EGH473 Advanced Geotechnical Engineering

Unit Outline: Semester 1 2024, Gardens Point, Internal

Overview

Geotechnical engineers use knowledge and skills bases that you will learn about in this advanced unit to undertake site investigation, evaluate slope stability, design retaining walls, design shallow foundations and deep foundations, and analyse and design rock systems. You will continue to develop your knowledge of geotechnical engineering in the context of technical, practical, and stakeholder perspectives. You will also continue to develop your personal and professional attributes, especially teamwork, time and resource management, communication, and reflective practice. This unit draws upon your learning in EGB373 Geotechnical Engineering. EGH479 Advances in Civil Engineering Practice will build upon this unit.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:

1. Explain the theory of geotechnical engineering at a mastered level.
2. Assess a geotechnical engineering system theoretically at a mastered level.
3. Model the behaviour of a geotechnical engineering system using a computational approach at a developed level.
4. Contribute to a geotechnical engineering assessment, with evidence of working on agreed tasks as a team member, at a developed level.
5. Compose technical documentation of a geotechnical engineering project including design calculations and design drawings at a developed level.

Content

Learning Approaches

In this unit, you can expect to experience the following timetabled activities:

• Formal lectures from experienced professional civil engineers to give you insight into knowledge, skills, and
  attributes. You have the opportunity to ask questions during these lectures.
• Tutorial classes will give you the opportunity to work collaboratively with your peers to solve problems. They
  will be facilitated by tutors and will provide an opportunity to test your understanding and gain feedback on
  your work.
• Computer laboratory classes that where demonstrators will provide you formal training on the use of civil
  engineering (Geotechnical Engineering) software package to aid your geotechnical engineering design and
  your design project.

These activities will be detailed by week of semester on the unit schedule. You can also expect to be provided with
learning resources, including video presentations and readings on a unit Canvas site, which you can access
flexibly to complete your learning in this unit.

At the beginning of the unit, you will be made aware of the ways in which you can ask questions or seek clarification
from the unit coordinator, lecturers and tutors.

You are expected to:

• Engage with timetabled learning activities on campus and ask questions.
• Engage with online resources outside of timetabled learning activities. They will be available on the unit
  Canvas site. You will receive regular email announcements regarding the release of these resources.
• Work in a cohesive and effective team to complete the earth dam design project. You will need to undertake
  independent work outside of timetabled activities to complete assessment tasks, including areas of individual responsibility.
• Prepare for learning activities according to the unit schedule, and follow up on any work not completed.
• Complete assessment tasks by working consistently throughout the semester and meeting the due dates that are published via the unit Canvas site.

Feedback on Learning and Assessment

During tutorial classes, you will share your formative ideas for your assessments and problem-solving tasks, and you will receive feedback from your tutor. As a part of the effective team, you will share the outcomes of your design tasks with your tutor for marking and feedback. You are encouraged to view your team as a learning community and share and discuss emergent ideas in the earth dam analysis and design process and your understanding of civil engineering professional practice. You will be given two attempts for the online problem-solving task (OPST) and allowed to get automatic, self, peer, and academic feedback after each attempt. Each assignment submission will be graded against criteria and standards that will be shared with you at the beginning of the semester through Assessment Task Descriptions and Marking Rubrics. Marked assessment will include feedback given by the markers against the criteria.

Assessment

Overview

Assessments in this unit have been designed to give you the opportunity to show your learning against the unit learning outcomes. You will work as a team member to prepare and submit your earth dam design assessment, where you will deploy work practices that align with civil engineering professional practice (such as teamwork, project management). In this assessment, you will be expected to work together with your team members and independently to make individual contributions. The online problem-solving task (OPST) will give you the opportunity to explain and assess practical geotechnical engineering problems/systems theoretically. You will sit an examination individually during the central examination period at the end of the semester to show your overall learning in the unit.

Unit Grading Scheme

7- point scale

Assessment Tasks

Assessment: Earth Dam Design

You will work as an effective member of a functional civil engineering team to prepare an earth dam design (geotechnical design) with the aid of a computational tool (geotechnical engineering analysis software package) to demonstrate your knowledge and skills attainment. You will communicate your work in a written technical report, including design calculations and design drawings, which adheres to the assessment requirement

This is an assignment for the purposes of an extension.

Assessment: Online Problem Solving Task

You will work as an individual to complete a problem-solving task containing several questions about practical geotechnical engineering designs, systems, and problems within a limited amount of time.

This is an assignment for the purposes of an extension.

Assessment: Invigilated Written Examination

You will be required to analyse aspects of geotechnical engineering systems. You will be presented with descriptions of the geotechnical engineering systems. You will need to diagnose the problem type, make use of appropriate theory or methods, demonstrate systems knowledge, show your working, and communicate a complete answer in writing and graphically.

Academic Integrity

Students are expected to engage in learning and assessment at QUT with honesty, transparency and fairness. Maintaining academic integrity means upholding these principles and demonstrating valuable professional capabilities based on ethical foundations.

Failure to maintain academic integrity can take many forms. It includes cheating in examinations, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, and submitting an assessment item completed by another person (e.g. contract cheating). It can also include providing your assessment to another entity, such as to a person or website.

You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.

Further details of QUT’s approach to academic integrity are outlined in the Academic integrity policy and the Student Code of Conduct. Breaching QUT’s Academic integrity policy is regarded as student misconduct and can lead to the imposition of penalties ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.

Resources

Resource Materials

Recommended text(s)

(need not be purchased)

Braja M. Das, 2017. Principles of Foundation Engineering (SI edition). Ninth Edition. CL Engineering, United States.

(need not be purchased)

Knappett, J. A. and Craig, R. F. 2020. Craig's Soil Mechanics, Ninth Edition. CRC Press, United States.

Risk Assessment Statement

Risks may be associated with you visiting study areas and/or project sites. You are required to have completed a valid Workplace Health and Safety course. You shall not enter project sites without the Unit Coordinator's approval. You shall not contact members of the public, public officers or staff associated with any project without permission of the Unit Coordinator. Prior to any off-campus class activities that you are required to undertake in this unit, a risk assessment will be prepared and made available to you at the MAPS (Management and Assessment of Project Safety) library or on the unit Canvas site. You will receive a briefing regarding any specific hazard and risk related instructions from your field leader before commencing any activity. More detailed information will be provided in your Week 1 information class.

Standards/Competencies

This unit is designed to support your development of the following standards\competencies.

Engineers Australia Stage 1 Competency Standard for Professional Engineer

1: Knowledge and Skill Base

1. 
   Relates to: Earth Dam Design, Invigilated Written Examination
2. 
   Relates to: Earth Dam Design, Invigilated Written Examination
3. 
   Relates to: Online Problem Solving Task, Invigilated Written Examination
4. 
   Relates to: Earth Dam Design

2: Engineering Application Ability

1. 
   Relates to: Earth Dam Design, Online Problem Solving Task, Invigilated Written Examination
2. 
   Relates to: Earth Dam Design
3. 
   Relates to: Earth Dam Design

3: Professional and Personal Attributes

1. 
   Relates to: Earth Dam Design
2. 
   Relates to: Earth Dam Design
3. 
   Relates to: Earth Dam Design
4. 
   Relates to: Earth Dam Design

Course Learning Outcomes

EN01 Bachelor of Engineering (Honours)

1. Engage stakeholders professionally and communicate the outcomes of your work effectively to expert and non-expert audiences using appropriate modes.
   Relates to: Earth Dam Design
2. Display leadership, creativity, and initiative in both self-directed and collaborative contexts of professional engineering practice.
   Relates to: Earth Dam Design
3. Deploy appropriate approaches to engineering design and quality.
   Relates to: Earth Dam Design
4. Demonstrate coherent knowledge and skills of physical, mathematical, statistical, computer, and information sciences that are fundamental to professional engineering practice.
   Relates to: Earth Dam Design, Invigilated Written Examination
5. Demonstrate a thorough understanding of one engineering discipline, its research directions, and its application in contemporary professional engineering practice.
   Relates to: Online Problem Solving Task, Invigilated Written Examination

EN55 Master of Professional Engineering

1. Apply advanced and specialist knowledge, concepts and practices in engineering design, analysis management and sustainability.
   Relates to: Earth Dam Design, Online Problem Solving Task, Invigilated Written Examination
2. Critically analyse and evaluate complex engineering problems to achieve research informed solutions.
   Relates to: Earth Dam Design, Online Problem Solving Task, Invigilated Written Examination
3. Communicate complex information effectively and succinctly, presenting high level reports, arguments and justifications in oral, written and visual forms to professional and non specialist audiences.
   Relates to: Earth Dam Design, Online Problem Solving Task
4. Organise and manage time, tasks and projects independently, and collaboratively demonstrating the values and principles that shape engineering decision making and professional accountability.
   Relates to: Earth Dam Design