VAAL UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY: FACULTY OF ENGINEERING

DEPARTMENT: CIVIL ENGINEERING

POSTGRADUATE DIPLOMA [PGD]: ENGINEERING: CIVIL
LECTURER: MR MOHALE LM
GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING V (ECGTE5A)
DATE: 25TH FEBRUARY 2025 (9:00 TO 15:00)
SUBJECT LECTURER ALLOCATED ALLOCATED ADDITION
DAY IN EVERY TIME IN A AL
BLOCK DAY IN ONLINE
EACH CLASSES
BLOCK BETWEEN
BLOCKS
Geotechnical Mr LM Mohale TUESDAY 8 HRS 4 HRS
Engineering
montshom@vut.ac.za
(ECGTE5A)

ASSESSMENT AND PRACTICALS ON CAMPUS]

ASSESSMENT AND PRACTICALS ON CAMPUS
Prof GM Ochieng’

EXAMINATION 19 MAY to 20 JUNE 2024

georgeo@vut.ac.za

11TH MARCH – 14TH MARCH 2025

25TH MARCH – 28TH MARCH 2025

4TH MARCH – 7TH MARCH 2025

22ND APRIL – 25TH APRIL 2025

14TH APRIL – 17TH APRIL 2025
25TH FEB – 28TH FEB 2025

6TH MAY – 9TH MAY 2025

18TH FEB – 21ST FEB 2025
Project and Mr T Tseladikae WEDNESDAY 8 HRS 4 HRS

4TH FEB – 7TH FEB 2025

Construction
tsepot@vut.ac.za
Management
(ECPMC5A)

Environmental Ms M Nditwani THURSDAY 8 HRS 4 HRS

Engineering
mnditwani5@gmail.co
(ECEEN5A)
m
Research Dr B Otieno FRIDAY 8 HRS 6 HRS
Project in Civil
bentononyango@gmail
Engineering
.com
(ECRPX5A)
Prof GM Ochieng
georgeo@vut.ac.za
Week Date Topics
1 6th February 2025 (Wednesday) Site investigation and Field Practices
09:00 - 15:00 Introduction to Geotechnical Properties of
Soil
Online
Self study (Practicals)
2 25th February 2025 (Tuesday) Shallow Foundations
09:00 – 15:00 Examples
Online Calculations
Self study (Practicals)
3 11th March 2025 (Tuesday) Deep Foundations
09:00 – 15:00 Examples
Online Calculation
Self study (Practicals)
4 14th April Revision
09:00 – 15:00
Online
 PRESCRIBED TEXTBOOK
CATEGORY AUTHOR NAME PUBLISHER ISBN NUMBER
SI Edition Braja M. Das Principles of Cengage 9780357684863
Foundation
Engineering
10th Edition
RECOMMENDED TEXTBOOK
SI Edition MUNI BUDHU Soil Mechanics and Soil Mechanics 0471788309
Foundations Laboratory Manual, by
Michael Kalinski
2nd edition
www.wiley.com/college/
kalinski
Chapter Topic Sub-topics
Chapter 1 Introduction
Part 1 Geotechnical Properties and Soil Exploration 1.Introduction
Geotechnical Properties of Soil 2.Grain-Size Distribution
Chapter 2 3.Size Limits for Soil
4.Weight –Volume Relationship, Relative density
5.Atterburg limit
6.Liquidity Index
Activities

7. Soil Classiffication System

8. Hydraulic Conductivity of Soil
9.Steady-State Seepage etc.
Chapter • Natural Soil Deposit and Subsoil Exploration
3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 • Soil improvement and Ground modification
• Shallow Foundations: UBC
• UBC of shallow Foundations: Special cases
• Vertical Stress Increase in Soil
• Settlement of Shallow Foundations
• Mat Foundations
• Uplift Capacity of shallow Foundations and Helical Anchors
Chapter 11,12, 13, • Pile Foundation
14,15,16 and 17 • Drilled-Shaft Foundations
• Foundations on Difficult Soil
• Lateral Earth Pressure
• Retaining Walls
• Sheet-Pile
• Braced Cuts
 Time breakdown (1st session)
09:00 – 10:00 Revision and Examples Practice
Break (30 minutes)
10:30 – 12:30 Introduction
Mohr
Terzaghi Bearing Capacity Theory
Factor of Safety
Water table of BC equation modification
Ultimate bearing capacity
Meyerhof
Veismic

Break (5 minutes)
12 :35 – 13: 30 UBC of shallow foundations: Special Cases
Vertical Stress Increase in Soil
Next session plan
• Shallow foundation
Settlement of shallow foundations
Mat Foundations
Uplift Capacity of shallow Foundations and Helical Anchors
• Deep foundation
ASSESSMENTS WEIGHT AND DATES
Assessment Date Mark
Test 1 4th March 2025 20%
Venue: R109
09:00 to 11:00
Test 2 22nd April 2025 20%
Venue: R109
09:00 to 11:00
Subject total 50:50%
Exam 19th May to 20 June 2025 100%

Date Topic

Practical 1 5th March 2025 60%

Practical 2 23rd April 2025

Weight – Volume Relationship
When developing the weight – volume relation of soil particle; The following three
phases are considered.
Weight – Volume Relationship
Practice Examples 2.1, 2.2 and 2.3
Weight – Volume Relationship
Practice Examples 2.1, 2.2 and 2.3
Weight – Volume Relationship
Practice Examples 2.1, 2.2 and 2.3
Relative Density
Practice example 2.4
Break (30 minutes)
Introduction
A shallow foundation Is a building foundation that's closer to the
surface of the earth. They're often used for smaller, lighter
structures.
Types of shallow foundations

• Spread footing; is a shallow foundation that distributes the weight of a building over a larger area of
soil. They are a key part of a building's foundation system.

• Isolated footing; also known as a spread or pad footing, is a foundation that supports the load of a
single column. It's a common choice for shallow foundations in houses and small commercial
buildings.

• Strap footing; A strap footing is a foundation component that connects multiple column footings with
a concrete beam. It's a type of combined footing that's often used when columns are close together
or when there's uneven loading.

• Strip footing; A wall footing or strip footing is a continuous strip of concrete that serves to spread the
weight of a load-bearing wall across an area of soil.

• Raft also know as Pad foundation; Is a large, thick slab that supports a building's columns and
beams. It's used when the soil is too weak to support the building's weight.
Benefits of different footings: shallow foundations
Spread footings Strap footings Raft also know as Pad footings

• Strength • Stability • Even load distribution:

• Stability • Durability • Suitable for poor soil
conditions:
• Low cost • Safety
• Reduced construction
• Ease of installation • Space-saving complexity:
Isolated footings • Supports multiple • Stability against ground
columns Strip footings movement:
• Reduced risk of settlement
• Potential for combined floor
• Easy maintenance • Cost-effectiveness slab:
• Cost-effective • Structural stability

• Adaptable to soil conditions • Adaptability

• Effective load management • Construction

simplicity
• Versatile
• Load distribution
Design parameters: shallow foundations

Shallow foundation design parameters include;

• Soil properties,
• Loading conditions,
• Foundation type.

Soil properties are as follows;

• Shear strength: The soil's ability to resist failure under load

• Compressibility: Affects settlement potential
• Permeability: Affects drainage and pore water pressure
• Soil classification: Sand, clay, or silt affects behavior under load
• Bearing capacity: The soil's ability to support the structure's load
Soil shear strength; is the amount of shear stress a soil can withstand before it deforms. It's a measure
of how resistant soil is to deformation caused by tangential stress.
Factors that affect shear strength
• Soil composition: The type and size of soil particles, including their angularity
• Water content: Whether the soil is saturated or mostly air-filled
• Compaction: How compacted the soil is
• Mineralogy: The type of minerals in the soil, such as silica, quartz, and feldspar

Importance of shear strength

 Shear strength is important in geotechnical engineering because it's used to calculate bearing capacity and
design retaining walls, slopes, and embankments.

Measuring shear strength

 Triaxial compression tests can be used to measure shear strength. These tests can be performed under different
drainage conditions.

Mohr-Coulomb theory

 Mohr-Coulomb theory is used to describe how shear strength relates to normal stress.
Mohr Coulombs Theory

T = c - 𝜎n tan Φ

Where;

T = Is the shear strength

𝜎n = Is the normal stress
Φ = Is the angle of internal friction
C = cohesion
 A bearing capacity failure; Occurs when the shear stresses induced by the footing exceed the shear strength of
the soil, as shown in Figure 17 .5. Such failures are catastrophic and thus must be avoided. This need to
prevent a bearing capacity failure is called a strength requirement and is similar to structural engineers'
requirements for strength of structural members.

Figure 1:Bearing capacity failure

 The ultimate bearing capacity, qult, is the bearing pressure required to produce a bearing capacity failure. The
value of qult depends on the size and depth of the footing and on the strength of the underlying soils. Once we
know its value, we can design the footing so that the actual bearing pressure is sufficiently smaller than qult to
provide an adequate factor of safety against a bearing capacity failure.
 In 1943, Karl Terzaghi developed the first widely accepted formulas for computing ultimate bearing capacity.
His analysis was based on a bearing capacity theory for continuous footings because this is a two-
dimensional problem and thus is the simplest case. He evaluated the shear stress and shear strength along
a failure surface with a certain

 geometry, then wrote an equation of equilibrium in terms of qult· He then extended this equation to square
and circular footings by incorporating empirical coefficients. Terzaghi’ s formulas are as follows (Terzaghi,
1943):

For square footings: 𝑞𝑢𝑙𝑡=1.3𝑐′𝑁𝑐+𝜎𝐷′𝑁𝑞+0.4𝛾′𝐵𝑁𝛾

For circular footings: 𝑞𝑢𝑙𝑡=1.3𝑐′𝑁𝑐+𝜎𝐷′𝑁𝑞+0.3𝛾′𝐵𝑁𝛾
Continuous footings: 𝑞𝑢𝑙𝑡=𝑐′𝑁𝑐+𝜎𝐷′𝑁𝑞+0.5𝛾′𝐵𝑁𝛾

where:
qult = ultimate bearing capacity
e' = effective soil cohesion
𝜎𝐷′ =vertical effective stress at depth D below the ground surface
(𝜎𝐷′ = yD if depth to groundwater table is greater than D)
y ' = effective unit weight of the soil (y'= y if the groundwater table is very deep;
see discussion later in this section for shallow groundwater conditions)
D = depth of footing below ground surface
B = width (or diameter) of footing
Nc, Nq, 𝑁𝛾 = bearing capacity factors f (Φ′)
 Terzaghi's equations also may be used in a total stress analysis. In that case, substitute 𝐶T , Φ 𝑇 and 𝜎𝐷 for
c' ,Φ', and 𝜎𝐷 ′ . If saturated undrained conditions exist, we may conduct a total stress analysis with the
shear strength defined as 𝐶T = 𝑆u and Φ 𝑇 = 0. In this case, Nc = 5.7, Nq = 1.0, and Nc = 0.0.

 Table 1: Bearing capacity factor for Terzaghi’s equation.

Modification of Bearing Capacity for water table (Meyehof (1955))

We account for the decreased effective stresses along the failure surface by adjusting the effective unit weight, γ’, in the
third term of Equations (Vesic, 1973). The effective unit weight is the value that, when multiplied by the appropriate soil
thickness, will give the vertical effective stress. lt varies between the buoyant unit weight, 𝛾𝑏 and the unit weight, γ,
depending on the position of the groundwater table. We compute γ ' as follows:

Case 1: For water table located at 0 ≤ d ≤ Df

1 1
Replace: 2 γ B𝑁𝛾 by 2 γ B𝑁𝛾

Replace: 𝑞 𝑁𝑞 by (𝛾′Df + (γ - 𝛾′ )d) 𝑁𝑞 + γw ( Df – d)

Case 2: For water table located at Df ≤ d ≤(Df + B)

𝑑 −𝐷𝑓
ȳ = 𝛾′ + ( ) (γ - 𝛾′ )
𝐵

Case 3: For water table located at d ≥ (Df + B)

The water will have no effect on the ultimate bearing capacity

Allowable Bearing Capacity

We compute the allowable bearing capacity, 𝑞𝑎 , using:

𝑞𝑢𝑙𝑡
𝑞𝑎 = (11)
𝐹

The required factor of safety, F, depends on the type of structure, the type of soil, and other factors, and typically is
between 2.0 and 3.5. Low factors of safety might be used for non-critical structures on sandy soils with extensive site
characterization, while high factors of safety would more often be used for critical structures on clayey soils with
minimal site characterization.

We then satisfy bearing capacity requirements by designing the footing such that q ≤ 𝑞𝑎 . Typically, P, c, Φ, γ, and the
groundwater conditions are fixed, so the only parameters we can vary are the footing dimensions B and D. If the soil is
homogeneous, increasing D generally has very little impact, so we usually satisfy bearing capacity requirements by
specifying a minimum required footing width, B. Normally both B and D are expressed as multiples of 100 mm. For
larger footings, we normally use multiples of 200mm.
Example 1
Compute the factor of safety against a bearing capacity failure for the square spread
footing shown in Figure below with the groundwater table at Position A.
Class Activity:

A square foundation is 2m * 2m in plan. The soil supporting the foundation has a friction
angle of Ø’ =25° and c’=20kN/m2. The unit weight of soil, ƴ, is 16.5 kN/m3.

a) Determine the allowable gross load on the foundation with a factor of safety (FS) of 3.
Assume that the depth of foundation (Df) is 1.5 m and that general shear failure occurs
in the soil?

a) Refer to question a. Assume that the shear-strength parameters of the soil are the same.
A square foundation measuring B*B will be subjected to an allowable gross load of
1000kN with FS = 3 and Df =1 m. Determine the size B of the foundation?
Home activity 1;
Home activity 2; Assume all square foundations
Home activity 3; Assume all square foundations
Home activity 4; Assume all square foundations
Break (5 minutes)
Next session: 11th March 2025 (Tuesday)
09:00– 15:00
Foundation Analysis
• Pile Foundations: Ultimate Bearing Capacity
• Drilled-Shaft Foundations
• Foundations on Difficult Soil
• Lateral Earth Pressure
• Retaining Walls
• Sheet-Pile
• Braced Cuts

Revision
Discussion
 Test 1 : 04 March 2025 Venue
 Practicals
 Exams
Reference
1. Braja M. Das. Principles of Foundation Engineering (2024). 10th Edition. Ceengage.
2. MUNI BUDHU. Soil Mechanics and Foundations. 2nd Edition. John Wiley & Sons, Inc
3. References Owen D.R.J. and Hinton E. (1980), Finite Elements in Plasticity- Theory and
Practice Pineridge Press, Swansea.
4. Pietruszczak, S. (2010). Fundamentals of Plasticity in Geomechanics. CRC Press
END OF FIRST SESSION