ENCN353-14S2 (C) Semester Two 2014

Geotechnical Engineering

15 points

Details:
Start Date: Monday, 14 July 2014
End Date: Sunday, 16 November 2014
Withdrawal Dates
Last Day to withdraw from this course:
  • Without financial penalty (full fee refund): Sunday, 27 July 2014
  • Without academic penalty (including no fee refund): Sunday, 12 October 2014

Description

Mohr's circle; time-dependent soil behaviour; settlement; capacity and failure of foundations; field investigations; slope stability; earth pressure theories and retaining structures.

This second course in geomechanics focuses primarily on the analysis of common geo-structures and foundations. It makes use of the soil mechanics concepts and calculations learned in ENCN 253 and familiarity with this material is assumed. Generally speaking, the course content has been developed on the assumption that ideas and understanding, as opposed to codes or rote-learned formulae, are the backbone of successful engineering – our aim is to understand the behaviour of soil, and then put this understanding to work to solve practical engineering problems and make decisions.

Learning Outcomes

The course is divided into eight modules of roughly equal weight and duration:
Module 1: Mohr’s circles and soil stress-strain behavior – revision and extension [self-taught]

Module 2: Consolidation and related settlement
Module 3: Shallow foundations – ultimate capacity and failure
Module 4: Shallow foundations – serviceability and settlement
Module 5: In situ testing and site investigation
Module 6: Deep foundations
Module 7: Slope stability
Module 8: Retaining walls
Specific learning outcomes for each module will be provided at the beginning of each set of module notes. Use these learning outcomes to guide your study for the course and exam.

Prerequisites

Restrictions

ENCI351

Course Coordinator / Lecturer

Jenny Haskell

Lab Technician

Siale Faitotonu

Assessment

Assessment Due Date Percentage 
final exam 50%
Homework (x4) 20%
labs (x2) 8%
Module 1 mini-quiz 2%
Test (modules 1-4) 15%
Tutorials 5%


Test and exam: A minimum mark of 40% must be achieved in each of the mid-semester test and the final exam in order to pass the course. A student who narrowly fails to achieve 40% in either the test or the exam, but who performs very well in the other may be eligible to pass the course.

Aegrotat eligibility: “Aegrotat provisions are intended to assist students who have covered the work of the course but have been prevented by illness or other critical circumstance from demonstrating their mastery of the material or skills at the time of assessment” (UC Calendar). As a general guideline, a student may only apply for an aegrotat for the exam if they have sat the mid-semester test and submitted at least 60% of the coursework (labs and homeworks).

Homeworks: Homeworks should be submitted to the box marked ‘ENCN353’, located on the ground floor of the engineering block, between the civil and mechanical wings. Official Department coversheets should be used for all submissions.

You are strongly encouraged to make a copy of your homeworks prior to submitting them to the boxes. Very occasionally submitted homeworks go missing and by making a copy you will still be able to compare your work to the model solutions and learn from any mistakes mistakes.

All homeworks should be submitted by the due date. Late submissions will not be accepted. If a student is unable to complete and submit a homework by the due date owing to circumstances beyond their control, they should discuss this with the course coordinator at the earliest opportunity.

Tutorials: At the end of tutorials you will be asked to hand in your work. This will not be formally marked, with ‘full marks’ instead being given for making a good attempt at the set problem(s). In order to obtain the full 5% of the course grade associated with tutorials you need to hand in a good attempt at the set material for at least 8 out of the 10 tutorials.

Indicative Fees

Domestic fee $841.00

International fee $4,638.00

* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.

For further information see Civil and Natural Resources Engineering .

All ENCN353 Occurrences

  • ENCN353-14S2 (C) Semester Two 2014