Soil Mechanics Series - Laboratory Testing

Yun Zhou, Ph.D., P.E.

Course Outline

In this course, you need to review Chapter 5 – Laboratory Testing for Geotechnical Design and Construction from “Reference Manual Volume I, SOILS AND FOUNDATIONS”, Publication No. FHWA NHI-06-088, by Federal Highway Administration of U.S. Department of Transportation. 

This course includes a multiple-choice quiz at the end of each of the five lectures, which is designed to enhance the understanding of the course material.

Learning Objective

Upon completion of this course, the student will gain the following specific knowledge: 

• Quality assurance for laboratory testing;
• ASTM standards in soil laboratory testing;
• Effects of sample disturbance;
• Specimen assessment and selection;
• Commonly performed laboratory tests on soils;
• Laboratory index tests for soils;
• Laboratory soil classification;
• Consolidation tests;
• Unconfined compression tests;
• Triaxial compression tests;
• Direct shear tests;
• Compaction tests;
• Permeability tests;
• Factors affecting strength testing results;
• Comparison of laboratory and field strengths;
• Correlations of shear strength parameters with index parameters;
• Useful correlations of permeability with index values;
• Soil volume change due to loading and moisture;
• Evaluation of expansion (swell) potential;
• Soil collapse potential; and
• Expansion of soils due to frost action.

Intended Audience

This course is intended for geotechnical, civil, mining, structural, and environmental engineers, as well as design and construction personnel involved with the planning, design, and construction of building structures on, in, and with soils.

Benefit to Attendees

Attendee of this course will be able to understand and deal with issues associated with soil laboratory testing.

Course Introduction

Laboratory testing of soils and rocks is an essential building block of geotechnical engineering. A well-planned laboratory test program should be developed and executed to optimize the test data for design and construction.

Course Content

The associated course materials are contained in an Adobe Acrobat pdf format of Chapter 5 – Laboratory Testing for Geotechnical Design and Construction from “Reference Manual Volume I, SOILS AND FOUNDATIONS”, Publication No. FHWA NHI-06-088, by Federal Highway Administration of U.S. Department of Transportation.

Chapter 5 – Laboratory Testing for Geotechnical Design and Construction

Please click on the above underlined hypertext to view, download or print the document for your study. Because of the large file size, we recommend that you first save the file to your computer by right clicking the mouse and choosing "Save Target As ...", and then open the file in Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Course Summary

This course, as a part of soil mechanics series, covers basics, standards, and state-of-practices in soil laboratory testing.

Related Links

For additional information related to this subject, please visit the following websites or web pages:

PDHonline Course C518 - Soil Mechanics Series - Stress and Strain
PDHonline Course C519 - Soil Mechanics Series - Deformation
PDHonline Course C520 - Soil Mechanics Series - Description and Classification
PDHonline Course C521 - Soil Mechanics Series - Subsurface Exploration

Quiz

Once you finish studying the above course content, you need to take a quiz to obtain the PDH credits.

---

DISCLAIMER: The materials contained in the online course are not intended as a representation or warranty on the part of PDH Center or any other person/organization named herein. The materials are for general information only. They are not a substitute for competent professional advice. Application of this information to a specific project should be reviewed by a registered architect and/or professional engineer/surveyor. Anyone making use of the information set forth herein does so at their own risk and assumes any and all resulting liability arising therefrom.

---