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16-Civ-A4 Geotechnical Materials and Analysis: December 2014

Nivaar worked solution (AI-drafted; not reviewed by a licensed engineer)

  1. Question 1 Index, compaction, consolidation and strength concepts
  2. Question 2 The three limiting lateral earth pressures
  3. Question 3 Seepage and the stability of a homogeneous earth dam
  4. Question 4 Vertical stress increase below a corner by superposition
  5. Question 5 Flow net for a cutoff wall and seepage quantity
  6. Question 6 CU triaxial strength from CD effective parameters

Start with Question 1 →

Paper format: National Examinations (Engineers Canada / PEO), 98-Civ-A4 Geotechnical Materials and Analysis, December 2014. Closed book, 3 hours, 100 marks. Six questions — answer all. Charts and equations supplied at the back of the paper.

Reference texts: Das & Sobhan, Principles of Geotechnical Engineering (9th ed.), Cengage; Holtz, Kovacs & Sheahan, An Introduction to Geotechnical Engineering (2nd ed.), Pearson; Craig’s Soil Mechanics (Knappett & Craig, 8th ed.), CRC Press.

Check: The label inside Figure 3 prints “$k = 2.0 \times 10^{5}$ m/s”, which is physically impossible (200 km/s). The text of Question 5(b) prints $k = 2.0 \times 10^{-5}$ m/s, so the figure label has lost its minus sign and $2.0 \times 10^{-5}$ m/s is used throughout Question 5.