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16-Civ-B3 Geotechnical Design: May 2013

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

  1. Question 1 Load transfer in a pile founded on a very competent stratum
  2. Question 2 Practical limitations of the SPT in foundation design
  3. Question 3 Pile load tests alongside the alpha, beta and lambda methods
  4. Question 4 Short-term versus long-term slope stability of a clay embankment dam
  5. Question 5 Why settlement usually governs foundation design
  6. Question 6 Factor of safety of a two-layer slope by the method of slices
  7. Question 7 Anchored sheet pile wall by the free earth support method
  8. Question 8 Stress increase by the 2:1 method and consolidation settlement
  9. Question 9 Stability of a cantilever retaining wall against overturning and sliding
  10. Question 10 Belled drilled pier: point bearing, skin resistance and selection

Start with Question 1 →

Paper format. National Examinations, May 2013 — 98-Civ-B3 Geotechnical Design. Three hours, open book, any non-communicating calculator. Section A holds five 7-mark questions (answer any four); Section B holds the long 24-mark design questions (answer any three). Candidates are asked to identify the source of every design chart and assumed value used. Every question is answered here, because the set is a study resource rather than a sitting.

Reference texts. B. M. Das, Principles of Foundation Engineering (9th ed.) and Principles of Geotechnical Engineering (9th ed.); Canadian Geotechnical Society, Canadian Foundation Engineering Manual (CFEM, 4th ed.) — the governing Canadian reference for foundation practice; D. P. Coduto, Foundation Design: Principles and Practices; R. F. Craig, Craig's Soil Mechanics.

Note on the question numbering. The printed paper numbers two different Section B questions as “Question 9” — the retaining wall on page 5 and the drilled pier on pages 5–6 — and its Section B heading says “any three of the following four questions” while five questions are actually printed. The drilled-pier question is treated here as Question 10 so that every printed question has a unique number; no wording has been changed.