Geotechnical

engineering

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Boston's Big Dig presented geotechnical challenges in

an urban environment.
Geotechnical engineering is the branch of
civil engineering concerned with the
engineering behavior of earth materials.
Geotechnical engineering is important in
civil engineering, but also has applications
in military, mining, petroleum and other
engineering disciplines that are concerned
with construction occurring on the surface
or within the ground. Geotechnical
engineering uses principles of soil
mechanics and rock mechanics to
investigate subsurface conditions and
materials; determine the relevant
physical/mechanical and chemical
properties of these materials; evaluate
stability of natural slopes and man-made
soil deposits; assess risks posed by site
conditions; design earthworks and
structure foundations; and monitor site
conditions, earthwork and foundation
construction.[1][2]

A typical geotechnical engineering project

begins with a review of project needs to
define the required material properties.
Then follows a site investigation of soil,
rock, fault distribution and bedrock
properties on and below an area of
interest to determine their engineering
properties including how they will interact
with, on or in a proposed construction. Site
investigations are needed to gain an
understanding of the area in or on which
the engineering will take place.
Investigations can include the assessment
of the risk to humans, property and the
environment from natural hazards such as
earthquakes, landslides, sinkholes, soil
liquefaction, debris flows and rockfalls.

A geotechnical engineer then determines

and designs the type of foundations,
earthworks, and/or pavement subgrades
required for the intended man-made
structures to be built. Foundations are
designed and constructed for structures of
various sizes such as high-rise buildings,
bridges, medium to large commercial
buildings, and smaller structures where
the soil conditions do not allow code-
based design.

Foundations built for above-ground

structures include shallow and deep
foundations. Retaining structures include
earth-filled dams and retaining walls.
Earthworks include embankments,
tunnels, dikes and levees, channels,
reservoirs, deposition of hazardous waste
and sanitary landfills. Geotechnical
engineers are extensively involved in
earthen and concrete dam projects,
evaluating the subsurface conditions at
the dam site and the side slopes of the
reservoir, the seepage conditions under
and around the dam and the stability of
the dam under a range of normal and
extreme loading conditions.

Geotechnical engineering is also related to

coastal and ocean engineering. Coastal
engineering can involve the design and
construction of wharves, marinas, and
jetties. Ocean engineering can involve
foundation and anchor systems for
offshore structures such as oil platforms.

The fields of geotechnical engineering and

engineering geology are closely related,
and have large areas of overlap. However,
the field of geotechnical engineering is a
specialty of engineering, where the field of
engineering geology is a specialty of
geology. Coming from the fields of
engineering and science, respectively, the
two may approach the same subject, such
as soil classification, with different
methods.

History
Humans have historically used soil as a
material for flood control, irrigation
purposes, burial sites, building
foundations, and as construction material
for buildings. First activities were linked to
irrigation and flood control, as
demonstrated by traces of dykes, dams,
and canals dating back to at least 2000
BCE that were found in ancient Egypt,
ancient Mesopotamia and the Fertile
Crescent, as well as around the early
settlements of Mohenjo Daro and Harappa
in the Indus valley. As the cities expanded,
structures were erected supported by
formalized foundations; Ancient Greeks
notably constructed pad footings and
strip-and-raft foundations. Until the 18th
century, however, no theoretical basis for
soil design had been developed and the
discipline was more of an art than a
science, relying on past experience.[3]

Several foundation-related engineering

problems, such as the Leaning Tower of
Pisa, prompted scientists to begin taking a
more scientific-based approach to
examining the subsurface. The earliest
advances occurred in the development of
earth pressure theories for the
construction of retaining walls. Henri
Gautier, a French Royal Engineer,
recognized the "natural slope" of different
soils in 1717, an idea later known as the
soil's angle of repose. A rudimentary soil
classification system was also developed
based on a material's unit weight, which is
no longer considered a good indication of
soil type.[3][4]

The application of the principles of

mechanics to soils was documented as
early as 1773 when Charles Coulomb (a
physicist, engineer, and army Captain)
developed improved methods to
determine the earth pressures against
military ramparts. Coulomb observed that,
at failure, a distinct slip plane would form
behind a sliding retaining wall and he
suggested that the maximum shear stress
on the slip plane, for design purposes, was
the sum of the soil cohesion, , and
friction , where is the normal
stress on the slip plane and is the
friction angle of the soil. By combining
Coulomb's theory with Christian Otto
Mohr's 2D stress state, the theory became
known as Mohr-Coulomb theory. Although
it is now recognized that precise
determination of cohesion is impossible
because is not a fundamental soil
property,[5] the Mohr-Coulomb theory is
still used in practice today.

In the 19th century Henry Darcy developed

what is now known as Darcy's Law
describing the flow of fluids in porous
media. Joseph Boussinesq (a
mathematician and physicist) developed
theories of stress distribution in elastic
solids that proved useful for estimating
stresses at depth in the ground; William
Rankine, an engineer and physicist,
developed an alternative to Coulomb's
earth pressure theory. Albert Atterberg
developed the clay consistency indices
that are still used today for soil
classification.[3][4] Osborne Reynolds
recognized in 1885 that shearing causes
volumetric dilation of dense and
contraction of loose granular materials.

Modern geotechnical engineering is said

to have begun in 1925 with the publication
of Erdbaumechanik by Karl Terzaghi (a
mechanical engineer and geologist).
Considered by many to be the father of
modern soil mechanics and geotechnical
engineering, Terzaghi developed the
principle of effective stress, and
demonstrated that the shear strength of
soil is controlled by effective stress.
Terzaghi also developed the framework for
theories of bearing capacity of
foundations, and the theory for prediction
of the rate of settlement of clay layers due
to consolidation.[3][5][6] In his 1948 book,
Donald Taylor recognized that interlocking
and dilation of densely packed particles
contributed to the peak strength of a soil.
The interrelationships between volume
change behavior (dilation, contraction, and
consolidation) and shearing behavior were
all connected via the theory of plasticity
using critical state soil mechanics by
Roscoe, Schofield, and Wroth with the
publication of "On the Yielding of Soils" in
1958. Critical state soil mechanics is the
basis for many contemporary advanced
constitutive models describing the
behavior of soil.[7]

Geotechnical centrifuge modeling is a

method of testing physical scale models
of geotechnical problems. The use of a
centrifuge enhances the similarity of the
scale model tests involving soil because
the strength and stiffness of soil is very
sensitive to the confining pressure. The
centrifugal acceleration allows a
researcher to obtain large (prototype-
scale) stresses in small physical models.

Practicing engineers
Geotechnical engineers are typically
graduates of a four-year civil engineering
program and some hold a masters degree.
In the USA, geotechnical engineers are
typically licensed and regulated as
Professional Engineers (PEs) in most
states; currently only California and
Oregon have licensed geotechnical
engineering specialties. The Academy of
Geo-Professionals (AGP) began issuing
Diplomate, Geotechnical Engineering
(D.GE) certification in 2008. State
governments will typically license
engineers who have graduated from an
ABET accredited school, passed the
Fundamentals of Engineering
examination, completed several years of
work experience under the supervision of
a licensed Professional Engineer, and
passed the Professional Engineering
examination.[8]

Soil mechanics
A phase diagram of soil indicating the weights and
volumes of air, soil, water, and voids.

In geotechnical engineering, soils are

considered a three-phase material
composed of: rock or mineral particles,
water and air. The voids of a soil, the
spaces in between mineral particles,
contain the water and air.

The engineering properties of soils are

affected by four main factors: the
predominant size of the mineral particles,
the type of mineral particles, the grain size
distribution, and the relative quantities of
mineral, water and air present in the soil
matrix. Fine particles (fines) are defined as
particles less than 0.075 mm in diameter.

Soil properties

Some of the important properties of soils

that are used by geotechnical engineers to
analyze site conditions and design
earthworks, retaining structures, and
foundations are:[2]

Specific weight or Unit Weight

Cumulative weight of the solid particles,
water and air of the unit volume of soil.
Note that the air phase is often
assumed to be weightless.
Porosity
Ratio of the volume of voids (containing
air, water, or other fluids) in a soil to the
total volume of the soil. Porosity is
mathematically related to void ratio the
by[9]

here e is void ratio and n is porosity

Void ratio
The ratio of the volume of voids to the
volume of solid particles in a soil mass.
Void ratio is mathematically related to
the porosity by[9]

Permeability
A measure of the ability of water to flow
through the soil. It is expressed in units
of velocity.[10]
Compressibility
The rate of change of volume with
effective stress. If the pores are filled
with water, then the water must be
squeezed out of the pores to allow
 volumetric compression of the soil; this
process is called consolidation.
Shear strength
The maximum shear stress that can be
applied in a soil mass without causing
shear failure.[11]
Atterberg Limits
Liquid limit, Plastic limit, and Shrinkage
limit. These indices are used for
estimation of other engineering
properties and for soil classification.

Geotechnical investigation
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Geotechnical engineers and engineering
geologists perform geotechnical
investigations to obtain information on the
physical properties of soil and rock
underlying (and sometimes adjacent to) a
site to design earthworks and foundations
for proposed structures, and for repair of
distress to earthworks and structures
caused by subsurface conditions. A
geotechnical investigation will include
surface exploration and subsurface
exploration of a site. Sometimes,
geophysical methods are used to obtain
data about sites. Subsurface exploration
usually involves in-situ testing (two
common examples of in-situ tests are the
standard penetration test and cone
penetration test). In addition site
investigation will often include subsurface
sampling and laboratory testing of the soil
samples retrieved. The digging of test pits
and trenching (particularly for locating
faults and slide planes) may also be used
to learn about soil conditions at depth.
Large diameter borings are rarely used due
to safety concerns and expense, but are
sometimes used to allow a geologist or
engineer to be lowered into the borehole
for direct visual and manual examination
of the soil and rock stratigraphy.
A variety of soil samplers exist to meet the
needs of different engineering projects.
The standard penetration test (SPT), which
uses a thick-walled split spoon sampler, is
the most common way to collect disturbed
samples. Piston samplers, employing a
thin-walled tube, are most commonly used
for the collection of less disturbed
samples. More advanced methods, such
as ground freezing and the Sherbrooke
block sampler, are superior, but even more
expensive.

Atterberg limits tests, water content

measurements, and grain size analysis, for
example, may be performed on disturbed
samples obtained from thick walled soil
samplers. Properties such as shear
strength, stiffness hydraulic conductivity,
and coefficient of consolidation may be
significantly altered by sample
disturbance. To measure these properties
in the laboratory, high quality sampling is
required. Common tests to measure the
strength and stiffness include the triaxial
shear and unconfined compression test.

Surface exploration can include geologic

mapping, geophysical methods, and
photogrammetry; or it can be as simple as
an engineer walking around to observe the
physical conditions at the site. Geologic
mapping and interpretation of
geomorphology is typically completed in
consultation with a geologist or
engineering geologist.

Geophysical exploration is also

sometimes used. Geophysical techniques
used for subsurface exploration include
measurement of seismic waves (pressure,
shear, and Rayleigh waves), surface-wave
methods and/or downhole methods, and
electromagnetic surveys (magnetometer,
resistivity, and ground-penetrating radar).

Building foundations
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A building's foundation transmits loads

from buildings and other structures to the
earth. Geotechnical engineers design
foundations based on the load
characteristics of the structure and the
properties of the soils and/or bedrock at
the site. In general, geotechnical
engineers:

1. Estimate the magnitude and location of

the loads to be supported.
2. Develop an investigation plan to explore
the subsurface.
3. Determine necessary soil parameters
through field and lab testing (e.g.,
consolidation test, triaxial shear test, vane
shear test, standard penetration test).
4. Design the foundation in the safest and
most economical manner.

The primary considerations for foundation

support are bearing capacity, settlement,
and ground movement beneath the
foundations. Bearing capacity is the ability
of the site soils to support the loads
imposed by buildings or structures.
Settlement occurs under all foundations in
all soil conditions, though lightly loaded
structures or rock sites may experience
negligible settlements. For heavier
structures or softer sites, both overall
settlement relative to unbuilt areas or
neighboring buildings, and differential
settlement under a single structure, can be
concerns. Of particular concern is
settlement which occurs over time, as
immediate settlement can usually be
compensated for during construction.
Ground movement beneath a structure's
foundations can occur due to shrinkage or
swell of expansive soils due to climatic
changes, frost expansion of soil, melting
of permafrost, slope instability, or other
causes. All these factors must be
considered during design of foundations.
Many building codes specify basic
foundation design parameters for simple
conditions, frequently varying by
jurisdiction, but such design techniques
are normally limited to certain types of
construction and certain types of sites,
and are frequently very conservative.

In areas of shallow bedrock, most

foundations may bear directly on bedrock;
in other areas, the soil may provide
sufficient strength for the support of
structures. In areas of deeper bedrock with
soft overlying soils, deep foundations are
used to support structures directly on the
bedrock; in areas where bedrock is not
economically available, stiff "bearing
layers" are used to support deep
foundations instead.

Shallow foundations

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Example of a slab-on-grade foundation.

Shallow foundations are a type of

foundation that transfers building load to
the very near the surface, rather than to a
subsurface layer. Shallow foundations
typically have a depth to width ratio of less
than 1.

Footings

Footings (often called "spread footings"

because they spread the load) are
structural elements which transfer
structure loads to the ground by direct
areal contact. Footings can be isolated
footings for point or column loads, or strip
footings for wall or other long (line) loads.
Footings are normally constructed from
reinforced concrete cast directly onto the
soil, and are typically embedded into the
ground to penetrate through the zone of
frost movement and/or to obtain
additional bearing capacity.

Slab foundations

A variant on spread footings is to have the

entire structure bear on a single slab of
concrete underlying the entire area of the
structure. Slabs must be thick enough to
provide sufficient rigidity to spread the
bearing loads somewhat uniformly, and to
minimize differential settlement across
the foundation. In some cases, flexure is
allowed and the building is constructed to
tolerate small movements of the
foundation instead. For small structures,
like single-family houses, the slab may be
less than 300 mm thick; for larger
structures, the foundation slab may be
several meters thick.

Slab foundations can be either slab-on-

grade foundations or embedded
foundations, typically in buildings with
basements. Slab-on-grade foundations
must be designed to allow for potential
ground movement due to changing soil
conditions.

Deep foundations
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Pile-driving for a bridge in Napa, California.

Deep foundations are used for structures

or heavy loads when shallow foundations
cannot provide adequate capacity, due to
size and structural limitations. They may
also be used to transfer building loads
past weak or compressible soil layers.
While shallow foundations rely solely on
the bearing capacity of the soil beneath
them, deep foundations can rely on end
bearing resistance, frictional resistance
along their length, or both in developing
the required capacity. Geotechnical
engineers use specialized tools, such as
the cone penetration test, to estimate the
amount of skin and end bearing resistance
available in the subsurface.

There are many types of deep foundations

including piles, drilled shafts, caissons,
piers, and earth stabilized columns. Large
buildings such as skyscrapers typically
require deep foundations. For example, the
Jin Mao Tower in China uses tubular steel
piles about 1m (3.3 feet) driven to a depth
of 83.5m (274 feet) to support its weight.

In buildings that are constructed and

found to undergo settlement, underpinning
piles can be used to stabilise the existing
building.

There are three ways to place piles for a

deep foundation. They can be driven,
drilled, or installed by use of an auger.
Driven piles are extended to their
necessary depths with the application of
external energy in the same way a nail is
hammered. There are four typical
hammers used to drive such piles: drop
hammers, diesel hammers, hydraulic
hammers, and air hammers. Drop
hammers simply drop a heavy weight onto
the pile to drive it, while diesel hammers
use a single cylinder diesel engine to force
piles through the Earth. Similarly, hydraulic
and air hammers supply energy to piles
through hydraulic and air forces. Energy
imparted from a hammer head varies with
type of hammer chosen, and can be as
high as a million foot pounds for large
scale diesel hammers, a very common
hammer head used in practice. Piles are
made of a variety of material including
steel, timber, and concrete. Drilled piles are
created by first drilling a hole to the
appropriate depth, and filling it with
concrete. Drilled piles can typically carry
more load than driven piles, simply due to
a larger diameter pile. The auger method
of pile installation is similar to drilled pile
installation, but concrete is pumped into
the hole as the auger is being removed.[12]

Lateral earth support

structures
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A retaining wall is a structure that holds

back earth. Retaining walls stabilize soil
and rock from downslope movement or
erosion and provide support for vertical or
near-vertical grade changes. Cofferdams
and bulkheads, structures to hold back
water, are sometimes also considered
retaining walls.

The primary geotechnical concern in

design and installation of retaining walls is
that the weight of the retained material is
creates lateral earth pressure behind the
wall, which can cause the wall to deform
or fail. The lateral earth pressure depends
on the height of the wall, the density of the
soil, the strength of the soil, and the
amount of allowable movement of the
wall. This pressure is smallest at the top
and increases toward the bottom in a
manner similar to hydraulic pressure, and
tends to push the wall away from the
backfill. Groundwater behind the wall that
is not dissipated by a drainage system
causes an additional horizontal hydraulic
pressure on the wall.

Gravity walls

Gravity walls depend on the size and

weight of the wall mass to resist pressures
from behind. Gravity walls will often have a
slight setback, or batter, to improve wall
stability. For short, landscaping walls,
gravity walls made from dry-stacked
(mortarless) stone or segmental concrete
units (masonry units) are commonly used.

Earlier in the 20th century, taller retaining

walls were often gravity walls made from
large masses of concrete or stone. Today,
taller retaining walls are increasingly built
as composite gravity walls such as:
geosynthetic or steel-reinforced backfill
soil with precast facing; gabions (stacked
steel wire baskets filled with rocks), crib
walls (cells built up log cabin style from
precast concrete or timber and filled with
soil or free draining gravel) or soil-nailed
walls (soil reinforced in place with steel
and concrete rods).
For reinforced-soil gravity walls, the soil
reinforcement is placed in horizontal
layers throughout the height of the wall.
Commonly, the soil reinforcement is
geogrid, a high-strength polymer mesh,
that provide tensile strength to hold soil
together. The wall face is often of precast,
segmental concrete units that can tolerate
some differential movement. The
reinforced soil's mass, along with the
facing, becomes the gravity wall. The
reinforced mass must be built large
enough to retain the pressures from the
soil behind it. Gravity walls usually must be
a minimum of 30 to 40 percent as deep
(thick) as the height of the wall, and may
have to be larger if there is a slope or
surcharge on the wall.

Cantilever walls

Prior to the introduction of modern

reinforced-soil gravity walls, cantilevered
walls were the most common type of taller
retaining wall. Cantilevered walls are made
from a relatively thin stem of steel-
reinforced, cast-in-place concrete or
mortared masonry (often in the shape of
an inverted T). These walls cantilever
loads (like a beam) to a large, structural
footing; converting horizontal pressures
from behind the wall to vertical pressures
on the ground below. Sometimes
cantilevered walls are buttressed on the
front, or include a counterfort on the back,
to improve their stability against high
loads. Buttresses are short wing walls at
right angles to the main trend of the wall.
These walls require rigid concrete footings
below seasonal frost depth. This type of
wall uses much less material than a
traditional gravity wall.

Cantilever walls resist lateral pressures by

friction at the base of the wall and/or
passive earth pressure, the tendency of the
soil to resist lateral movement.
Basements are a form of cantilever walls,
but the forces on the basement walls are
greater than on conventional walls
because the basement wall is not free to
move.

Excavation shoring

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Shoring of temporary excavations

frequently requires a wall design which
does not extend laterally beyond the wall,
so shoring extends below the planned
base of the excavation. Common methods
of shoring are the use of sheet piles or
soldier beams and lagging. Sheet piles are
a form of driven piling using thin
interlocking sheets of steel to obtain a
continuous barrier in the ground, and are
driven prior to excavation. Soldier beams
are constructed of wide flange steel H
sections spaced about 2–3 m apart, driven
prior to excavation. As the excavation
proceeds, horizontal timber or steel
sheeting (lagging) is inserted behind the H
pile flanges.

In some cases, the lateral support which

can be provided by the shoring wall alone
is insufficient to resist the planned lateral
loads; in this case additional support is
provided by walers or tie-backs. Walers are
structural elements which connect across
the excavation so that the loads from the
soil on either side of the excavation are
used to resist each other, or which transfer
horizontal loads from the shoring wall to
the base of the excavation. Tie-backs are
steel tendons drilled into the face of the
wall which extend beyond the soil which is
applying pressure to the wall, to provide
additional lateral resistance to the wall.

Earthworks
A compactor/roller operated by U.S. Navy Seabees

Excavation is the process of training

earth according to requirement by
removing the soil from the site.
Filling is the process of training earth
according to requirement by placing the
soil on the site.
Compaction is the process by which the
density of soil is increased and
permeability of soil is decreased. Fill
placement work often has specifications
requiring a specific degree of
 compaction, or alternatively, specific
properties of the compacted soil. In-situ
soils can be compacted by rolling, deep
dynamic compaction, vibration, blasting,
gyrating, kneading, compaction grouting
etc.

Ground improvement
Ground Improvement is a technique that
improves the engineering properties of the
treated soil mass. Usually, the properties
modified are shear strength, stiffness and
permeability. Ground improvement has
developed into a sophisticated tool to
support foundations for a wide variety of
structures. Properly applied, i.e. after
giving due consideration to the nature of
the ground being improved and the type
and sensitivity of the structures being
built, ground improvement often reduces
direct costs and saves time.[13]

Slope stabilization

Simple slope slip section.

Slope stability is the potential of soil

covered slopes to withstand and undergo
movement. Stability is determined by the
balance of shear stress and shear
strength. A previously stable slope may be
initially affected by preparatory factors,
making the slope conditionally unstable.
Triggering factors of a slope failure can be
climatic events can then make a slope
actively unstable, leading to mass
movements. Mass movements can be
caused by increases in shear stress, such
as loading, lateral pressure, and transient
forces. Alternatively, shear strength may
be decreased by weathering, changes in
pore water pressure, and organic material.
Several modes of failure for earth slopes
include falls, topples, slides, and flows. In
slopes with coarse grained soil or rocks,
falls typically occur as the rapid descent of
rocks and other loose slope material. A
slope topples when a large column of soil
tilts over its vertical axis at failure. Typical
slope stability analysis considers sliding
failures, categorized mainly as rotational
slides or translational slides. As implied by
the name, rotational slides fail along a
generally curved surface, while
translational slides fail along a more
planar surface. A slope failing as a flow
would resemble a fluid flowing downhill.
Slope stability analysis

Stability analysis is needed for the design

of engineered slopes and for estimating
the risk of slope failure in natural or
designed slopes. A common assumption
is that a slope consists of a layer of soil
sitting on top of a rigid base. The mass
and the base are assumed to interact via
friction. The interface between the mass
and the base can be planar, curved, or
have some other complex geometry. The
goal of a slope stability analysis is to
determine the conditions under which the
mass will slip relative to the base and lead
to slope failure.[14]
If the interface between the mass and the
base of a slope has a complex geometry,
slope stability analysis is difficult and
numerical solution methods are required.
Typically, the exact geometry of the
interface is not known and a simplified
interface geometry is assumed. Finite
slopes require three-dimensional models
to be analyzed. To keep the problem
simple, most slopes are analyzed
assuming that the slopes are infinitely
wide and can therefore be represented by
two-dimensional models. A slope can be
drained or undrained. The undrained
condition is used in the calculations to
produce conservative estimates of risk.
A popular stability analysis approach is
based on principles pertaining to the limit
equilibrium concept. This method
analyzes a finite or infinite slope as if it
were about to fail along its sliding failure
surface. Equilibrium stresses are
calculated along the failure plane, and
compared to the soils shear strength as
determined by Terzaghi’s shear strength
equation. Stability is ultimately decided by
a factor of safety equal to the ratio of
shear strength to the equilibrium stresses
along the failure surface. A factor of safety
greater than one generally implies a stable
slope, failure of which should not occur
assuming the slope is undisturbed. A
factor of safety of 1.5 for static conditions
is commonly used in practice.

Offshore geotechnical
engineering

Platforms offshore Mexico.

Offshore (or marine) geotechnical

engineering is concerned with foundation
design for human-made structures in the
sea, away from the coastline (in
opposition to onshore or nearshore).[15] Oil
platforms, artificial islands and submarine
pipelines are examples of such structures.
There are number of significant
differences between onshore and offshore
geotechnical engineering.[15][16] Notably,
ground improvement (on the seabed) and
site investigation are more expensive, the
offshore structures are exposed to a wider
range of geohazards, and the
environmental and financial consequences
are higher in case of failure. Offshore
structures are exposed to various
environmental loads, notably wind, waves
and currents. These phenomena may
affect the integrity or the serviceability of
the structure and its foundation during its
operational lifespan – they need to be
taken into account in offshore design.

In subsea geotechnical engineering,

seabed materials are considered a two-
phase material composed of 1) rock or
mineral particles and 2) water.[17][18]
Structures may be fixed in place in the
seabed—as is the case for piers, jettys and
fixed-bottom wind turbines—or may be a
floating structure that remain roughly fixed
relative to its geotechnical anchor point.
Undersea mooring of human-engineered
floating structures include a large number
of offshore oil and gas platforms and,
since 2008, a few floating wind turbines.
Two common types of engineered design
for anchoring floating structures include
tension-leg and catenary loose mooring
systems. "Tension leg mooring systems
have vertical tethers under tension
providing large restoring moments in pitch
and roll. Catenary mooring systems
provide station keeping for an offshore
structure yet provide little stiffness at low
tensions."[19]

Geosynthetics
A collage of geosynthetic products.

Geosynthetics are a type of plastic

polymer products used in geotechnical
engineering that improve engineering
performance while reducing costs. This
includes geotextiles, geogrids,
geomembranes, geocells, and
geocomposites. The synthetic nature of
the products make them suitable for use in
the ground where high levels of durability
are required; their main functions include:
drainage, filtration, reinforcement,
separation and containment.
Geosynthetics are available in a wide
range of forms and materials, each to suit
a slightly different end use, although they
are frequently used together. These
products have a wide range of
applications and are currently used in
many civil and geotechnical engineering
applications including: roads, airfields,
railroads, embankments, piled
embankments, retaining structures,
reservoirs, canals, dams, landfills, bank
protection and coastal engineering.[20]

See also
Civil engineering
Deep Foundations Institute
Earth structure
Effective stress
Geology
Engineering geology
Rock mass classifications
Seismology
Geoprofessions
International Society for Soil Mechanics
and Geotechnical Engineering
Karl von Terzaghi
Land reclamation
Landfill
 List of publications in geotechnical
engineering
Mechanically stabilized earth
Observational method (geotechnics)
Offshore geotechnical engineering
Q-slope
Sediment control
Soil mechanics
Soil physics
Soil science

Notes
1. Terzaghi, K., Peck, R.B. and Mesri, G.
(1996), Soil Mechanics in Engineering
Practice 3rd Ed., John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
ISBN 0-471-08658-4
2. Holtz, R. and Kovacs, W. (1981), An
Introduction to Geotechnical Engineering,
Prentice-Hall, Inc. ISBN 0-13-484394-0
3. Das, Braja (2006). Principles of
Geotechnical Engineering. Thomson
Learning.
4. Budhu, Muni (2007). Soil Mechanics and
Foundations. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
ISBN 978-0-471-43117-6.
5. Disturbed soil properties and
geotechnical design, Schofield, Andrew N.,
Thomas Telford, 2006. ISBN 0-7277-2982-9
6. Soil Mechanics, Lambe, T.William and
Whitman, Robert V., Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, John Wiley & Sons.,
1969. ISBN 0-471-51192-7
7. Soil Behavior and Critical State Soil
Mechanics, Wood, David Muir, Cambridge
University Press, 1990. ISBN 0-521-33782-8
8. "Engineering licensure" . Retrieved
2017-01-10.
9. "Void Ratio" . NPTEL. Retrieved
24 August 2015.
10. "Permeability" . NPTEL. Retrieved
24 August 2015.
11. "Shear strength" . NPTEL. Retrieved
24 August 2015.
12. Coduto, Donald; et al. (2011).
Geotechnical Engineering Principles and
Practices. New Jersey: Pearson Higher
Education. ISBN 9780132368681.
13. RAJU, V. R. (2010). Ground
Improvement Technologies and Case
Histories. Singapore: Research Publishing
Services. p. 809. ISBN 978-981-08-3124-0.
Ground Improvement – Principles And
Applications In Asia.
14. Pariseau, William G. (2011). Design
analysis in rock mechanics. CRC Press.
15. Dean, E.T.R. (2010). Offshore
Geotechnical Engineering – Principles and
Practice. Thomas Telford, Reston, VA, 520
p.
16. Randolph, M. and Gourvenec, S., 2011.
Offshore geotechnical engineering. Spon
Press, N.Y., 550 p.
17. Das, B.M., 2010. Principles of
geotechnical engineering. Cengage
Learning, Stamfort, 666 p.
18. Atkinson, J., 2007. The mechanics of
soils and foundations. Taylor & Francis, N.Y.,
442 p.
19. Floating Offshore Wind Turbines:
Responses in a Seastate – Pareto Optimal
Designs and Economic Assessment , P.
Sclavounos et al., October 2007.
20. Koerner, R. M. (2012) Designing with
geosynthetics, 6th Edition, Xlibris
Corporation, USA

References
Holtz, R. and Kovacs, W. (1981), An Introduction
to Geotechnical Engineering, Prentice-Hall, Inc.
ISBN 0-13-484394-0
Bowles, J. (1988), Foundation Analysis and
Design, McGraw-Hill Publishing Company.
ISBN 0-07-006776-7
Cedergren, Harry R. (1977), Seepage, Drainage,
and Flow Nets, Wiley. ISBN 0-471-14179-8
Kramer, Steven L. (1996), Geotechnical
Earthquake Engineering, Prentice-Hall, Inc.
ISBN 0-13-374943-6
Freeze, R.A. & Cherry, J.A., (1979), Groundwater,
Prentice-Hall. ISBN 0-13-365312-9
Lunne, T. & Long, M.,(2006), Review of long
seabed samplers and criteria for new sampler
design, Marine Geology, Vol 226, p. 145–165
Mitchell, James K. & Soga, K. (2005),
Fundamentals of Soil Behavior 3rd ed., John
Wiley & Sons, Inc. ISBN 978-0-471-46302-3
Rajapakse, Ruwan., (2005), "Pile Design and
Construction", 2005. ISBN 0-9728657-1-3

Fang, H.-Y. and Daniels, J. (2005) Introductory

Geotechnical Engineering : an environmental
perspective, Taylor & Francis. ISBN 0-415-
30402-4
NAVFAC (Naval Facilities Engineering
Command) (1986) Design Manual 7.01, Soil
Mechanics , US Government Printing Office
NAVFAC (Naval Facilities Engineering
Command) (1986) Design Manual 7.02,
Foundations and Earth Structures , US
Government Printing Office
NAVFAC (Naval Facilities Engineering
Command) (1983) Design Manual 7.03, Soil
Dynamics, Deep Stabilization and Special
Geotechnical Construction, US Government
Printing Office
Terzaghi, K., Peck, R.B. and Mesri, G. (1996), Soil
Mechanics in Engineering Practice 3rd Ed., John
Wiley & Sons, Inc. ISBN 0-471-08658-4
Santamarina, J.C., Klein, K.A., & Fam, M.A.
(2001), "Soils and Waves: Particulate Materials
Behavior, Characterization and Process
Monitoring", Wiley, ISBN 978-0-471-49058-6
Firuziaan, M. and Estorff, O., (2002), "Simulation
of the Dynamic Behavior of Bedding-
Foundation-Soil in the Time Domain", Springer
Verlag.
Retrieved from
"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Geotechnical_engineering&oldid=886811143"

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