Soil Mechanics in Engineering Practice Lectures
Soil Mechanics Introduction and Definition
Soil mechanics is defined as the application of the laws and principles of mechanics and hydraulics to engineering problems dealing with soil as an engineering material. Soil has many different meanings, depending on the field of study. To a geotechnical engineer, soil has a much broader meaning and can include not only agronomic material, but also broken-up fragments of rock, volcanic ash, alluvium, Aeolian sand, glacial material, and any other residual or transported product of rock weathering.
As the name Soil Mechanics implies the subject is concerned with the deformation and strength of bodies of soil. It deals with the mechanical properties of the soil materials and with the application of the knowledge of these properties to engineering problems. In particular it is concerned with the interaction of structures with their foundation material. This includes both conventional structures and also structures such as earth dams, embankments and roads which are their-selves made of soil.
