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Geotechnical Courses:
CEE 445. Engineering Properties of Soils Prerequisite: CEE 212. I (4 credits) Soil Classification and index properties; soil structures and moisture, seepage, compressibility and consolidation; stress and settlement analysis; shear strength; application to foundations, retaining structures, slopes and landfills. Letures, problems, laboratory, report writing. CEE 446. Engineering Geology Prerequisites: CEE 445 or permission of instructor. II (3 credits) Composition and properties of rocks and soil, geologic processes, geologic structures and engineering consequences, natural and artificial underground opening, terrain analysis and site investigation, civil engineering facility siting, seismic zonation for ground motions and soil liquefaction potential, geotechnical aspects of municipal and hazardous waste disposal. CEE 535. Excavation and Tunneling Prerequisite: CEE 445. II (3 credits) Selection of mthods of attack for excavation of tunnels and deep vertical-sided open-ings. Tunneling procedures based on behavioral characteristics of soil and rock. Study of tunnel boring machines, shielded and drill-and-blast operations, lining. Soil linear interaction. Deep excavation procedures related to support of excavation systems, methods of installation and dewatering. CEE 540. Advanced Engineering Properties of Soils Prerequisite: CEE 445 or equivalent. I (3 credits) Behavior of soil examined from a fundamental soil perspective. Review of methods of testing to define response; rationale for choosing shear strength and deformation parameters for soils for design applications. CEE 541. Soil Sampling and Testing Prerequisite: preceded or accompanied by CEE 445. I (3 credits) Field and laboratory practice in sampling and testing of soils for engineering purposes. Field smapling and testing; standard split-spoon sampler. Dutch Cone penetrator, field vane, lowa borehole shear device. Lab tests; direct shear, unconfined compression, triaxial compression, consolidation. Laboratory and lectures. CEE 542. Soil and Site Improvement Prerequisite: CEE 445 or equivalent. I (3 credits) Analysis of geotechnical problems affecting site use including weak, compressible soil; water-logged conditions; high shrink-swell potential; erodibility. Stabilization techniques including compaction, earth reinforcement, drainage and erosion control, admixture stabilization, grouting, precompression, thermal and electrokinetic stabilization. Geotechnical aspects of disposal fills, e.g., tailings, fly ashes, sanitary landfills, and hazardous waste. CEE 543. Geosynthetics Prerequisite: CEE 445 or equivalent. I (3 credits) Physical, mechanical, chemical, biological, and endurance properties of geosynthetics (including geotextiles, geogrids, geonets, geomembranes, geopipes and geocomposites). Standard testing methods for geosynthetics. Application and design procedures for geosynthetics in Civil and Environmental Engineering: separation, reinforcement, stabilization, filtration, drainage and containment of solids and liquids. CEE 544. Rock Mechanics Prerequisite: ME 211. I (3 credits) Engineering properties and classification of rocks. Strength and deformability of intact and jointed rock; in situ stresses; lab and field test methods. Stereonets and structural geology. Rock slopes; stability and reinforcement. Foundations on rock. CEE 545. Foundation Engineering Prerequisite: CEE 445 or equivalent. I (3 credits) Application of principles of soil mechanics to: determination of bearing capacity and settlement of spread footings, mats, single piles and pile groups; site investigation, evaluation of data from field and laboratory tests; estimation of stress in soil masses; and lateral resistance of piles and pile groups. CEE 546. Stability of Earth Masses Prerequisite: CEE 445 or equivalent. II (3 credits) Stability of hillsides and open cuts, geologic considerations; stability of manmade embankments including earth dams and structural fills, compaction and placement of soil in earth embankments, problems of seepage and rapid draw-down, earthquake effects, slope stabilization techniques; lateral earth pressures and retaining walls. braced excavation. CEE 547. Soils Engineering and Pavement Design Prerequisite: CEE 445 or equivalent. I (3 credits) Soil Engineering as applied to the design, construction and rehabiliation of pavement systems. The design, evaluation and rehabilitation of rigid, flexible and composite pavements. CEE 548. Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering Prerequisite: CEE 445 or equivalent (recommended). II (3 credits) Geology of earthquakes and seismology: earthquake mechanisms, magnitude and intensity scales, seismic hazard analyses; ground motion characterization: peak parameters, response spectra, Fourier amplitude spectra; site response analyses: equivalent linear and non-linear procedures, total and effective stress analyses; liquefaction: liquefaction phenomenon, evaluation procedures; analysis and design: slopes/embankments, retaining walls. CEE 645. Theoretical Soil Mechanics Prerequisite: permission of instructor. (3 credits) Stress conditions for failure of soils; earth pressures and retaining walls;arching in soils; theories for elastic and plastic deformations of soil masses; theory of bearing capacity; theories for stresses in semi-infinite and layered elastic solids; theory of elastic subgrade reaction. CEE 646. Geophysical Techniques in Environmental Geotechnology Prerequisite: CEE 445. II (3 credits) Introduction to geophysical techniques currently available for use in environmental geotechnology. Principles on which methods are based. Site characterization, pore fluid identification, buried object location by these non-intrusive, non-destructive tests. AI Programming for selection of appropiate methods. Case studies in use of goephysical methods. CEE 648. Dynamics of Soils and Foundation Prerequisite: CEE 445. II (3 credits) Transient and steady state vibrations of foundations; phase plane analysis of foundations with one and two degrees of freedom; dynamic properties of soils; vibration transmission through soils. CEE 946. Soil Mechanics Research (to be arranged) Advanced problems in soil mechanics, foundations or underground construction, selected to provide the student with knowledge of recent application and development in engineering design and construction practice. Assigned problems must be carried to a stage of completion sufficient for a written report which will normally be required for credit.
Suggested Related Courses:
CEE 528. Flow and Transport in Porous Media Prerequisite: CEE 428 or equivalent. II (3 credits) Basic Principles governing flow and transport in porous media; development of mathematical models at pore and continum levels; single and multiphase flow; solute transport and dispersion theory, parameter estimation; application to saturated and unsaturated groundwater flow, flow in fractured media, petroleum reservoirs, saltwater intrusion and miscible and immiscible subsurface contamination. CEE 570. (Nat. Res. 569) Introduction to Geostatistics Prerequisite: IOE 265 (statistics and probability) or equivalent. I (3 credits) Sampling design and data representativity. Univariate and bivariate data analysis; continuous and categorical attributes. Description and modeling of spatial variability. Deterministic vs. stochastic models. Spatial interpolation of environmental attributes. Soil and water pollution data will be analyzed using geostatistical software. CEE 593. Environmental Soil Physics Prerequisite: CEE 428 or CEE 445. II (3 credits) Principles and soil physics with emphasis on environmental problems. Topics include characteristics of solid, liquid and gaseous components of soil; capillarity, air entrapment and the static distribution of water in the unsaturated zone; infiltration, exfiltration and the redistribution of water. Extension of principles to movement of organic liquids in subsurface. CEE 594. Environmental Soil Chemistry Prerequisite: CEE 581. II (3 credits) Introduction to the principles of soil chemistry. Topics covered include chemical compositon of soils, chemical structure of minerals and soil organic matter, soil colloidal phenomena, sorption, ion-exchange, surface complexation theory, reactivity of soil constituents with inorganic and organic environemtal contaminants. Emphasis on the relationship between chemical structures and reactivity.