CE 322: Soil Mechanics

At Christian Brothers University, CE 322 (Soil Mechanics) is a three-credit-hour junior-level civil engineering course that is required by most ABET-accredited civil engineering programs. Soil Mechanics deals with topics such as soil properties, soil classification, compaction and permeability properties of soils, stresses in soils, settlement of soils, and shear strength of soils. The prerequisite is CE 210 (Mechanics of Materials), and CE 299 (Hydraulics). The corequisite is CE 322L (Soil Mechanics Lab).

There are several assignment groups in this course that are intended to assess student learning outcomes. These include the following categories: Homework, Problem Sets, Projects, Quizzes, Mid-Term Exam, and Final Exam. The course syllabus gives a more detailed description of each of these assignment groups.

Course Objectives

Attainment of Course Objectives are measured by the assessment mechanisms of: Homework, Quizzes, Projects, Problem Sets, the Mid-Term Exam, and the Final Exam. At the conclusion of this course, with at least 70% accuracy, the student will be able to:

A. Analyze soil phase diagrams and determine soil properties

B. Classify soils

C. Determine and compute compaction properties of soils

D. Determine and compute seepage properties of soils

E. Compute stresses in soils

F. Compute consolidation settlement properties of clays

G. Compute and interpret shear stress parameters of soils