The objective of this course will be to provide a comprehensive presentation of the significant principles and concepts of soil mechanics to the participants. The material will be presented with emphasis on the basic soil mechanics principles prerequisite to further study for the design or rehabilitation of earth embankment dams. This is a basic level course intended as an introduction for those with minimal to moderate knowledge or experience in the application of soil mechanics principles to earth dam design, operation and rehabilitation.
This course is a good prerequisite to the more advanced ASDSO seminars on Stability Analysis of Embankment Dams and Seepage Through Earth Dams.
Key takeaways attendees will receive from this course:
- Significant basic concepts and principles of soil mechanics prerequisite to further courses related to the use of soil mechanics principles for earth embankment design and rehabilitation.
- Theory of consolidation related to embankment dam engineering.
- Concepts of soil shear strength related to embankment dam engineering.
- Concepts of lateral earth pressure needed for hydraulic structure applications.
- Basic understanding of phreatic surface, embankment permeability, and drainage systems.
- Appropriate field investigation techniques needed to evaluate foundation conditions for design, and rehabilitation of embankment dams.
- Appropriate field and insitu testing procedures for existing or new embankment dams.
