The Mechanics of Soils and Foundations

Contents: Greek alphabet. Glossary of symbols. 1. Introduction to geotechnical engineering. 2. Basic mechanics. 3. Essentials of material behaviour. 4. The structure of the earth. 5. Classification of soils. 6. Pore pressure, effective stress and drainage. 7. Laboratory testing of soils. 8. Compression and swelling. 9. Critical state strength of soil. 10. Peak states. 11. Behaviour of soil before failure. 12. Cam clay. 13. Stiffness of soil. 14. Steady state seepage. 15. Consolidation. 16. Natural soils. 17. Ground investigations. 18. Soil parameters for design. 19. Ultimate stability of soil structures using bound methods. 20. Limit Equilibrium Method. 21. Stability of slopes. 22. Bearing capacity and settlement of shallow foundations. 23. Piled foundations. 24. Earth pressures and stability of retaining walls. 25. Tunnelling in soft ground. 26. Behaviour of unsaturated soils. 27. Geotechnical centrifuge modelling. 28. Concluding remarks. Author index. Subject index.

"John Atkinson\'s established textbook supports a course in geotechnical engineering for civil engineers. It sets out the basic theories of soil mechanics and geotechnical engineering in a clear and simple way, combining both classical and critical state theories. It delivers a groundling which will last right through a course and into a career as a civil engineer.

The book is broken down into a series of relatively short, focused chapters which make the subject clear and accessible. Yet the text is carefully woven together, developing soil mechanics theory into analyses of slopes, foundations, walls and tunnels. The approach taken is essentially theoretical but the mathematics is not difficult. Soil behaviour is described in a simple and straightforward way, often with reference to common observations. Readers are invited to do some simple experiments at home and at the bench which illustrate the theories and analyses described in the book and there are worked examples."