Basic soil mechanics

soil mechanics, the study of the physical properties and utilization of soils,
especially used in planning foundations for structures and subgrades for
highways.
The first scientific study of soil mechanics was undertaken by French
physicist Charles-Augustin

de

Coulomb, who

published a theory of

earth pressure in 1773. Coulombs work and a theory of earth masses published
by Scottish engineer William Rankine in 1857 are still primary tools used to
quantify earth stresses. These theories have been amended in the 20th century to
take into account the influence of cohesion, a more recently discovered property
of soils that causes them to behave somewhat differently under stress than
Rankine and Coulomb predicted.
Soil is a natural aggregate of mineral particles, sometimes including organic
constituents; it has solid, liquid, and gaseous phases. How the soil of a given
site will support the stresses put upon it by the weight of structures, or how it
will respond to movement in the course of construction, depends upon six
propertiesinternal friction (the resistance of a soil mass to sliding, inversely
related to the amount of moisture in the soil and thus greater in sands
and gravel than clays) and cohesion (molecular attraction between soil particles,
much higher in clays than sands or silt), both of which lessen the tendency of
soils to shear, or slide along planes; compressibility(the degree to which soil
may be made denser by various means including tamping and vibration, and
thus able to support greater loads); elasticity (the ability of soil to reexpand after
being compressed); permeability (the degree to which a soil will conduct a flow
of water); andcapillarity (the degree to which water is drawn upward from the
normal water table).
The thoroughness of soil surveys at a given site depends on the size of the
project to be carried out. Visual examination of the surface may suffice in some
cases. Soil characteristics generally vary more rapidly vertically (with depth)

than horizontally. Subsurface examination techniques include trench-digging,

boring (to test resistance as well as to obtain samples), and pumping subsurface
matter to the surface with water. Seismic testing (measuring the speed with
which shock waves generated by explosives are transmitted through the ground)
and measurement of the electrical resistance of the soil also yield information
helpful in the evaluation of soil. Grain size and plastic properties of samples
taken from the site are measured in a laboratory. Occasionally data obtained
from previous studies of soils near the site are useful.
Foundations are designed to convey the weight of a structure to the ground
underneath and around it. Stress distribution that is not properly matched to the
characteristics of the soil may result in structural failure through shearing of the
soil or uneven settling. Spread foundations may be either of the spread
footing (made with wide bases placed directly beneath the load-bearing beams
or walls), mat (consisting of slabs, usually of reinforced concrete, which
underlie the entire area of a building), or floating types. A floating
foundation consists of boxlike rigid structures set at such a depth below ground
that the weight of the soil removed to place it equals the weight of the building;
thus, once the building is completed, the soil under it will bear the same weight
it bore before excavation was begun. Deep foundations may be end-bearing
piles (which convey all the weight put on them end-to-end, from the building
above to the bedrock on which they are set), friction piles (which transfer some
of the pressure put on them to the soil around them, through friction or adhesion
along the surface where pile sides interface with soil), or caissons (extra-large
piles cast in place in an excavation, rather than prefabricated and sunk).
Slopes stay in place because the downward pull of gravity is countered by

forces of cohesion and friction between particles. Various changes may upset
the balance between these forces, precipitating a slide; in particular, an increase
in the amount of water borne in the soil of a slope may drastically reduce

cohesion and friction. The stability of slopes is graded such that 1.0 indicates
forces exactly balanced, 2.0 signifies that the forces of stability are twice as
great as those tending toward movement, etc. A slope with a reading of less than
1.0 is collapsing. The banks of dams, highway cuts, and railway cuts are
designed to certain standards of stability as measured by this scale. Stability
may be increased by draining, gradient leveling, compacting, or reinforcing the
slope with injections of cement. In dam construction an impermeable core is
used to prevent excess seepage of water from lowering stability, while the
slopes consist of permeable material that buffers the weight of water along
the dam.
Soil mechanics, by examination of the subgrade of roads and highways, helps to
determine which type of pavement (rigid or flexible) will last longer. The study
of soil characteristics is also used to decide the most suitable method for
excavating underground tunnels.