Specialisation modules for Soil Mechanics & Environmental Geotechnics
ENGINEERING GEOMORPHOLOGY
SUBJECT CO-ORDINATOR: Dr R Ghail (Room 335)
INTRODUCTION
This course describes the geological characteristics of soils and rocks, as materials and en-masse, and explains their influence upon the engineering behaviour of these materials.
COURSE STRUCTURE
27 hours of lectures and tutorials in nine 3-hour blocks. The course starts by setting out the fundamental characteristics of soils and rocks, and continues by dealing with each of the main types commonly encountered. Soils and rocks are studied further in the field during two field trips organised in the First Term.
LECTURE CONTENTS
Lectures Lecturer Topics
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
RG
RG
RG
RG
Importance of Engineering Geology
Volcanic and Igneous Processes
Weathering and Soil
Aeolian and Fluvial Processes
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
RG
RG
RG
RG
RG
Glacial and Marine Environments
Sedimentary and Metamorphic Rocks
Geological Structures
Active tectonics
Putting It All Together
FIELD WORK
There are three field trips. The first visits the Mesozoic strata of S E England to study the response of soils and weak rocks to changed produced by engineering work and the natural process of erosion. The second visits the Palaeozoic strata of S W England to study the character and behaviour of stratified rock. The third visits another European country to consider the links between construction, geology and the environment. Field work normally comes to a total of ten working days. Trips one and two are held in Term
1 and Trip three is held immediately after the exams in Term 3.

PARTIALLY SATURATED SOIL BEHAVIOUR
LECTURER: Dr J R Standing (Room 528B)
18 lectures and additional discussion sessions
This course has been developed to address current issues relating to the behaviour of partly saturated soils.
Fundamental behaviour of partly saturated soils in terms of soil suction, water content, volume change and shear strength. Pore pressure profiles in the partly saturated zone: appropriate stress variables for partly saturated soils; the application of effective stress to partly unsaturated soils, direct suction measurement; indirect suction measurement; laboratory testing techniques; soil-water relationships; the influence of suction on the volume of reconstituted and compacted soils and the influence of suction on shear strength. The course is illustrated with recent test data and case histories.
ENVIRONMENTAL GEOTECHNICS
SUBJECT CO-ORDINATORS Dr S Kontoe (Room 535) & Dr A P Butler (Room 306)
LECTURERS
Dr C R Cheeseman (Room 393), Visiting Fellow Dr R Jones (Golder Associates Ltd),
Professor R J Chandler
COURSE STRUCTURE
The courses comprise 30 hours of lectures and tutorials.
INTRODUCTION
This series of courses is designed to introduce environmental matters to geotechnical students. Though considerable reference is made to the various codes and guidance notes, so far as possible the emphasis is on basic principles and the major geotechnical environmental problems.
Autumn Term Lectures:
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Landfill Engineering
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Introduction to Waste Management
• Chemistry and Biology of Waste Decomposition Processes
Mining Tailings Dams
Engineering design of Landfills I
Engineering design of Landfills II
Properties of natural and synthetic liners
Hydrogeology of landfill sites
Gas generation and control in landfills
Monitoring emissions from landfills

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Case studies and presentation on landfill design
Recommended Texts
Comprehensive lecture notes are issued, together with various codes and guidance notes.
Spring Term Lectures:
. Hydrogeology of Contaminated Land
The Hydrology of Contaminated Land Course deals with problems arising from managed and unmanaged disposal of contaminants and waste to the subsurface environment. It covers the use of landfill as a means of waste disposal and the problems of design, management, monitoring and regulation. It also deals with the problems of contaminated land arising from the unmanaged release of pollutants into the environment. The processes which govern the movement and behaviour of subsurface contamination, methods of site investigation and remediation techniques.
30 hours of lectures over 10 sessions, accompanying problem sheets, and one piece of course work.
1. Introduction
Problems of waste management and environmental regulation.
2. Landfill
Hydrogeology of landfill sites. Gas generation and control in landfills. Monitoring emissions from landfills. Water balance modelling. Case study and coursework presentation.
3. Contaminated Land
Contaminant behaviour and governing equations for contaminant hydrogeology.
Site investigation techniques - methods, data analysis, case histories.
Remediation - objectives, decision making, risk assessment, ex-situ & in-situ methods, remediation design exercise.
Recommended Texts
Veilson, D M & Sara, M N - Current Practices in ground water and vadose zone investigations, ASTM, 1992.
McBean, E A, Rovers, F A & Farquhar, G J - Solid Waste Landfill Engineering and
Design, Prentice-Hall Inc, 1995.

GEOTECHNICAL PROCESSES
SUBJECT CO-ORDINATOR Dr J R Standing (Room 528B)
LECTURERS: Dr J R Standing (Room 528B), Professor R J Jardine (Room 530).
INTRODUCTION
This course aims to stimulate interest and encourage reading round various subjects within the geotechnical field. Depending on the subject and the lecturer you will be presented with: the theory behind geotechnical processes; the design processes; and the construction processes. In all instances you will be exposed to state-of-the-art thinking, and supporting case studies.
COURSE STRUCTURE
21 contact hours
The course has 21 hours of time-tabled contact time. This is divided into seven 3 hour sessions. The sessions will be used for lecturing, group projects, discussion and investigation. There will be a course-work element to the course.
The subjects to be covered are:
Soft ground tunnelling.
Ground improvement.
Driven piles and offshore foundations.
Bored piles and pile testing.
Reinforced earth and soil nailing.
Deep excavations.
ADVANCED CONSTITUTIVE MODELLING
LECTURER Dr Lidija Zdravkovic (Room 532)
INTRODUCTION
This lecture course extends the basis of soil modelling presented in the Analysis course, by considering additional concepts of soil plasticity:
1. double yield surface models

2. bounding surface plasticity models
3. ‘bubble’ models
The objective of the course is to further demonstrate to students the ability of finite element analysis in modelling real boundary problems and make them aware of the fact that for complex problems simple models of soil behaviour may not be appropriate.
This course is assessed by coursework only.
RECOMMENDED TEXT
Potts D M and Zdravkovic L (1999). Finite element analysis in geotechnical engineering: Theory. Thomas Telford, London.
A full set of lecture notes will be provided.