LESSON 1: GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING – A Historical Perspective

What is Soil?

SOIL is defined as the uncemented aggregate of mineral grains and decayed

organic matter (solid particles) with liquid and gas in the empty spaces between the solid
particles. It is used as a construction material in various civil engineering projects, and it
supports structural foundations.

What is Soil Mechanics?

SOIL MECHANICS is the branch of science that deals with the study of the
physical properties of soil and the behavior of soil masses subjected to various types of
forces.

What is Soil Engineering?

SOIL ENGINEERING is the application of the principles of soil mechanics to

practical problems.

What is Geotechnical Engineering?

GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING is the subdiscipline of civil engineering that

involves natural materials found close to the surface of the earth. It includes the
application of the principles of soil mechanics and rock mechanics to design of
foundations, retaining structures and earth structures.

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

• The understanding of geotechnical engineering as it is known today began early in the

18th century (Skempton, 1985).

• The art of geotechnical engineering was based on only past experiences through a
succession of experimentation without any real scientific character.
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• Recorded history tells us that ancient civilizations flourished along the banks of rivers.

• Dikes dating back to about 2000 BC were built in the basin of the Indus to protect the
town of Mohenjo Dara (Pakistan).

• During the Chan Dynasty (1120 BC to 249 BC) many dikes were built for irrigation
purposes.

• Ancient Greek civilization used isolated pad footings and strip and raft foundations for
building structures.

• Beginning around 2750 BC, the five most important pyramids were built in Egypt in a
period of less than a century (Saqqarah, Meidum, Dahshur South and North and
Cheops). This posed formidable challenges regarding foundations, stability of slopes
and construction of underground chambers.

• With the arrival of Buddhism in China during the Eastern Han dynasty in 68 AD,
thousands of pagodas were built. Many of these structures were constructed on silt
and soft clay layers. In some cases, the foundation pressure exceeded the load –
bearing capacity of the soil and thereby caused extensive structural damage.

• After encountering several foundations – related problems during construction over

centuries past, engineers and scientists began to address the properties and
behaviors of soils in a more methodical manner starting in the early part of the 18 th
century. Based on the emphasis and the nature of study in the area of geotechnical
engineering.

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FOUR MAJOR PERIODS (Skempton, 1985)

1. Pre – Classical (1700 to 1776 AD)

2. Classical Soil Mechanics – Phase I (1776 to 1856 AD)
3. Classical Soil Mechanics – Phase II (1856 to 1910 AD)
4. Modern Soil Mechanics (1910 to 1927 AD)

PRE – CLASSICAL PERIOD of SOIL MECHANICS (1700 – 1776)

• This period concentrated on studies relating to natural slope and unit weights of
various types of soils, as well as the semiempirical earth periods theories.

• In 1717, a French royal engineer, Henri Gautier (1660 – 1737), studied the natural
slopes of soils when tipped in a heap for formulating the design procedures of retaining
walls. The natural slope is what we now refer to as the angle of repose.

• In 1729, Bernard Forest de Belidor (1671 – 1761) published a textbook for military and
civil engineers in France. He proposed a theory for lateral earth pressure on retaining
walls that was a follow – up to Gautier’s original study. He also specified a soil
classification system in the manner shown in the following table.

Unit Weight
Classification
kN/m3 lb/ft3
Rock - -
Firm or hard sand 16.70 to 106 to
Compressible sand 18.40 117
Ordinary earth (as found in dry locations) 13.40 85
Soft earth (primarily silt) 16.00 102
Clay 18.90 120
Peat - -

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• The first laboratory model test results on a 76 mm high retaining wall built with sand
backfill were reported in 1746 by a French engineer, Francois Gadroy (1705 – 1759,
who observed the existence of slip planes in the soil at failure. Gadroy’s study was
later summarized by J.J. Mayniel in 1808.

CLASSICAL SOIL MECHANICS – Phase I (1776 – 1856)

• Most of the developments in geotechnical engineering came from engineers and

scientists in France.

• French scientist Charles Augustin Coulomb (1736 – 1806) used the principles of
calculus for maxima and minima to determine the true position of the sliding surface
in soil behind a retaining wall.

• In 1820, special cases of Coulomb’s work were studied by French engineer Jacques
Frederic Francais (1775 – 1833) and by French applied mechanics professor Claude
Louis Henri Navier (1785 – 1836). These special cases related to inclined backfills
and backfills supporting surcharge.
• In 1840, Jean Victor Poncelet (1788 – 1867), an army engineer and professor of
mechanics, extended Coulomb’s theory by providing a graphical method for
determining the magnitude of lateral earth pressure on vertical and inclined retaining
walls with arbitrarily broken polygonal ground surfaces.

• In 1846, Alexandre Collin (1808 – 1890), an engineer, provided the details for deep
slips in clay slopes, cutting, and embankments.

• The end of Phase I of the classical soil mechanics period is generally marked by the
year 1857of the first publication by William John Macquorn Rankine (1820 – 1872), a
professor of civil engineering at the University of Glasgow. This study provided a

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 notable theory on earth pressure and equilibrium of earth masses. Rankine’s theory
is a simplification of Coulomb’s theory.

CLASSICAL SOIL MECHANICS – Phase II (1856 – 1910)

• Several experimental results from laboratory tests on sand appeared in the literature
in this phase.

• One of the earliest and most important publications is one by French engineer Henri
Philibert Gaspard Darcy (1803 – 1858). In 1856, he published a study on the
permeability of sand filters.

• Sir George Howard Darwin (1845 – 1912), a professor of astronomy, conducted

laboratory tests to determine the overturning moment on a hinged wall retaining sand
in loose and dense states of compaction.

• In 1885, Joseph Valentin Boussinesq (1842 – 1929), developed the theory of stress
distribution under loaded bearing areas in a homogeneous, semi – infinite, elastic and
isotropic medium.

• In 1887, Osborne Reynolds (1842 – 1912) demonstrated the phenomenon of dilatancy

in sand.

MODERN SOIL MECHANICS (1910 – 1927)

• The results of research conducted on clays were published in which the fundamental
properties and parameters of clay were established.

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• Around 1908, Albert Mauritz Atterberg (1846 – 1916), a Swedish chemist and soil
scientist, defined clay – size fraction as the percentage by weight of particles smaller
than 2 microns in size.

• In 1911, he explained the consistency of cohesive soil by defining liquid, plastic, and
shrinkage limits. He also defined the plasticity index as the difference between liquid
limit and plastic limit.

• A French engineer, Jean Fontard (1884 – 1962), carried out investigations to

determine the cause of earth dam failure at Charmes, France. He conducted
undrained double – shear tests on clay specimens under constant vertical stress to
determine their shear strength parameters.

• Arthur Langley Bell (1874 – 1956), a civil engineer from England, worked on the design
and construction of the outer seawall at Rosyth Dockyard. Based on his work, he
developed relationship for lateral pressure and resistance in clay as well as bearing
capacity of shallow foundations in clay.

• Wolmar Fellenius (1876 – 1957), an engineer from Sweden, developed the stability
analysis of saturated clay slopes with the assumption that the critical surface of sliding
is the arc of a circle. His paper published in 1926 gave correct numerical solutions for
the stability numbers of circular slip surfaces passing through the toe of the slope.

• Karl Terzaghi (1883 – 1963) of Austria developed the theory of consolidation for clays
as we know today.

GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING after 1927

• The publication of Erdbaumechanik auf Bodenphysikalisher Grundlage by Karl

Terzaghi in 1925 gave birth to a new era in the development of soil mechanics.

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• Karl Terzaghi is known as the father of modern soil mechanics.

• The first conference of the International Society of Soil Mechanics and Foundation
Engineering (ISSMFE) was held at Harvard University in 1936 with Karl Terzaghi
presiding.

• ISSMFE conferences have been organized about every four years in different parts of
the world.

• Two other important milestones between 1948 and 1960 are (1) the publication of
A.W. Skempton’s paper on A and B pore pressure parameters which made effective
stress calculations more practical for various engineering works and (2) publication of
the book entitled “The Measurement of Soil Properties in the Triaxial Text” by A.W.
Bishop and B.J. Henkel (Arnold, London) in 1957.
• By the early 1950’s, computer – aided finite difference and finite element solutions
were applied to various types of geotechnical engineering problems. They remain an
important and useful computation tool in our profession.

• In 1997, the ISSMFE was changed to ISSMGE (International Society of Soil

Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering) to reflect its true scope. These international
conferences have been instrumental for exchange of information regarding new
developments and ongoing research activities in geotechnical engineering.

Reference: Principles of Geotechnical Engineering, 7th Edition

Braja M. Das

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