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• Introduction to the course and recommended books, Introduction to Soil Mechanics: Definition, role of Soil Mechanics in design and construction of Civil Engineering projects
• Soil formation, principal soil deposits. Soil structure and texture
• Principle properties of soil (natural moisture content, density, specific gravity, void ratio, porosity, degree of saturation). Volumetric and volume weight relationships
• Index properties of soil (Grain size distribution, consistency limits). Purpose of soil classification, engineering soil classification systems (ASTM or USCS, AASHTO)
• Permeability & Seepage: Definition, scope, Darcy’s law, laboratory and field methods of determining permeability, Seepage, seepage control, filters
• Stresses in Soil: Geostatic stresses, total and effective stresses, stress from surface loads
• Lateral stress, Stress influence charts/diagrams and their uses
• Compressibility, Definitions, consolidation, consolidation test and data reduction
• Naturally consolidated clayey and partially consolidated clayey soils, settlement and rate of settlement
• Shear strength of soil, Coulomb’s law, shear strength parameters (c&Φ), cohesive and non-cohesive soils
• Laboratory and field evaluation of (c&Φ). Utility of shear strength parameters
• Laboratory and field evaluation of (c&Φ). Utility of shear strength parameters
• Moisture density relationship, laboratory and field compaction methods. Compaction control during construction, factors affecting compaction
• Ground improvement techniques – dynamic compaction, pre-loading, vibrator
• Site Selection and Exploration: Scope and objective, exploration methods
• Field tests (SPT,CPT, Plate load Test, Pressure meter, Dilatometer Test)