UTS: 49118 Applied Geotechnics 2015

Assignment 1
Question 1

Determine the USCS and provide descriptions for soils A, B and C.

Soil A Soil B Soil C

% finer than 2.36mm sieve 65 80 45
% finer than 0.075mm sieve 4 55 8
Coefficient of uniformity (Cu) 5.1 - 4.5
Coefficient of curvature (Cc) 1.5 - 2.2
Liquid limit (LL) - 65 40
Plastic limit (PL) - 40 15

Question 2

A cylindrical soil sample was taken from a borrow pit and measured as below:

Dimensions of sample: Diameter = 50 mm; Length = 100 mm

Initial mass of sample: 336.5 g

Mass of sample after drying: 292.6 g

The soil from the borrow pit is to be used as compacted backfill in a trench with 100m in
length, 500mm in width, and 1500 mm in thickness. The soil is to be compacted into the
trench with a total unit weight (γ_t) of 22 kN/m3 at a moisture content of 9%. Determine the
volume of the soil required to be excavated from the borrow area in order to provide
sufficient fill for the trench.

Question 3

A soil profile at a site of partially buried steel water tank having a diameter of 35m consists
of dense sand up to 10m depth, soft clay from 10m to 14m, and below 14m depth is an
impervious rock. The groundwater table is at 2m depth below the ground level. The sand has
a unit weight of 18.2kN/m3 above the water table and 19 kN/m3 below the water table. Tests
on a sample taken from the mid-depth of the clay layer give a moisture content of 25%, the
liquid limit (LL) of 65% and a specific gravity of 2.7.
 UTS: 49118 Applied Geotechnics 2015

Construction of the tank will initially involve lowering the water table to a depth of 8m,
excavating 7m of sand and placing the tank. Then, the steel tank is filled with water as
illustrated in the following figure. Knowing that the compression and recompression indices
can be computed from ( ) and , and the preconsolidated
pressure ( ) is 150 kPa, determine the thickness of the clay layer a long time after
construction if:

(a) The water table is permanently maintained at the lower level.

(b) The water table is allowed to rise back to its original position after construction.

(Hints: You may assume that the tank is permanently full and the weight of the empty steel
tank is negligible compared to the weight of water and therefore can be neglected.)
 UTS: 49118 Applied Geotechnics 2015

Assignment 2
Question 1

Consider the small precast concrete retaining wall

shown in the opposite figure (not to scale). The
concrete in the wall has a unit weight of 24 kN/m3.
The containers exert a surcharge of 50 kPa on the
surface of the soil in this area. The soil behind the
wall is gravel having the following properties:
t = 18.5 kN/m3; ′= 32o

The friction angle between the wall footing and the underlying soil can be assumed as =
25o. Use Rankine’s theory of active earth pressure to determine:
(a) The overall factor of safety of the wall against sliding, taking the full passive force into
account.
(b) The factor of safety of the wall against overturning.

Question 2

Based on Hansen’ equation, calculate the ultimate bearing capacity of the following strip
footing. The load is applied at the centre-line of the footing.
Sand: t = 19.8 kN/m3, c= 0 kPa, = 40
B = 2 m, H = 1.5 m , = 35

Water table
H

Sand
B Sand
Sand
 UTS: 49118 Applied Geotechnics 2015

Question 3

A section of a cantilever concrete retaining wall is shown in the following figure which is not
to scale. The wall dimensions are:
H1 = 6m, H2 = 0.6 m, B = 4m, T = 0.6 m.
According to Rankin’s theory of lateral earth pressure and the requirements of AS 4678 in the
estimation of soil pressure:
Examine the sliding and overturning stability of the wall.
Assume the water table is far below the wall base and a proper drainage system is provided
at the back of the wall.

T Structure type 2

Fill class II (95%)

 = 18 kN/m3

 = 35
H1
c  = 0 kPa

c = 25 kN/m3

H2
B
Fill class II (95%)

 = 20 kN/m3  = 43  = 35 c  = 0 kPa

 UTS: 49118 Applied Geotechnics 2015

Assignment 3
Question 1
Water is seeping through a long earth dam
to an inclined gravel drain as shown in the
figure.
The flow occurring through the dam and
into the drain is recorded to be 2.5 10-4
m3/s per meter run. Determine the
coefficient of permeability of the gravel in
the drain.

Question 2
A dewatering operation is going to be applied on a completely flat construction land over an
unconfined sand aquifer. To bring down the water level, two pumping wells (P1 and P2),
250mm in diameter, are constructed in 19 m thick sand layer (from ground level to the top of
the bedrock) with a water table of 3 m depth below the ground level. There is an impermeable
clay layer lies beneath the aquifer. The average permeability coefficient of the sand layer is
710-5 m/s and the average water content is reported to be 17.5%.

x
Drawdown at point A = 3.5m
A
P1 P2

15m

Not to scale

Assume that the specific gravity (Gs) is 2.65. Determine the location of point A (find x),
knowing that the maximum drawdown at point A is 3.5m if the constant discharges of well P1
of 8.3 L/s and well P2 of 2.2 L/s are recorded within a 24 hour operation. (Hint: you may use
Excel for calculation purpose)
 UTS: 49118 Applied Geotechnics 2015

Question 3

Design a circular cofferdam on dense clayey gravel with dimensions shown in the following
figure. Friction coefficients are: soil to foundation (f1) = 0.55, fill to sheet pile (f2) = 0.4 and
fill to sheet pile (f3) = 0.4. Use intersection angle  = 45 (i.e. B = 0.875D, where B is the
equivalent width and D is the diameter of the cell). It is noted that the saturation line is at
hw/2 due to free draining cell fill from river bottom. Sheet pile sections should be selected
from Arcelor-Mittal (AS 500-12): Yield stress = 500 MPa (the allowable tensile stress fa =
0.65 Fy) interlock tension = 5,200 kN/m

a. Based on the sliding, overturning, cell shear, interlock and bursting stress stability
criteria determine the design diameter of the cell. Use a minimum stability factor of
safety of 1.25; and a factor of safety of 1.5 for high strength interlock.
b. Estimate the minimum allowable bearing capacity, required for the riverbed
foundation to support the cofferdam. For this calculations neglect the passive force
due to the berm and sand.
c. Provide a drawing of your design to indicate the main dimensions (i.e. a plan to show
r, rc and L). Calculated the connection angle, , and find the number of required sheet
piles in L (the spacing of the centre to centre of two adjacent cells = 2.2r)

a
Fill
,,
2d b
2
hw/2
1 Berm d

c
Sand , Sand Sand

Dense clayey gravel

Not to Scale
 UTS: 49118 Applied Geotechnics 2015

Property Sand (base soil) Fill and Berm

3
 - 18 kN/m
3 3
 12 kN/m 10 kN/m

 36 32

Dimension Length (m)

a 1.5

b 16

c 4

d 2

hw/2 8