (longitudinal)
▪ Cross sectional view of a stream
▪ Viewed from the head (headwaters or source) to the mouth of a stream
▪ Profile is a smooth curve
▪ Gradient decreases downstream

Longitudinal profile of a stream

○ Factors that increase downstream

▪ Discharge
▪ Channel size

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 ○ Factors that decrease downstream
▪ Gradient
▪ Channel roughness

• Base level and graded streams

○ Base level is the lowest point to which a stream can erode

○ Two general types of base level
▪ Ultimate (sea level)
▪ Local or temporary
○ Changing conditions causes readjustment of stream activities
▪ Raising base level causes deposition
▪ Lowering base level causes erosion

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 Fig: Adjustment of base level to changing conditions

A waterfall is an example of a local base level

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• Stream erosion
○ Lifting loosely consolidated particles by
▪ Abrasion
▪ Dissolution
○ Stronger currents lift particles more effectively

• Transport of sediment by streams

○ Transported material is called the stream’s load (stroomvrag)
○ Types of load
▪ Dissolved load (opgeloste stroomvrag)
▪ Suspended load (suspensievrag)
▪ Bed load (bodemvrag)
○ Capacity- the maximum load a stream can transport

• Competence
○ Indicates the maximum particle size a stream can transport
○ Determined by the stream’s velocity

• Deposition of sediment by a stream

○ Caused by a decrease in velocity
▪ Competence is reduced
▪ Sediment begins to drop out
○ Stream sediments
▪ Generally well sorted
▪ Stream sediments are known as alluvium
○ Channel deposits
▪ Bars ( sandbanke)
▪ Braided streams ( gevlegde rivierstrome )
▪ Deltas
○ Floodplain deposits
▪ Natural levees (levees) -form parallel to the stream channel by successive floods over
many years

○ Floodplain deposits (vloedvlakte afsettings)

▪ Back swamps
▪ Yazoo tributaries
○ Alluvial fans ( alluviale waaiers)
▪ Develop where a high gradient stream leaves a narrow valley
▪ Slopes outward in a broad arc

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 Fig: Formation of natural levees

○ Deltas
▪ Forms when a stream enters an ocean or lake
▪ Consists of three types of beds:
□ Foreset beds ( voorkant lae)
□ Topset beds ( boonste)
□ Bottomset beds ( bodemlae)

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 Deltaic progradation

Mississippi delta

Evolution of the Mississippi delta

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• Stream valleys
○ The most common landforms on Earth’s surface
○ Two general types of stream valleys:
▪ Narrow valleys
□ V shaped
□ Downcutting toward base level
□ Features often include rapids and waterfalls
▪ Wide valleys
□ Stream is near base level
□ Downward erosion is less dominant
□ Stream energy is directed from side to side forming a floodplain.
Features of wide valleys often include:
□ Floodplains
 Erosional floodplains
 Depositional floodplains
□ Meanders
 Cut bank and point bar.
 Cutoffs and oxbow lakes.

• Incised meanders and stream terraces

○ Incised meanders
▪ Meanders in steep, narrow valleys
▪ Caused by a drop in base level or uplift of the region
○ Terraces
▪ Remnants of a former floodplain
▪ River has adjusted to a relative drop in base level by downcutting
• Drainage networks
○ Land area that contributes water to the stream is the drainage basin.
○ Imaginary line separating one basin from another is called a divide / watershed .

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 • Drainage pattern
○ Pattern of the interconnected network of streams in an area
○ Common drainage patterns
▪ Dendritic
▪ Radial
▪ Rectangular
▪ Trellis

• Headward erosion and stream piracy

○ A stream can lengthen its course by either
▪ Building a delta
▪ Headward erosion
○ Headward erosion may result in stream piracy the diversion of the drainage of one stream into
another

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• Formation of a water gap

○ A water gap is a notch where a river cuts through a ridge that lies in its path
○ Two possible methods of formation
▪ Antecedent stream- stream existed before the ridge was formed
▪ Superposed stream (gesuperponeerde stroom)- stream let down upon a preexisting
structure

• Floods and flood control

○ Floods are the most common and most destructive geologic hazard
○ Causes of flooding
▪ Result from naturally occurring and human induced factors
○ Types of floods
▪ Regional floods
▪ Flash floods
▪ Ice jam floods
▪ Dam failure
○ Flood control
▪ Engineering efforts
□ Artificial levees
□ Flood control dams
□ Channelization
▪ Nonstructural approach through sound floodplain management

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Definition of space

• Civil Engineers are concerned with modifying natural and manmade spaces to solve problems
• Civil Engineers are often concerned with human scale problem
• Confine space to that containing Earth and it’s atmosphere: GEOSPACE
• In this space we collect GEOSPATIAL DATA

In this course we will

• Confine ourselves to 3 dimensional space
• Add time as a quasi-4th dimension
• Ignore relativistic effects in space and time
Consider only the world approximated by Newton’s laws of motion

Metric spaces
• assume SPACE comprises an infinite number of points, each of which can be assigned a unique set
of co-ordinates in a common 3 dimensional co-ordinate system
• Objects, events or activities can be located by co-ordinates
• Relationships between these can be derived eg; relative distance
• We use different co-ordinate systems depending on application

Non-Metric spaces

• assume SPACE comprises an infinite set of relationships between objects, events and activities
• Objects, events or activities can be located by relative description (left, right, near, far, after,
before, etc…)
• Relationships between these can be inferred
• Complex mathematics not required

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 • Non-metric modelling of space is of limited use to civil engineers
• Design is constrained by parameters
• Parameters are easily expressed numerically
• Spatial parameters are best expressed in metric models of space

Collecting spatial data

There are two types of data capture:
• Primary (direct measurement) data capture
• Secondary (indirect derivation) data capture

Primary spatial data capture

• Common techniques are
1. Conventional survey
2. GNSS survey
3. Photogrammetry
4. Remote Sensing

1. Conventional survey
• Often called plane surveying
• Measurement of horizontal and vertical angles
• Direct measurement of distance
• Indirect derivation of distance (interferometry)
• Relies on a network of physical monuments to provide the geo-spatial co-ordinate system
• Versatile and relatively low-cost
• Capable of extremely high precision (microns)
• Low data capture rates

2. GNSS survey

• Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO)

• All weather, all the time, night or day
• GPS and GLONASS free to civilian users
• Precise ranges derived from signal interferometry
• Equipment is cheap
• No longer any need to rely on monumented control
• Versatile, portable, long battery life
• Provides basic positioning and velocity for photogrammetry, remote sensing, LIDAR
• Is global infrastructure

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 3. Photogrammetry

• Photographs taken from aircraft

• Typically all digital nowadays
• Images combined in a complex process to provide a scaled model of reality
• Measurements made directly from model
• Can map huge areas rapidly at low cost compared to conventional survey
• Not suited to small surveys until recently
• Can carry a wide variety of sensors (multi-spectral, pan chromatic, IR)
• Requires clear weather
• Now routinely combined with LIDAR
• Rapid development of vehicular digital photogrammetry combined with LIDAR
• Boundary with remote sensing blurring

4. Remote Sensing

• Usually refers to data capture from artificial satellites

• Variety of sensors (laser altimeters, magnetometers, multispectral, panchromatic, RADAR, IR, etc)
• Only accessible to government and large organisations
• Very costly, high risk
• Very high resolution
• Covers vast areas of Earth in days
• Can resurvey globally every few weeks
• Data processing complex and highly specialized
• Some sensors (laser altimetry, RADAR) are all weather, night / day
• Now used extra-terrestrially

Secondary data capture

• Extraction or collection of spatial data from existing spatial products

• Usually achieved nowadays from computer based heads up digitising
• Typical source products are
○ Satellite images
○ Existing maps and plans
○ Geo-rectified aerial imagery
○ Google Earth
This is a widely used form of capture nowadays and is usually limited to use for desk top planning or
preliminary investigations.

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Error and accuracy
• Basic data collection activity is measurement
• Any measurement is an estimate of the true value
• In making these estimates we consider three factors
○ Accuracy
○ Precision
○ Error
• Accuracy quantifies measurement quality
○ An accurate measurement is a good (i.e. fit for purpose) estimate of a quantity
• Precision quantifies measurement repeatability
○ A precise estimate of a quantity closely matches other estimates.
• Error is a numerical quality estimator of the combined effect of accuracy and precision on the
finally adopted measurement
○ Error estimators in spatial data reveal whether a measurement or set of measurements are
of sufficient quality to be useful.

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