Program Overview

CIVL2201 Soil Mechanics

Overview

The unit CIVL2201, Soil Mechanics, is offered by Macquarie University. This unit provides students with an introduction to engineering geology and soil mechanics, presenting and discussing specialized knowledge of soil mechanics that helps students undertake a variety of soil mechanics analyses through lectures and laboratory testing.

Unit Description

The unit description outlines that it covers two main sections: the first on engineering geology, including an introduction to geology, geological maps, rock evaluation, and geophysical methods, as well as geohazards and adverse geological conditions relevant to engineering applications. The second section focuses on soil mechanics, covering composition and particle sizes of soil, physical soil states, soil classification, flow of water through soils, stresses, strains, and elastic deformation of soils, soil compaction, and soil settlement. The main aim of this unit is to prepare students to develop fundamental knowledge required for more advanced units such as Geotechnical Engineering and Transport Engineering.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:

• Demonstrate a fundamental knowledge of solid Earth materials and their formation.
• Identify different geohazards and describe their potential effect on construction projects.
• Describe and classify various soils using standard laboratory techniques and relate these physical characteristics to their engineering behaviour.
• Describe the behaviour and effects of both static and flowing water in soil masses.
• Assess the role of effective stress in soil mechanics and describe the strength of soils based on basic failure theory.

General Assessment Information

To pass this unit, students must:

• Attempt all assessments.
• Achieve a total mark equal to or greater than 50%.
• Participate in, and undertake all hurdle activities for, a minimum of 10 of the 13 weekly practical classes.

Assessment Tasks

The assessment tasks include:

• Final Examination (30%): An examination that assesses the student's understanding of the unit material.
• Practical participation (0%): This is a hurdle assessment task where students must demonstrate their progress in developing and communicating knowledge and skills in a minimum of 10 out of 13 weekly practical classes.
• Mid-session test (20%): A quiz/test that evaluates students' knowledge at the midpoint of the session.
• Problem sets/quiz (10%): Weekly problem sets that assess students' ability to apply the concepts learned.
• Practical Report (40%): Practical reports based on weekly experiments in the soils lab.

Delivery and Resources

All classes will meet weekly, starting in week one, unless stated otherwise. Students must attend the tutorial and practical classes they are enrolled in. Recommended resources include a scientific calculator, a lab notebook, closed-toed shoes, and appropriate clothing for practical classes. Access to a computer with Excel is also necessary for some data reduction tasks.

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central. Students should be aware of the Academic Appeals Policy, Academic Integrity Policy, Academic Progression Policy, Assessment Policy, Fitness to Practice Procedure, Assessment Procedure, Complaints Resolution Procedure for Students and Members of the Public, and Special Consideration Policy.

Academic Integrity

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