ABSTRACT
Innovative approach used in this book. This book is written for students and those who would like to learn the fundamentals and practical applications of soil mechanics without having to go through numerous pages of “boring” theory and equations. It is intended to show the reader how we use soil mechanics in practice and why it is important to know soil behavior. Unlike existing books on soil mechanics, this one uses a different, project-based approach where the reader is introduced to a real geotechnical project, which was conducted to select the most appropriate place for canal construction. This project will underscore the need for the theory presented in this book. The reader will learn how to interpret and analyze the data from field and laboratory investigation as well as how to use it to solve various geotechnical problems. Every step of this project is related to a certain aspect of soil mechanics and as the reader acquires more knowledge in the process, they will be able to see the practical importance of what they have learnt and thus better understand it. Our teaching experience (Gratchev and Jeng, 2018) indicates that the understanding of basic soil properties and soil behavior is much more important than remembering how to derive theoretical equations or memorizing numbers. For this reason, we pay more attention to explaining important concepts and discussing step-by-step solutions to common geotechnical problems.
