It is necessary for buildings, regardless of size and form to be safely supported by the ground. If this fundamental requirement is not satisfied the building may experience damaging settlement or worse .... Total collapse. Such consequences effectively mandate that every engineer becomes proficient in the basics of soil mechanics. This module builds on the material covered in WT4014. It is designed to challenge the student to master the key concepts in soil mechanics and apply these concepts in projects and self-directed learning.

* Basic mechanics Stresses, strains; plane, axial symmetry, 2-D and 3-D conditions - stress distribution; analysis of stress and strain using Mohr's circle; stiffness and strength. * Compressibility and Consolidation 1-D consolidation theory; Solutions and applications for 1-D consolidation in shallow foundation design; Consolidation Time & rate effects; Determination of Cv, Cc and Cs from oedometer tests; Interpretation of OCR. Calculation of foundation settlement and differential settlement, building damage criteria. *Soil behaviour in shear; Peak, critical state and residual strengths; Drained and Undrained strength; state and material properties, dilation, choice of shear strength parameters for shallow foundation design; Stress paths and their value in decision making. * Laboratory testing of soils Standard tests, purposes and specification; Shear box, triaxial and oedometer tests; Summary: - Shear strength of soils in drained and undrained conditions; peak, critical state and residual soil strength; stress path sketching; elastic stress distribution in soil; soil compressibility and consolidation; geotechnical design of shallow foundations and associated laboratory tests such as triaxial and oedometer tests

At the end of this module students will be able to: 1. Perform calculations to determine soil stresses under various loading conditions (C1). 2. Interpret results from various laboratory soil tests (C2). 3. Discuss the factors that influence the shear strength of soil (C3). 4. Estimate the magnitude of soil settlement and the time taken to reach this value (C4). 5. Evaluate the likelihood of building damage due to differential settlement (Soil Structure Interaction) (C5).

At the end of this module students will be able to: 1. Appreciate the heterogeneous nature of soil as an engineering material (A1). 2. Display a willingness to engage in group learning (A2).

At the end of this module students will be able to: 1. Prepare both intact and/or reconstituted soil specimens for physical testing in the laboratory (P1). 2. Undertake an oedometer test to establish compressibility and consolidation properties of soil (P2). 3. Perform a triaxial test to determine the shear strength of soil (P3).

The module content is developed through a combination of lectures and PBL sessions. Clickers are used in lectures to encourage active participation during the class, gauge understanding of the content being delivered and to provide instant feedback to quiz questions. A series of online videos created by the module leader are also available to support the learning of soil mechanics theory and practice. This module forms part of an Integrated Design Project which includes three other civil engineering modules running in the same semester. This project involves significant facilitated & unfacilitated groupwork in addition to interim and final formal presentation of the design. These hone and grow the students skills in these non-technical areas.