Geotechnical Engineering

Dr. Terzaghi stated 'the value of engineering Science is determined by what it can accomplish as a tool in the hands of the practising engineers.' Like any other science, the gap between research achievements and current practice in Geotechnical Engineering is a reality and this differs from country to country, perhaps due to the fact that the Science is concerned with geo-materials, product of climatic, geologic and other natural forces. But irrespective of these variations, the use of computers and related developments in numerical methods and application of statistical and probabilistic approaches have influenced the practices in geotechnical engineering considerably. Similarly the use of new materials along with natural materials, construction of off-shore structures, new experiences with old practices, in dam design containment problems with toxic effluents, examining or re-examining causes of failures, have necessarily brought change in study outlook and design approaches of geotechnical engineering.
The book contains fifteen chapters, contributed by twenty-one geotechnical experts from nine countries, and presents the new approaches in certain areas of geotechnical engineering, state-of-the-art reports highlighting the open issues and review of design practices, suggesting changes based on experience and recently acquired knowledge. The topics covered are: sampling disturbance and application of numerical models, study of swelling characteristics of deep residual clays, cemented marine carbonate soils, constitutive models and geotechnical applications, control of uncertainty, determination of design parameters, embankment dam and earthquakes, machine foundations, design and construction of tailings dams, geosynthetics in embankment dams and as material for soil reinforcement, redundancy in seepage control measures, collapse compression of fills and slope stabilization using vegetation. The areas covered are basically interrelated and influence each other, though research and development in each area has been independent of time and space.