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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

DEFINITION:- Soil, geotechnical, means material that can be worked without drilling or any other lose
sedimentary deposit, such as gravel, sand, silt, clay, or a mixture of these materials.

Soil is also defined as an unconsolidated material, composed of solid particles, produced by the
disintegration of rocks. The void space b/n the particles may be filled with water or air.

An Engineer thinks of soil in terms of the work he may have to do on it, in it, or with it. Thus, top soil
(which is defined as soil in agronomy/geology/ is removed from the earth’s surface before the construction
of structure because it contains large quantities of organic matter and is not suitable as a construction
material or as a foundation for structures.

Soil-Mechanics: - is the application of the laws of mechanics and hydraulics to engineering problems
dealing with unconsolidated materials. Thus soil mechanics is a branch of mechanics dealing with the
action of forces on soil and flow of water in soil.

The Role of Soil Mechanics in Civil Engineering:-

Some of the important applications are:-

1. Foundations:- Every civil engineering structures, whether it is a building, a bridge, or a dam , is

founded on or below the surface of the earth. Foundations are required to transmit the load of the
structure to the soil safely and efficiently.

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2. Retaining Structures:-When sufficient space is not available for

a mass of soil to spread and form a safe slope structure is
required to retain the soil. An earth retaining structure is also
required to keep the soil at different levels on its either side

3. Stability of slopes:- If the soil surface is not horizontal, there is

a component of weight of soil which tends to move it downward
and thus causes instability of slope. The slope may be natural or
manmade.

4. Underground Structures: - The design and construction of

underground structures, such as tunnels, shafts, and conduits,
require evaluation of forces exerted by the soil on these
structures.

5. Pavement Design: - A pavement is a hard crust placed on soil

(sub grade) for the purpose of providing a smooth and strong
surface on which vehicles can move.

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Origin of Soils

The origin of soils is rock. Soils are formed by weathering of rocks due to
(a) Mechanical disintegration
(b) Chemical decomposition. When a rock surface is exposed to
atmosphere for a long time, it disintegrates or decomposes and thus soils
are formed.

A) Mechanical/Physical/ Disintegration.

The causes for physical disintegration of rocks are:

1) Temperature changes (unequal expansion and contraction)

2) Wedging action of ice (when water enters the rock cracks and
gets frozen there by causing breaking of rocks)
3) Spreading of roots of trees there by causing disintegration of
rocks
4) Abrasion (rubbing) effect of water, wind and glaciers as they
move over the rocks surface.

In the processes of physical disintegration (mechanical weathering) or

rocks, there is no change in chemical composition. The soils formed then
will have the properties of the parent rock.

 Coarse-grained soils (gravel and sand) are formed by physical

disintegration of rocks.

B) Chemical Decomposition

Occurs due to the following chemical processes

1) Hydration (combination of water with rock minerals)

2) Oxidation (reaction of oxygen with minerals in rocks)
3) Solution (formation of solutions by the rock minerals in water)
4) Carbonation (reaction of Co2 with water to form carbonic acid )

CO2 + H2O H2CO3

The carbonic acid then reacts with the rock minerals and causes chemical
decomposition

5) Hydrolysis: decomposition of water into H+ and OH- ions. The

H+ ions replace the metallic ions such as Ca, ++ Na+, K+ in rock
minerals and causes decomposition of rocks.

 Clay soils are formed by chemical decomposition of

rocks.

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