ABSTRACT
Haryana is a landlocked state in North India with its capital at Chandigarh. The state has a variety of landscapes with hills in the northern region, alluvial plains in the central part and desert in the southern districts. The chapter describes the major types of soils, rocks and other similar materials found in the state based on geological formation and engineering applications as observed during the geological and geotechnical site investigations. The groundwater situation in the state has also been reported with the help of data accessed from the Central Ground Water Board. The state has witnessed several significant earthquake events caused by local as well as distant tectonic sources. An earthquake hazard assessment of the state has been expressed in terms of peak ground acceleration and response spectra for analysing the performance of structures during earthquakes. A section has been included detailing the cyclic behaviour of sands procured from the banks of river Yamuna, as the nearby areas could expect liquefaction during earthquakes. Three case studies have been included in the end, for strength characteristics of limestone of Siwalik formations under high confining pressure, related to the development of region-specific correlations for prediction of geotechnical parameters, and the case study on the forensic geotechnical investigation carried out to explore possible causes of distress in a building with emphasis on geotechnical aspects.
