CBE2021 SOIL MECHANICS AND GEOLOGY

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

1 Definition of Engineering Soil

Engineering soil is defined as an un-cemented aggregate of mineral grains and decayed

organic matter (solid particles) with liquid and gas in the empty spaces between the solid
particles. Engineering soil is used as a construction material in various civil engineering
projects, and it supports structural foundations.

2 Definition of Soil Mechanics, Soil Engineering and Geotechnical Engineering

Soil Mechanics: It is the branch of science that deals with the study of the physical properties
of soil and the behaviour of soil masses subjected to various types of forces.

Soil Engineering: It is the application of the principles of soil mechanics to practical problems.

Geotechnical Engineering: It is defined as the sub-discipline of civil engineering that involves

natural materials (soils and rocks) found close to the surface of the earth.

3 Geotechnical Engineering Problems

There are three basic problems:

(a) Stability Problem: it involves whether a structure will stand or collapse. A structure
may be:
• a building foundation
• an earth slope (cut/fill slope or an embankment)
• an earth retaining structure
• a buried structure
There are short term and long term stability problems.

(b) Deformation Problem: it involves whether a structure performs satisfactorily even

without collapse.
• building/structure settlements (magnitude and rate of settlement, differential
settlement)
• buried structure and road pavement deformation
(c) Water Flow Problem: it involves whether the movement of water in the soil causes
problems.
• dam leakage
• rate of settlement (consolidation)
• dewatering excavations
• landfill (contamination transport)

Page 1 of 5
CBE2021 SOIL MECHANICS AND GEOLOGY
INTRODUCTION

4 History of Soil Mechanics

• Coulomb (1776) made one of the first attempts to solve the problem involving soil when
he examined the earth pressures acting on retaining walls. With some restrictions his
work is still in use.
• Rankine (1862) contributed further to earth pressure theory when he attempted to examine
the stresses within a soil mass.
• The Swedish Physicist, Atterberg, advanced the understanding of basic soil properties at
the beginning of the 20th Century.
• Development of modern soil mechanics began from the publication of “Soil Mechanics”
by Dr. Karl Terzaghi in 1925. Many present-day theories stem from Terzaghi’s work.

5 Origins and Modes of Formation of Soils

All soils originate, in one way or the other, directly or indirectly, from solid rocks that are
classified according to their mode of formation as follows:

• IGNEOUS ROCKS: rocks formed by the solidification of magma (hot molten material)
ejected (either by fissure eruption or volcanic eruption) from deep in the earth’s mantle.
Sometimes, the magma cools on the earth’s surface to form extrusive igneous rock. At
other times, the magma cools below the earth’s surface to form intrusive igneous rocks.

• SEDIMENTARY ROCKS: rocks formed in layers from soil sediments derived from
weathering actions. The deposits of gravel, sand, silt and clay formed by weathering may
go through a lithification process and becomes sedimentary rocks.

• METAMORPHIC ROCKS: rocks formed by changing the composition and texture of

existing rocks, without melting, by heat and/or pressure.

Soil is composed of loose, uncemented collections of mineral particles of various shapes and
sizes with relatively large void spaces between them or with a high value of ratio of void
space volume to solid particle.

Rock, however, is an intact, usually tough material, consisting of mineral particles and
crystals cemented or welded together. The void spaces in rock are normally small. Even
when they are large they occupy only a small part of the total volume. In engineering terms,
soils may be considered as materials that can be worked without drilling and blasting.

Figure 1 shows diagrammatically how soil is derived from rock.

Page 2 of 5
CBE2021 SOIL MECHANICS AND GEOLOGY
INTRODUCTION

Fig. 1.1 Soil formation process: Weathering, erosion, transportation and deposition.

Figure 1: Soil formation process: weathering, erosion, transportation & deposition

6 Some Factors Affecting the Formation of Solid Rocks to Soils

• Nature and composition of parent rocks.

• Climate conditions, particularly temperate and humidity
• Topographic and general terrain conditions such as degree of shelter or exposure, density
and type of vegetation, etc.
• Length of time the weathering processes prevail.
• Interference with other agencies, e.g., earthquakes, cataclysmic storms, actions of man.
• Modes and conditions of transportation.

Page 3 of 5
CBE2021 SOIL MECHANICS AND GEOLOGY
INTRODUCTION

7 Some Engineering Soil Terminology

ROCK. Hard rigid coherent deposit forming part of the earth’s crust. Rocks require some
forms of blasting or drilling techniques to facilitate excavation.

SOIL. Engineering soils are materials that may be used in some ways in engineering
processes, i.e., worked on, worked in and worked with.

SUBSOIL. This is essentially an agriculture term describing an inert soil layer between the
topsoil layer and bedrock. Strictly speaking the use of this term shall be avoided in
engineering, but nowadays it has been used collectively to refer to soil layers beneath the top
soil.

ORGANIC SOIL. This is a mixture of mineral grains and decomposed organic material of
mainly vegetable origin. Most organic soils have their origins in lakes, bays, estuaries,
harbours and reservoirs. Soil with a smooth touch usually signifies presence of organic
materials that may be characterized by a dark colour and unpleasant odour.

PEAT. Spongy, highly compressible and combustible soil made up of organic matters with
presence of inorganic materials. If percentages of organic matter are large, soils tend to
become organic.

RESIDUAL SOILS. Weathered down remains of rocks that have undergone no transport
and do not retain any structures of the parent rocks. They are usually sandy or gravely with
high concentrations of oxides resulting from leaching processes.

ALLUVIAL SOILS (ALLUVIUM). Materials such as sands and gravels deposited from
rivers and streams. They are usually well sorted and often occur in discontinuous and
irregular formations.

COLLUVIAL SOILS (COLLUVIUM). Materials such as deposits of sand and gravel

originated from the movement of weathered residual soils short distances down slope by
gravity, landslips and running water. They usually consist of angular to round blocks of rock
fragments varying in size from a few millimetres to several meters in a mixture of clayey,
silty matrix.

COHESIVE SOILS. Soils containing clay/silt particles which process some forms of
cohesion and plasticity.

COHESIONLESS SOILS. Soils such as sands and gravels consisting of non-flaky particles,
and which do not exhibit plasticity and cohesion.

DRIFTS. A geological term used to describe superficial unconsolidated deposits of recent

origin, such as alluvium, glacial deposits, wind blown sand, etc.

MECHANICAL WEATHERING. It is the disintegration of rock by purely physical means,

such as differential expansion and contraction of rock masses due to temperature changes.
This leads to a loosening of the coherent structure (block disintegration) and also cracking
(sun cracking). Cracks in rock may also be caused by the rebound effect as the upper rock

Page 4 of 5
CBE2021 SOIL MECHANICS AND GEOLOGY
INTRODUCTION

layers are unloaded and stress relief occurs. This process is called sheeting and causes
horizontal cracks or joints to develop. In temperature and cold climates, the expansion of
water upon freezing also disintegrates the rock through a wedging action in the rock’s cracks.
This is called frost weathering.

CHEMICAL WEATHERING. It is the action of water, atmospheric gases and organic

chemicals from vegetation, which corrodes rock minerals by the processes of solution,
oxidation and hydrolysis to produce new minerals such as clay. These processes are
comparable to the rusting of steel.

9 Distribution of Soils in Hong Kong

Figure 2 shows grammatically typical distribution of soils in Hong Kong.

Fig. 2 Soil distribution in Hong Kong.

Page 5 of 5