CIVL-3550
Geotechnical Engineering I
Introduction
Instructor: Mina Lee
Civil and Environmental Engineering
University of Windsor
Windsor, ON Canada
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Course Syllabus
▪ Electronic copy of course syllabus posted on Brightspace
▪ Lecture: Monday & Wednesday 10:00 a.m. – 11:20 a.m.
CEI 2101
▪ Tutorial: Monday 4:30 – 7:20 p.m.
CEI 1102
▪ Lab: Monday 4:30 – 7:20 p.m.
CEI 1126 (Soils Lab)
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Course Instructor
Mina Lee
Assistant Professor
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Office: CEI 3075
E-mail: [Link]@[Link]
Office hours: TBD
*The office hours may be adjusted as per the requirements of the instructor, graduate
assistants, and students.
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Course Instructor
Education:
▪ University of Waterloo ([Link]., [Link]., Ph.D.)
Industry Experience:
▪ EllisDon, Junior coordinator
▪ Exp Services, Building Engineering Student
▪ Ministry of Transportation Ontario (MTO),
Foundation Group Student
▪ Terraprobe, Field Technician
Research Interest:
▪ Sustainability, Resilience, Design Optimization, Reliability
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Graduate Assistants (GAs)
Rohan Ahmed Tariq Al Omar Zannatul Mukaddas
Role: TBA Role: TBA Role: TBA
Office: TBA Office: TBA Office: TBA
E-mail: E-mail: E-mail:
ahmed19y@[Link] alomart@[Link] mukadda@[Link]
Office hours: TBD Office hours: TBD Office hours: TBD
Class Reps – Please send me class availability
*The office hours may be adjusted as per the requirements of the instructor, graduate assistants, and students
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Lab Technicians
Matt St. Louis Jerome Finnerty
Office: CEI 1127A Office: CEI 1127A
E-mail: mstlouis@[Link] E-mail: [Link]@[Link]
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Course Description
Undergraduate Calendar:
Index properties of soils. Soil structure and classification of soils.
Soil compaction and stabilization.
Hydraulic principles of flow through soils, flow nets. Frost action
in soils. Effective stresses.
Compressibility, consolidation, and settlement analysis. Shear
strength of soil. Kinematics and Stress distribution in soil. Stress
analysis and stability of slopes.
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Textbook
Craig’s Soil Mechanics by Jonathan Knappett and R.F. Craig, CRC
Press, 2019
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Reference Books
▪ An Introduction to Geotechnical Engineering by R.D. Holtz, W.D. Kovacs, and T.C. Sheahan,
Pearson Education, Inc., 2nd Edition, 2011
▪ The Engineering of Foundations by Rodrigo Salgado (1st or 2nd Edition)
▪ Soil Mechanics and Foundations by Muni Budhu, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 3rd Edition, 2011
▪ Soil Mechanics: Concepts and Applications by William Powrie, CRC Press, 3rd Edition, 2013
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Course Website
Brightspace [Link] will be used for posting course materials,
videos, presentations, and for communication and discussions.
You are strongly advised to check the website everyday for news and updates (Turn ON
the announcement notifications). You are also required to check your @[Link] e-mail
account for e-mails sent to you related to this course.
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Course Outline
Topic
May 4 Soil Mechanics & Geotechnical Engineering Overview:
Introduction; Scope
May 6 – May 11 Basic Characteristics of Soils: Three phase system; Atterberg Limits; Soil Classification; Soil Formation
May 13 Soil Compaction: Theory of compaction; Laboratory and Field Compaction
May 20 – May 25 In Situ Stresses in Soil: Total stress; Hydrostatic Pore Pressure; Effective Stress
May 27 – June 8 Seepage: Darcy’s Law; Hydraulic conductivity; Permeability Test; Flow net; Uplift pressure; Quick
condition
June 10 – June 29 Soil Compression and Consolidation: Immediate and time-dependent settlement; Compression and
(Reading week: June recompression indices; Preconsolidation pressure; Overconsolidation ratio; Terzaghi’s theory of one
13-21) dimensional consolidation; Coefficient of consolidation, Time factor; Secondary compression
July 6 – August 5 Stress State and Shear Strength: Stress analysis; Mohr Coulomb failure theory; Shear strength of sand;
Shear strength of clay
*The course outline is tentative and is subject to change.
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Method of Instruction
▪ In-person, in class using Power Point
slides and whiteboard
▪ PDF version of the lecture notes will be
posted in Brightspace ahead of class
▪ Some in-class simple demonstrations
▪ Interactive, active learning
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Expectations from You
This course is heavy in content and will require solving several
lengthy numerical problems on your part.
You will have to put significant effort to do well in this class.
You are expected to study for this course every week and keep
up with the pace of the lectures.
My role: to facilitate the learning process
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Attendance
[Link]
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Attendance
Attendance in classes is critical to student success; students
should seize the opportunity to share and discuss information in
labs, tutorials, and classes.
The course is designed to move swiftly and efficiently. If a
student is going to miss a class, the student should inform the
instructor and GA before missing the class.
The instructor reserves the right to schedule classes outside the
regular class or tutorial hours if the instructor feels the necessity.
You are required to attend these outside of regular schedule
classes as well.
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Student Feedback
▪ If you have concerns on …
▪ Teaching methods
▪ Course workload/difficulty
▪ Assessment methods
▪ Resource availability
▪ Instructor availability
▪ GA performance/Tutorials
▪ Others?
▪ Don’t hesitate to reach out to me. Let’s talk.
▪ Midterm feedback, SPT evaluation
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Laboratory Experiment Sessions
Attendance in lab sessions is mandatory.
Students will work in groups. Each group will submit one report
for each lab. All members of the group must actively participate
in the preparation of the report.
Lab Schedule:
▪ Sieve analysis: May 11
▪ Hydrometer: May 25
▪ Atterberg limits: June 8
▪ Compaction: June 22
[Link],
▪ Quick condition: July 6 Tom Zasadzinski, Cal Poly Pomona
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Tutorial Sessions
The tutorial sessions will be used for problem solving and, if
necessary for course instruction. These sessions will be conducted by
the graduate assistants (GAs) or the instructor. Tutorials will be held
in-person in class.
Tentative Tutorial Schedule:
▪ No tutorial on May 4th
▪ June 1
▪ July 13
▪ July 20
▪ July 27
▪ August 5 (make up date for
Victoria Holiday)
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Grading Policy
5 Tutorials 15%
5 Lab Reports 25%
Midterm Exam 25%
Final Exam 35%
Any request for re-evaluation or grade change must be made within one week from the day the
graded term tests are returned after which no such requests will be entertained.
Late Assignment Policy: 30 minutes late receives a 10% penalty; 1 hour late receives a 20% penalty;
and after 1 hour it will not be accepted, and the student will receive 0
*The instructor reserves the right to adjust the class average on the exams.
*The dates/deadlines of assessments are tentative.
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Midterm Exam
You will have one midterm exam during tutorial hours or
outside of class hours that you will answer and submit within a
stipulated time.
The midterm is tentatively scheduled for June 29, 2026 4:30 – 7:20
p.m.
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Practice Problems
Practice problems will be posted as homework and solutions will
be provided. You are responsible for solving these problems on
your own. No submission is required. Please keep up with the
pace of the lectures. These problems are important for you to do
well in the exams.
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Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Let’s talk about this…
How are you using it when studying?
What’s been working well for you?
GenAI = tool = efficiency = efficient learning…?
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Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI)
[Link]
[Link] Don’t let AI interfere your LEARNING EXPERIENCE.
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Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Use Prohibited
In this course, use of any generative AI system (including, but
not limited to ChatGPT, Claude, Jenni, Github Co-pilot, DaLL-E,
and Midjourney) is considered an unauthorized aid that may
provide an unearned advantage, and therefore may not be used
in the creation of work submitted for grades or as part of any
assignment in this class. Use of generative AI systems in graded
assignments for this course is considered academic misconduct
and may be subject to discipline under Bylaw 31: Academic
Integrity.
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Communication
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Communication
You are encouraged to utilize office hours to ask questions.
Only emails sent from a @uwindsor email address will be
responded to.
Emails should be sent with courtesy; they should include an
informative subject line, a salutation (e.g., Hello Dr. Last Name),
a body, and a closing (e.g., Best regards, Name).
You should include “CIVL-3550” in the subject line in all
correspondence with the instructor and GAs.
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Self Report of Illness & Missed Assessments
If you will miss an exam, class, test, assignment etc. and are requesting an accommodation, you must
report the illness to the instructor and engadmin@[Link], along with the appropriate
documentation (e.g., a doctor’s note for an illness) within 72 hours of the missed assessment.
Determinations about whether and how to accommodate students who submit requests for
consideration based on compassionate grounds will, as usual, be made by instructors and/or the
Associate Dean, in keeping with any standard procedures within specific Faculties and the Senate
bylaws.
Documentation approved by the university to request accommodation (University of Windsor Medical
Note – Verification of Student Illness or Injury) can be found here:
[Link]
Students should report a COVID related illness or isolation/quarantine to
COVID19reporting@[Link]. The email will generate an automated response with instructions.
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Academic Integrity and Ethical Behaviour
Let us all build a conductive learning environment based on mutual respect,
fairness, honest, and high ethical standards. You must be polite, professional, and
sincere while interacting with the instructor and GAs.
The uploading of test, exam, assignment, laboratory, and project questions or
prompts to, as well as the downloading of answers or responses from ChatGPT
and other on-line services is a breach of academic integrity. Academic integrity
violations will be dealt with according to Bylaw 31. Typical sanctions for a first
offence range from a zero grade to a formal censure listed on your transcript.
You can learn more about academic integrity, ethical behaviour and your
responsibilities by reading Policy # Law_4, Policy # Law_7, Senate ByLaw 31, and
Student Code of Conduct of the University of Windsor
([Link] and
[Link]
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Grievance and Appeals
If you believe that a decision made in relation to this course has
been unfair or unreasonable to the extend that you want to
initiate an official grievance procedure, then you may consult
Policy # Law_3 and Appeal – Windsor Law Guide to Grade Appeals
of the University of Windsor
([Link]
and-policies).
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Welcome Aboard!
Let’s Get Started …
Source: [Link]
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What is Geotechnical
Engineering?
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Geotechnical Engineering
Application Subject Undergrad. course in
UWindsor
Basic Sciences Soil Mechanics CIVL-3550 Geotechnical
Rock Mechanics Engineering I
Engineering Geology
Traditional Applications Foundation Engineering CIVL-3630 Geotechnical
Slope Stability Analysis Engineering II
Retaining Structure Design
Earthquake Applications Soil Dynamics
Earthquake Geotechnical Engineering
Geoenvironmental Applications Landfill Design
Waste Containment
Subsurface Remediation
New Trends Energy Geotechnics/Geomechanics
Sustainability in Geotechnical Eng.
Multi-hazards; Multi-physics Problems
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Soil Mechanics
▪ Soil + Mechanics = Soil Mechanics
▪ Soil = Soil Particles + Voids (filled with Air and/or Water)
▪ Mechanics = Study of Bodies in Motion (Forces, Stresses,
Deformations, Strains)
▪ Background knowledge:
▪ GENG-1110 Engineering Mechanics I
▪ GENG-2180 Mechanics of Deformable Bodies
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Soil
▪ Soil is a natural aggregate of mineral grains
that can be separated by such gentle
mechanical means as agitation in water –
contrast with rock.
▪ Soil is the thin layer on the Earth’s surface
made of weathered rocks (sand, clay, silt),
and organic matter (decayed plants and
animals).
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Why study Geotechnical
Engineering/Soil Mechanics?
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Landmarks
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Landmarks
… supported by FOUNDATIONS.
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Failure Cases
Flow of water through soil affects its strength
LANDSLIDE triggered by
heavy rains in China (July
27, 2010)
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Failure Cases
The shear strength of soil is very important
A three-storey building fell into a
SINKHOLE in Guatemala (May
2010)
The size of the sinkhole was 60
feet wide and 30 stories deep.
Copyright © 2009 Pearson
Education Canada
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Failure Cases
Water present in soil affects its strength
Building was structurally intact... But wrong excavation and rainfall/water flow
caused the failure
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Failure Cases
Retaining wall collapse
at construction site in
British Columbia (2023)
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Failure cases
Earthquakes causing soil to act like liquid - LIQUEFACTION
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(Almost) Failure cases
Compressibility of soil is very important.
The tilt of Tower of Pisa is caused by
weak and highly compressible soils.
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Application Examples
Preview of CIVL-3630 Geotechnical Engineering II
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Foundations
Shallow foundation (footing) Deep foundation (pile) Group piles
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Retaining Structures
Retaining structure during excavation or for basement Retaining structure for roadways
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Dams
Natural Man-made
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Slopes
Natural Mine Hill side cutting slope
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Interactions with other
Civil Engineering Disciplines
But Dr. Lee, I want to specialize in …
[Structural/Transportation/Water
Resources/Construction/…]
Engineering, why do I need to take
this course?
Civil engineering projects require
extensive collaboration with
engineers in different fields!!! Source: Eslami et al. (2020)
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Geotechnical Engineering Practice
Knowledge: Judgment:
Soil Mechanics, Soil Properties, Geotechnical
Geology, + Models, Loads, = Engineering
Economics, Interpretation, Practice
Construction, … Uncertainties, …
Geotechnical Engineering is a Science,
but its Practice is an Art.
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