1 | P a g e Soil Mechanics and Foundations
Prince Sultan University
College of engineering
Engineering Management Department.
Academic Year 2021-2022 – Semester (212)
EM 306: Soil Mechanics and Foundations
Class Project 2021/2022
Soil Mechanics and Foundations
Introduction
the geotechnical report is used to communicate the site conditions and design and construction
recommendations to the site design, building design, and construction personnel. Site
investigations for building design projects have the purpose of providing specific information on
subsurface soil, rock, and water conditions. Interpretation of the site investigation information by
a geotechnical engineer, results in design and construction recommendations that should be
presented in a project geotechnical report.
Geotechnical investigation reports present site-specific data and has three major components:
1. Background Information: The initial sections of the report summarize the geotechnical
engineer’s understanding of the facility for which the report is being prepared and the purposes
of the geotechnical investigation. This section would include information on loads, deformations,
and additional performance requirements. This section also presents a general description of site
conditions, geology and geologic features, drainage, ground cover and accessibility, and any
peculiarities of the site that may affect the design.
2. Work Scope: The second part of the investigation report documents the scope of the
investigation program and the specific procedures used to perform this work. These sections will
identify the types of investigation methods used; the number, location, and depths of borings,
exploration pits, and in situ tests; the types and frequency of samples obtained; the dates when
the field investigation was performed; the subcontractors used to perform the work; the types and
number of laboratory tests performed; the testing standards used; and any variations from
conventional procedures.
3. Data Presentation: This portion of the report, generally contained in appendices, presents
the data obtained from the field investigation and laboratory testing program and typically includes
final logs of all borings, exploration pits, piezometer or well installations, water level readings, data
plots from each in-situ test hole, summary tables and individual datasheets for all laboratory tests
performed, rock core photographs, geologic mapping data sheets, and summary plots,
subsurface profiles developed from the field and laboratory test data, as well as statistical
summaries. The investigation report will often include copies of existing information, such as
boring logs or laboratory test data from previous investigations at the project site. The intent of a
geotechnical investigation report should be to document the investigation performed and present
the data obtained. The report should include a summary of the subsurface and lab data.
4. Conclusion and recommendations: this is the most important part; conclusions should be
drawn based on the results of both in-situ and laboratory soil testing. These conclusions are used
to come out with the foundation design and construction recommendations.
2 | P a g e Soil Mechanics and Foundations
Prince Sultan University
College of engineering
Engineering Management Department.
Academic Year 2021-2022 – Semester (212)
EM 306: Soil Mechanics and Foundations
The Project Statement:
The residential villa shown in the Figure below will be constructed in Red Sea city (KSA), in front of
the sea beach. This building consists of only two floors. According to the architectural design, the
ground floor will be used as a reception area, and the second floor will be used as bedrooms and living
space.
Figure (1): Architectural Design fo the residential villa
The structural system is shown in the drawings below, and the columns and beams distribution on
both first and second slabs of the two floors are presented. As shown in Figures (2 and 3), The
structural system mainly depends on the Solid Slab system, and the load will be transferred from slabs
to beams and then to columns.
Based on the initial calculations performed by the structural consultant, it was found that the load
transferred from each of columns A,D,F, and K (Corner columns) is 1000 kN, and for the interior
columns B, C, G, and H each of them transfer 2500 kN to the foundations, as shown in Figure 4.
3 | P a g e Soil Mechanics and Foundations
Prince Sultan University
College of engineering
Engineering Management Department.
Academic Year 2021-2022 – Semester (212)
EM 306: Soil Mechanics and Foundations
Figure (2): Structural system of The First Floor
Figure (3): Structural system of The Roof Floor
.
4 | P a g e Soil Mechanics and Foundations
Prince Sultan University
College of engineering
Engineering Management Department.
Academic Year 2021-2022 – Semester (212)
EM 306: Soil Mechanics and Foundations
Figure (4): Cross Section.
The geotechnical consultant has performed site investigation works at the construction site, and the
following section presents the results of field and laboratory tests conducted using both disturbance
and un-disturbance soil samples
1. The Soil profile shown in Figure (5) organizes the results obtained for soil samples taken
along the borehole depth. The profile shows the results of the in-situ standard penetration test
SPT and atterberg limit test for soil samples at each 1m depth.
2. Sieve analysis test results for three disturbance samples obtained from boreholes (Layer 1
and 2) at depths of 1.0, 3.0, and 5.0 m below the ground surface are shown in Figure (6). Also,
results of the Sieve analysis test for another three disturbance samples obtained from
boreholes at depths 7.0 and 8.50 m below the ground surface (Layer3 and 4) are shown in
Figure (7).
3. Permeability test has performed for a soil sample taken from layer (1); the sample length
and diameter were 16.10 cm and 11.21 cm, respectively. Also, cross-section area of the test
equipment tube was 1.83 cm2
. After 6 days, the water head was changed from 120 cm to 110
cm.
4. A consolidation Test has also been performed for un-distrubance sample taken from layer
(1), and mv was obtained with 4.5 * 10-4 m2
/kN. Besides, the unconfined test that shown the
unconfined strength of this soil sample equals 160 kN\m2.
5 | P a g e Soil Mechanics and Foundations
Prince Sultan University
College of engineering
Engineering Management Department.
Academic Year 2021-2022 – Semester (212)
EM 306: Soil Mechanics and Foundations
Figure (5): Borehole Profile with atterberg limit and SPT test results
6 | P a g e Soil Mechanics and Foundations
Prince Sultan University
College of engineering
Engineering Management Department.
Academic Year 2021-2022 – Semester (212)
EM 306: Soil Mechanics and Foundations
Figure (6): Sieve analysis test results of three samples extracted at depths 1.0, 3.0, and 5.0 m
below ground surface.
Figure (7): Sieve analysis test results of three samples extracted at depths 1.0, 3.0, and 5.0 m
below ground surface.
7 | P a g e Soil Mechanics and Foundations
Prince Sultan University
College of engineering
Engineering Management Department.
Academic Year 2021-2022 – Semester (212)
EM 306: Soil Mechanics and Foundations
Based upon, if you are the geotechnical consultant, it is required to:
1. Use the given data of field and laboratory tests to classify and describe the four soil layers and
complete the soil profile (Layers 1,2,3, and 4).
2. Correct N-SPT values and calculate bearing capacity for the first and second soil layers only.
3. Choose a suitable foundation level.
2. Based on the given columns loads, Choose the suitable foundation system to support this
column load. Consider the factor of safety of 3.0.
3. Calculate the predicted immediate settlement under this footing (1) and (2) (Figure4); if the soil
passion’s ratio is 0.30.
4. Recalculate the settlement after 5 Years.
5. If the allowable settlement is 15 cm and the allowable differential settlement is 1:300. Check the
safety and servsiabilty of this building.
6. Write down a summary of the geotechnical work and give your fundamental recommendations
for foundation design and construction.
Deadline: May 15, 2022
NO Surname a1
(m)
a2
(m)
a3
(m)
b1
(m)
b2
(m)
b3
(m)
1 AHMMAD BASEL HELMI AL DROBI 3 4 4 5 1.5 2
2 HUSSAIN ZIYAD HUSSAIN ALHABILI 3 4 5 5 1.5 2
3 HASSAN ABDALLAH HEMAID ALOUFI 3 5 5 5 1.5 2
4 FAISAL THAAR MOHAMMAD ALSOBIAI 4 4 4 5 1.5 2
5 ABDULLAH ALI HAMED BALHARETH 5 5 5 5 1.5 2
6 ABDULAZIZ ABDULLAH MOHAMMED ALABDULKAREEM 4.5 4.5 4.5 5 1.5 2
7 ABDALLAH ABUBAKAR AHMAD BAWAZIR 3 4 4 5 2.5 3
