Paper format: National Exams, May 2015 — 07-Str-B5 Foundation Engineering. Three hours, open book, any non-communicating calculator permitted. Six questions of equal value (30 marks each); five constitute a complete paper and only the first five in the answer book are marked. All six are solved here, because the set is a study resource.
Reference texts (the books an open-book candidate should have on the desk for this subject):
- Canadian Geotechnical Society, Canadian Foundation Engineering Manual (CFEM), 4th ed. — the Canadian limit-states framework, resistance factors, pile design.
- B. M. Das, Principles of Foundation Engineering, 9th ed. — bearing capacity, elastic settlement, sheet-pile walls, pile groups.
- R. F. Craig / J. Knappett, Craig's Soil Mechanics, 9th ed. — Spencer/Bishop slope-stability charts, equivalent-raft settlement, Skempton–Bjerrum correction.
- D. P. Coduto, Foundation Design: Principles and Practices — shallow-foundation settlement and inclined loading.
- M. J. Tomlinson & J. Woodward, Pile Design and Construction Practice — adhesion factors, block failure of pile groups.
Check — assumptions carried through this paper. The examination omits several parameters that a foundation designer must have. Each is adopted explicitly below and flagged where it is used: the pile adhesion factor in Question 2 (α = 0.5), the drained friction angle of the stiff clay in Question 2 (φ′ = 24°), the Skempton–Bjerrum pore-pressure correction in Questions 2 and 6, and the settlement criterion in Question 5 (none is stated in the paper). None of these changes the method; each changes the number, so each is stated where a design decision depends on it.
