Geotechnical engineering is the branch or basic area of civil engineering, which deals with the study of soil, its behavior when external load is applied on to it and its application as an engineering material.
Geotechnical
engineering is also referred to assoil mechanics.
With the knowledge
of geotechnical engineering; bearing capacity of soil can be determined mainly by
two methods:
(i) Trial pit sand
(ii) Plate load
test on ground.
When heavy load of the building structure is
to be transmitted on an area of the ground, then prior to that, civil engineer always
stakes keen interest to know and to study the load carrying capacity or load bearing
capacity of soil.
Application of Geotechnical engineering:
- Geotechnical engineering helps for designing the earthen dam and earthen embankments.
- It also helps for assessing the capability of a sub-grade of a road.
- It also helps for finding the thickness of various layers of pavement.
- Analysis of soil behind a retaining wall, sheet piles, stability of soil on slopes can be studied and applied further for the design.
- Application of knowledge of Geotechnical engineering or soil mechanics is further required in the design of different types of foundations for the structure.
