This textbook offers a superb introduction to theoretical and practical soil mechanics. Special attention is given to the risks of failure in civil engineering, and themes covered include stresses in soils, groundwater flow, consolidation, testing of soils, and stability of slopes. Readers will learn the major principles and methods of soil mechanics, and the most important methods of determining soil parameters both in the laboratory and in situ. The basic principles of applied mechanics, that are frequently used, are offered in the appendices. The author’s considerable experience of teaching soil mechanics is evident in the many features of the book: it is packed with supportive color illustrations, helpful examples and references. Exercises with answers enable students to self-test their understanding and encourage them to explore further through additional online material. Numerous simple computer programs are provided online as Electronic Supplementary Material. As a soil mechanics textbook, this volume is ideally suited to supporting undergraduate civil engineering students. “I am really delighted that your book is now published. When I “discovered” your course a few years ago, I was elated to have finally found a book that immediately resonated with me. Your approach to teaching soil mechanics is precise, rigorous, clear, concise, or in other words “crisp." My colleagues who share the teaching of Soil Mechanics 1 and 2 (each course is taught every semester) at the UMN have also adopted your book.” Emmanuel Detournay Professor at Dept. of Civil, Environmental, and Geo-Engineering, University of Minnesota, USA

A step-by-step text on the basic tests performed in soil mechanics, Introduction to Soil Mechanics Laboratory Testing provides procedural aids and elucidates industry standards. It also covers how to properly present data and document results. Containing numerical examples and figures, the information presented is based on American Society f

This book is mainly intended to meet the needs of undergraduate students of Civil Engineering. In preparing the first edition of this book, I had two principal aims: firstly to provide the student with a description of soil behavior-and of the effects of the clay minerals and the soil water on such behavior-which was rather more detailed than is usual in an elementary text, and secondly to encourage him to look critically at the traditional methods of analysis and design. The latter point is important, since all such methods require certain simplifying assumptions without which no solution is generally possible. Serious errors in design are seldom the result of failure to understand the methods as such. They more usually arise from a failure to study and understand the geology of the site, or from attempts to apply analytical methods to problems for which the implicit assumptions make them unsuitable. In the design of foundations and earth structures, more than in most branches of engineering, the engineer must be continually exercising his judgment in making decisions. The analytical methods cannot relieve him of this responsibility but properly used, they should ensure that his judgment is based on sound knowledge and not on blind intuition. I hope that the book will prove to be of use to students when their courses are over, and help to bridge the awkward gap between theory and practice.

While many introductory texts on soil mechanics are available, most are either lacking in their explanations of soil behavior or provide far too much information without cogent organization. More significantly, few of those texts go beyond memorization of equations and numbers to provide a practical understanding of why and how soil mechanics work.

"This introductory course on soil mechanics presents the key concepts of stress, stiffness, seepage, consolidation, and strength within a one-dimensional framework. Consideration of the mechanical behaviour of soils requires us to consider density alongside stresses, thus permitting the unification of deformation and strength characteristics. Soils are described in a way which can be integrated with concurrent teaching of the properties of other engineering materials. The book includes a model of the shearing of soil and some examples of soil-structure interaction which are capable of theoretical analysis using one-dimensional governing equations. The text contains many worked examples, and exercises are given for private study at the end of all chapters. Some suggestions for laboratory demonstrations that could accompany such an introductory course are sprinkled through the book." --Book Jacket.

Discover the principles that support the practice! With its simplicity in presentation, this text makes the difficult concepts of soil mechanics and foundations much easier to understand. The author explains basic concepts and fundamental principles in the context of basic mechanics, physics, and mathematics. From Practical Situations and Essential Points to Practical Examples, this text is packed with helpful hints and examples that make the material crystal clear.

Covering the undergraduate course in geotechnical engineering for civil engineers, this work sets out the basic theories of soil mechanics in a clear, simple way, combining both classical and critical state theories. By using short, focused chapters, the author ensures an accessible text while maintaining a continuous thread running through the book as theory develops into application. The treatment of soil mechanics is essentially theoretical but it is not highly mathematical and soil behaviour is represented by relatively simple equations with clearly defined parameters. The theory is supported by worked examples and simple experimental demonstrations.