Geotechnical Aspects of Foundation Engineering

Foundation Engineering is an important component of any construction project. The structural loads of buildings, bridges, towers, and other civil engineering works must be transmitted to the underlying natural soil or rock material using a foundation system that is safe, stable, and economical. The course provides participants with the necessary geotechnical engineering skills to analyze shallow and deep foundation systems under different loading conditions.

Date: October 10 - 11, 2013
Time: 9am – 5pm
Duration: 2 days (14 hours)
Location: 688 Sherbrooke Street West
Fee: $895 CAD plus applicable taxes

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Date: October 17 -18, 2013
Time: 9am – 5pm
Duration: 2 days (14 hours)
Location: CEGEP Champlain - St. Lawrence
790 Neree-Tremblay
Quebec City, Qc
G1V 4K2
www.slc.qc.ca
Fee: $895 CAD plus applicable taxes

Course Description

The course emphasizes the importance of parameter selection in the analysis of shallow and deep foundations. Analytical procedures for the evaluation of shallow and deep foundations will be reviewed. Methods covered include the calculation of ultimate bearing capacity using plasticity theories and load-displacement behavior based on in the elastic continuum framework. For deep foundation systems, considerations for evaluating lateral resistance are examined by total stress analysis and effective stress approach. Additional topics include liquefaction assessment of soils. Case studies are used throughout the course to illustrate the analytical procedures and verify their applicability.

Objectives

At the end of this course the participants will be able to:

• Describe a range of techniques for ground  exploration and understand the quality and use of samples for laboratory testing;
• Analyze shallow foundations on clay or sand  that satisfy the allowable bearing capacity  and settlement requirements based on soil properties interpreted from laboratory tests or field investigations;
• Describe the load-carrying mechanisms for different pile foundation systems;
• Analyze single piles and pile groups that satisfy the bearing capacity and settlement requirements;
• Evaluate the liquefaction potential of soil deposits.

Topics Covered

Geotechnical Site Characterization

• Laboratory evaluation of soil parameters
• Interpretation of soil properties using field testing and geophysical methods
• Evaluation of rock mass parameters

Shallow Foundation Systems

• Ultimate bearing capacity from plasticity theories
• Stress distributions beneath surface loading
• Elasticity solutions for settlement of shallow foundation
• Displacement influence factors
• Example

Pile Foundations under Axial Loading

• Axial load-displacement response
• Interpretation of axial capacity (various criteria)
• Axial load transfer measurements
• Calculation of side and base resistance components
• Assessing axial capacity using empirical analysis
• Drilled shafts extending to bedrock
• Examples

Pile Foundations under Lateral Loading

• Lateral capacity of single piles and pile groups
• Lateral load-displacement behavior
• Elastic continuum approach
• Pile groups subjected to inclined and eccentric loading
• Examples

Soil liquefaction

• Different types of soil liquefactions
• Simplified procedure to evaluate susceptibility to cyclic liquefaction
• Triggering of cyclic liquefaction
• Liquefaction induced deformation
• Examples

Who Should Attend

OIQ engineers involved in civil engineering design who need to upgrade their skills in geotechnical engineering and foundation design.

Lecturer

M. Meguid is an associate professor of Civil Engineering at McGill University. He obtained his Ph.D. degree from the University of Western Ontario in 2002 and spent two years following his graduation working as a Post-Doctoral Fellow at Queen’s University and as a Project Manager for Jacques Whitford Ltd in Ottawa. He taught several courses in the areas of foundation engineering and numerical methods in geomechanics since joining McGill in 2004. For his teaching efforts, he has received the Samual and Ida Fromson Award for outstanding teaching in the Faculty of Engineering in 2010.  Prof. Meguid has an active research program in geotechnical engineering with more than 40 refereed publications in journals and international conference. His research interests include physical and numerical modeling of tunnels and buried pipes and their interaction with surface structures. He developed innovative multi-scale modeling software to investigate the micromechanical behavior of granular soils in contact with subsurface structures. He served on several national and international engineering societies and is presently a member of the Trenchless Engineering International Research Advisory Committee.