List of top Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering Questions

A 6 m \(\times\) 6 m square footing constructed in clay is subjected to a vertical load of 2500 kN at its centre. The base of the footing is 2 m below the ground surface, as shown in the figure. The footing is made of 2 m thick concrete. The ground water table is at a great depth. Considering Terzaghi's bearing capacity theory, the factor of safety of footing against the bearing capacity failure is ....... (rounded off to 2 decimal places). 

The standard plasticity chart for the classification of a fine-grained soil is shown in the figure. As per the Indian standard soil classification system, X represents
A single pile with 450 mm diameter has been driven into a homogeneous clay layer, which has an undrained cohesion (\(c_u\)) of 20 kPa and unit weight of 18 kN/m³. The ground water table is found to be at the surface of the clay layer. The adhesion factor (\(\alpha\)) of the soil is 0.95 and bearing capacity factor (\(N_c\)) is 9. The pile is supporting a column load of 144 kN with a factor of safety of 3.0 against ultimate axial pile capacity in compression. The required embedment depth of the pile (in m) is ......... (rounded off to the nearest integer).

Which of the following statements is/are INCORRECT?
 

A 60 cm diameter well completely penetrates a confined aquifer of permeability \( 5 \times 10^{-4} \, {m/s} \). The length of the strainer (spanning the entire thickness of the aquifer) is 10 m. The drawdown at the well under steady state pumping is 1.0 m. Assume that the radius of influence for this pumping is 300 m.
The discharge from the well (in litres per minute) is ......... (round off to the nearest integer).
A designer used plate load test to obtain the value of the bearing capacity factor \( N_t \). A circular plate of 1 m diameter was placed on the surface of a dry sand layer extending very deep beneath the ground. The unit weight of the sand is 16.66 kN/m\(^3\). The plate is loaded to failure at a pressure of 1500 kPa.
Considering Terzaghi's bearing capacity theory, the bearing capacity factor \( N_t \) is ......... (round off to the nearest integer).
A sand sample has a bulk density of 20kN/m3 and degree of saturation of 70%. If the specific gravity of soil grain is 2.65, the value of critical hydraulic gradient for the soil will be.
In order to ensure that no scouring take place in the bed of a channel of bed slope 'S' constructed on alluvial soil of particle size 'd' cm, the flow velocity should be restricted.
The discharge unit draw down at the wall is known as.
A soil has a discharge velocity of 6 × 10 −7 m/s and a void ratio of 0.5, its seepage velocity is.
A soil sample has a shrinkage limit of 10% and specific gravity of soil solids as 2.7. The porosity of the soil at shrinkage limit is.
Match List I with List II
LIST I (Deposit) LIST II (Satl structure)  
A.Coarse grained soil I.Flocculated 
B.Silt depositII.Cohesive matrix
C.Clay deposit III.Honey comb 
D.Composite soil IV.Single grained

Choose the most appropriate answer from the options given below:

A soil has a liquid limit of 40% and plasticity index of 20% the plastic limit of the soil will be.
Relative density of a compacted dense sand is approximately equal to.
Given below are two statements: one is labelled as Assertion A and the other is labelled as Reason R.
Assertion A: The water content of inorganic soil is determined by heating the soil in an oven at a temperature of 105° to 110°C 
Reason R: The free water absorbed water and structural water are all completely removed from the soil by heating it at 105° to 110°C 
In the light of the above statements, choose the most appropriate answer from the options given below:
Match List I with List II
LIST I  (Measuring device) LIST II (Soil Parameter)
A.PycnometerI.Compressibility
B. HydrometerII.Permeability
C.OedometerIII.Specific gravity
D.Parameter IV.Particle size analysis

Choose the most appropriate answer from the options given below:

Match List I with List II
LIST I (Type of Precipitation) LIST II (Principle causes) 
A.Lacustrine soilI.Transportation by wind
B.Alluvial soil II.Transportation by running water
C.Aeoline soil III.Deposited at the bottom of lakes
D. Marine soil IV. Deposited in sea water 

Choose the most appropriate answer from the options given below:

Reduction in volume of soil primarily due to squeezing out of water from winds is called.
Match List I with List II
LIST I  I (Soil)  LIST II (Group Symbol) 
A.Clayly gravel I.SM
B.Clayly sandII.OH
C.Organic clayIII.SC
D.Silty sand IV.GC

Choose the most appropriate answer from the options given below:

The change that take place during the process of consolidation of a saturated clay would include.
Soil erosion can be prevented by
Soil erosion by wind brings about the serious damage in soil by changing the
Which class of land should be used for pasture and forest?
Given below are two statements; one is labelled as Assertion A and the other is labelled as Reason R
Assertion A: Sandy soil helps promote good drainage and aeration. 
Reason R: Sandy soils particles have size in the range 0.05 - 2.0mm. 
In the light of the above statements, choose the most appropriate answer from the options given below
The collapsible soil is associated with