The Course: Water in the Field. Effects on Soils and Rocks offers you the opportunity to delve into a field of vital importance, where specialist knowledge is increasingly valued. In a context where efficient water management and an understanding of how water interacts with soil and rock are crucial, this course will equip you with the skills needed to excel in the sector. You will learn about flow in porous media, effective stresses and pore pressures, and how these factors affect soils and rocks. You will also explore soil consolidation and well pumping systems – essential knowledge for tackling current challenges in construction, geotechnical engineering and the environment. The online format will allow you to access high-quality content from anywhere, combining theory and practical case studies to enhance your understanding and practical application in a professional context. Become an expert and unlock a world of opportunities in a growing industry.
Water in the Ground: Effects on Soils and Rocks
Civil Engineering and Structures
40 hours
Introduction
Objectives
- To understand flow in porous media in order to analyse the distribution of water in soils and rocks.
- To identify effective stresses and interstitial pressures under different ground conditions.
- To assess the effects of water on the stability and mechanical properties of soils and rocks.
- Apply consolidation concepts to predict the behaviour of soils under load.
- To design efficient well and pumping systems for groundwater management.
- To analyse the impact of pressure variations on the behaviour of soil and rock.
- Apply knowledge of water flow to solve complex geotechnical problems.
Table of Contents
TEACHING UNIT 1. FLOW IN POROUS MEDIA
Groundwater. Types of aquifers
Darcy’s Law. Hydraulic head and hydraulic gradient. Permeability
Mechanics and theory of flow in porous media
Flow networks
The fragment method
TEACHING UNIT 2. EFFECTIVE STRESSES AND INTERSTITIAL PRESSURES. EFFECTS OF WATER ON SOIL AND ROCKS
The principle of effective stresses. Application to soils and rocks
Stress distribution in the ground
Scouring, bed uplift, internal erosion and piping
Filters: Concept, use and preliminary design
Effects of water on the rock matrix and the rock mass
TEACHING UNIT 3. SOIL STABILISATION
Introduction
The size of the consolidation unit
The evolution of the consolidation base
Theory of parabolic isochrones
Pre-loading and radial and mixed consolidation
TEACHING UNIT 4. WELLS AND PUMPING SYSTEMS
Well design and construction
Well design. Analytical solutions for individual wells
Wellfield design. Analytical solutions for wellfields
Design and construction of wellpoints
Wellpoint design
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