Back to Basics
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Back to Basics #18: Foundations 101
Every structure, however modest or ambitious, depends on the ground beneath it to carry its weight…
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Back to Basics #17: CQA (Construction Quality Assurance)
Every earthworks specification, however carefully written, is only a promise on paper until it is checked…
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Back to Basics #16: Earthworks Explained
Long before a single pile is driven or a single foundation is poured, the ground itself…
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Back to Basics #15: Slope Stability Basics
Slopes are everywhere. Natural hillsides carved by erosion, river banks undercut by flowing water, engineered embankments…
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Back to Basics #14: Settlement
Every structure built on or in the ground will settle to some degree. The question is…
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Back to Basics #13: Shear Strength Explained
Of all the concepts in geotechnical engineering, shear strength is perhaps the most fundamental. Every failure…
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Back to Basics #12: Laboratory Testing Explained
The field observations made during a ground investigation — the borehole logs, the in-situ test results,…
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Back to Basics #11: Groundwater Fundamentals
Groundwater is one of the most important, most variable, and most frequently underestimated factors in geotechnical…
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Back to Basics #10: Soil Classification Explained
Soil classification is the language of geotechnical engineering. Before a ground investigation can be interpreted, before…
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Back to Basics #9: Understanding Rock Mass Classification
The intact rock material recovered in a borehole core tells only part of the story. In…
Bridge & Bedrock 