Soil Mechanics and Failure of Hydraulic Structure

Whatever structure a Civil Engineer may be called upon to design, it must ultimately rest upon soil. May he design a lofty tower, may he construct a massive dam or a gigantic barrage or even a tiny outlet or syphon, unless those are built on reliable foundation, the money employed and the energy spent will be a mere waste. Successful design of foundation will depend not only on its structural arrangements but also on the distribution and/or transmission of the superincumbent load upon the soil to such a harmless degree that the attraction of gravity to the structure is adequately balanced by the soil particles. It is, therefore, legitimate to expect that a Civil Engineer should have atleast a reasonably accurate conception about the physical properties of the soil involved and its bearing capacity. It is all the more true for hydraulic structures, because in such cases, the arrangement of soil particle are further complicated by the presence and action of water either static or dynamic.