Part A: Course Overview

Course Title: Geotechnical Engineering 2

Credit Points: 12.00

Terms

Course Code	Campus	Career	School	Learning Mode	Teaching Period(s)
CIVE1108	City Campus	Undergraduate	120H Civil, Environmental & Chemical Engineering	Face-to-Face	Sem 1 2006, Sem 1 2007, Sem 1 2008, Sem 1 2009, Sem 1 2010, Sem 1 2011, Sem 1 2012, Sem 1 2013, Sem 1 2014, Sem 1 2015, Sem 1 2016
CIVE1108	City Campus	Undergraduate	172H School of Engineering	Face-to-Face	Sem 1 2017, Sem 1 2018, Sem 1 2019, Sem 1 2020, Sem 1 2021, Sem 1 2022, Sem 1 2023, Sem 1 2024, Sem 1 2025
CIVE1129	SHAPE, VTC	Undergraduate	120H Civil, Environmental & Chemical Engineering	Face-to-Face	Offsh 3 11, Offsh3 13, Offsh3 14

Flexible Terms

Course Code	Campus	Career	School	Learning Mode	Teaching Period(s)
CIVE1129	SHAPE, VTC	Undergraduate	172H School of Engineering	Face-to-Face	OFFSep2019 (VC10)
CIVE1129	SHAPE, VTC	Undergraduate	172H School of Engineering	Face-to-Face	OFFSep2020 (VC13)
CIVE1129	SHAPE, VTC	Undergraduate	172H School of Engineering	Face-to-Face	OFFSep2021 (All)
CIVE1129	SHAPE, VTC	Undergraduate	172H School of Engineering	Face-to-Face	OFFSep2022 (All)
CIVE1129	SHAPE, VTC	Undergraduate	172H School of Engineering	Face-to-Face	OFFSep2023 (All)
CIVE1129	SHAPE, VTC	Undergraduate	172H School of Engineering	Face-to-Face	OFFSep2024 (VC20)

Course Coordinator: A/Prof Dilan Robert

Course Coordinator Phone: +61 3 9925 1908

Course Coordinator Email: dilan.robert@rmit.edu.au

Course Coordinator Location: 10.12.09

Course Coordinator Availability: By appointment

Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities

Recommended Prior Study 

You should have satisfactorily completed or received credit for the following course/s before you commence this course: 

• CIVE1178 Geotechnical Engineering 1

If you have completed prior studies at RMIT or another institution that developed the skills and knowledge covered in the above course/s you may be eligible to apply for credit transfer. 

Alternatively, if you have prior relevant work experience that developed the skills and knowledge covered in the above course/s you may be eligible for recognition of prior learning. 

Please follow the link for further information on how to apply for credit for prior study or experience.

Course Description

This course covers a wide range of problems in Civil Engineering. It includes topics such as: foundations for different types of buildings and bridges, excavations, slopes and retaining walls. This course builds on the material introduced in Geotechnical Engineering 1 and develops concepts and models for analysis and design of engineering projects involving soils in a natural or compacted state.

Whilst CIVE1108 Geotechnical Engineering 2 is based in the City Campus, laboratory work has taken place in Bundoora East campus from Semester 2, 2015 onwards. Please consult with your course coordinator for more information.

WAM statement:

If you are enrolled in this course as a component of your Bachelor Honours Program, your overall mark will contribute to the calculation of the Weighted Average Mark (WAM).  

See the WAM information web page for more information. 

Objectives/Learning Outcomes/Capability Development

This course contributes to the following Program Learning Outcomes for BH077 - Bachelor of Engineering (Civil and Infrastructure) (Honours)

1.3. In-depth understanding of specialist bodies of knowledge within the engineering discipline.
1.6. Understanding of the scope, principles, norms, accountabilities and bounds of contemporary engineering practice in the specific discipline
2.1. Application of established engineering methods to complex engineering problem solving.
2.2. Fluent application of engineering techniques, tools and resources.

Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:

1. Analyse the role of a geotechnical engineer in civil engineering projects
2. Describe laboratory consolidation tests and interpret the test data for obtaining the consolidation settlement of fine-grained soils.
3. Determine the shear strength of soils under drained and undrained conditions using laboratory shear tests
4. Discriminate types of retaining walls and calculate lateral earth pressures using Rankine’s and Coulomb’s methods.
5. Estimate the stability of slopes considering various drivers (such as seepage, gravity, etc) which provoke slope failure
6. Apply established engineering practices to design foundations considering strength, long and short-term settlement, deformation and safety

Overview of Learning Activities

You will learn the concepts and applications of geotechnical engineering through a series of pre-recorded lectures and tutorial classes and a laboratory session. You will work both individually and collaboratively with your lecturer/tutors for better understanding of the theories, designs, development and applications.  The course is supported by the Canvas learning management system. 

Total study hours: 50 hours of formal contact for one semester comprising pre-recorded lectures and tutorials/lab sessions. In addition, you can expect to spend a minimum of 72 hours per semester in independent study.

Overview of Learning Resources

Prescribed text, recommended references and a learning package will be used as required. Further, access to computers, simulation programs and Geomechanics Laboratory resources will be provided during the course.

RMIT Library Subject Guide: http://rmit.libguides.com/civileng 

Overview of Assessment

The course involves three assessment tasks which align with the expected outcomes of the course.  They include a mid-semester assessment, laboratory practical and the final end of semester assessment. Details of each assessment are given below.

Note: This course has no hurdle requirements.

Assessment Task 1:  Mid-semester assignment (online, 24 hours, in Week 7 or 8)
Weighting 40%
This assessment task supports CLOs 1 to 4.

Assessment Task 2: Lab class report (online, 2 weeks)
Weighting 10%
This assessment task supports CLO 3 & 5.

Assessment 3: End of semester assessment (online, 24 hours)
Weighting 50%
This assessment supports CLOs 1 to 6