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Geotechnical Engineering

Description

Geotechnical engineering is the study of the behaviour of soils under the influence of loading forces and soil-water interactions. This knowledge is applied to the design of foundations, retaining walls, earth dams, clay liners, and geosynthetics for waste containment. The goals of geotechnical engineers could range from the design of foundations and temporary excavation support, through route selection for railways and highways, to the increasingly important areas of landfill disposal of wastes and groundwater contamination. As such, the geotechnical engineer is involved in field and laboratory investigations to determine the engineering properties of site soils and other geomaterials and their subsequent use in the analytical study of the problem at hand.

Recent computational and computer advances are extending our ability to predict the behaviour of soil and soil-water systems under a wide variety of conditions. In recent years, the activities of geotechnical engineers have also involved geoenvironmental engineering. Geoenvironmental engineers design strategies for the clean-up of contaminated soils and groundwater and develop management systems for contaminated sites.

Employment opportunities include geotechnical and engineering consultants, public utilities, governmental agencies, environmental agencies, specialized contractors and resource industry companies.

Recommended courses

In order to achieve a specialization in the area of Geotechnical Engineering at the undergraduate level, the following courses are:

Strongly recommended:
CIVE 416. Geotechnical Engineering.
Note: For information about Fall 2025 and Winter 2026 course offerings, please check back on May 8, 2025. Until then, the "Terms offered" field will appear blank for most courses while the class schedule is being finalized.
Credits: 3
Offered by: Civil Engineering (Faculty of Engineering)

This course is not offered this catalogue year.

Description

Earth pressure theory, retaining walls, sheet pile walls, braced excavations. Slope stability analysis. 2D flow through isotropic and anisotropic soils. Bearing capacity and settlement of shallow foundations, stress distribution. Deep foundations, single pile, pile groups. Geotechnical investigation and reports.

(3-3-3)

Prerequisite: CIVE 311

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Course information not available.
Recommended:
CIVE 446. Construction Engineering.
Note: For information about Fall 2025 and Winter 2026 course offerings, please check back on May 8, 2025. Until then, the "Terms offered" field will appear blank for most courses while the class schedule is being finalized.
Credits: 3
Offered by: Civil Engineering (Faculty of Engineering)

This course is not offered this catalogue year.

Description

Project management principles; construction equipment economics, selection, operation; characteristics of building, heavy, marine, underground and route construction projects; international projects.

(3-1-5)

Prerequisites: CIVE 208 and FACC 300

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CIVE 520. Groundwater Hydrology.
Note: For information about Fall 2025 and Winter 2026 course offerings, please check back on May 8, 2025. Until then, the "Terms offered" field will appear blank for most courses while the class schedule is being finalized.
Credits: 3
Offered by: Civil Engineering (Faculty of Engineering)

This course is not offered this catalogue year.

Description

Fundamentals of subsurface hydrological processes. Field data and simulation under parameter uncertainty. Numerical modelling. Quantifying groundwater resources and groundwater flow to wells. Groundwater sustainability from a multidisciplinary perspective including engineering and policy.

Prerequisites: CIVE 311 and CIVE 323; Graduate students: Permission of instructor.

Restriction(s): Not open to students who have taken CIVE 546 in Winter 2012.

Note 1: (3-0-6).

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CIVE 584. Mechanics of Groundwater Flow.
Note: For information about Fall 2025 and Winter 2026 course offerings, please check back on May 8, 2025. Until then, the "Terms offered" field will appear blank for most courses while the class schedule is being finalized.
Credits: 3
Offered by: Civil Engineering (Faculty of Engineering)

This course is not offered this catalogue year.

Description

Origins and types of groundwater; Darcy's law; hydraulic anisotropy; conservation laws; fundamental equations of porous media flow; Laplace's and Poisson's equations: analytical solution of potential flow problems; determination of hydraulic conductivity; flow in unconfined and confined acquifers; seepage modelling; unsaturated flow; transient flows in porous media; introduction to computational methods.

(3-1.5-4.5)

Prerequisite: CIVE 311 or Permission of Instructor.

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MIME 322. Fragmentation and Comminution.
Note: For information about Fall 2025 and Winter 2026 course offerings, please check back on May 8, 2025. Until then, the "Terms offered" field will appear blank for most courses while the class schedule is being finalized.
Credits: 3
Offered by: Mining & Materials Engineering (Faculty of Engineering)

This course is not offered this catalogue year.

Description

Principles of drilling, penetration rates, and factors affecting the choice of drilling method. Characteristics of explosives, firing systems and blast patterns. Blasting techniques in surface and underground workings. Special blasting techniques at excavation perimeters. Vibration and noise control. Mechanical and continuous approaches to fragmentation, including longwall shearing and fullface boring. Economics of drill/blast practice, interface with transport and crushing systems, drivers for mine-to-mill integration including energy considerations. Modelling of fragment and particle size distributions; comminution as a transfer function. Comminution technology: crushing, grinding, size classification. Integrated analysis of fragmentation and comminution operations.

Prerequisites : MIME 209 or MECH 262 or CIVE 302 or CHEE 231 or ECSE 205

Corequisites: MIME 341

(3-3-3).

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MIME 520. Stability of Rock Slopes.
Note: For information about Fall 2025 and Winter 2026 course offerings, please check back on May 8, 2025. Until then, the "Terms offered" field will appear blank for most courses while the class schedule is being finalized.
Credits: 3
Offered by: Mining & Materials Engineering (Faculty of Engineering)

This course is not offered this catalogue year.

Description

Properties of structural discontinuities. Influence of geological structures on slope stability. Kinematic analysis. Limit equilibrium methods. Empirical methods. Numerical modelling. Slope stabilization and monitoring. Case studies.

Prerequisite: permission of instructor.

This course in the Faculty of Engineering is open only to McGill students.

(3-0-6)

Prerequisite: Permission of instructor

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