Geotechnical Engineering MCQs
Geotechnical Engineering MCQs
Our experts have gathered these Geotechnical Engineering MCQs through research, and we hope that you will be able to see how much knowledge base you have for the subject of Geotechnical Engineering by answering these multiple-choice questions.
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1: Retaining walls are used to resist _____.
A. The vertical stress exerted by a mass of water
B. The horizontal stress exerted by a mass of water
C. The vertical stress exerted by a mass of soil
D. The horizontal stress exerted by a mass of soil
2: What is the horizontal stress exerted by a mass of soil on a retaining wall called?
A. Static earth pressure
B. Active earth pressure
C. Passive earth pressure
D. Elastic earth pressure
3: What is the area behind a retaining structure called if it is above the failure plane?
A. Passive (Rankine) zone
B. Incidental (Rankine) zone
C. Static (Rankine) zone
D. Active (Rankine) zone
4: What is the purpose of an Active Zone?
A. To maintain the structure's integrity
B. To stop soil erosion
C. To keep the area behind the retaining structure from becoming unstable
D. The area behind a retaining structure that is above the failure plane.
5: What is the ratio of plasticity index to percent by weight of clay?
A. The ratio of plasticity index to percent by weight of sand.
B. The ratio of plasticity index to percent by weight of gravel.
C. The ratio of plasticity index to percent by weight of silt.
D. The ratio of plasticity index to percent by weight of clay.
6: What is the shear resistance between soil and a structure called?
A. Cohesion
B. Soil
C. Adhesion
D. Friction
7: What is Adhesion?
A. The physical process of a liquid changing into a gas
B. The force that attracts unlike molecules to each other
C. Soil erosion
D. The shear resistance between soil and a structure
8: What is the air-void ratio?
A. The ratio of the volume of water to the total volume of a mass of soil.
B. The ratio of the organic matter to the total volume of a mass of soil.
C. The ratio of the volume of minerals to the total volume of a mass of soil.
D. The ratio of the volume of air to the total volume of a mass of soil.
9: The air-voids ratio is the ratio of _____.
A. The volume of air to the total volume of a mass of soil
B. The volume of air to the volume of water in a mass of soil
C. The volume of water to the total volume of a mass of soil
D. The weight of air to the total weight of a mass of soil
10: The bearing pressure that can be allowed on a foundation soil is called the ___________.
A. Allowable bearing capacity
B. Safe bearing capacity
C. Maximum bearing capacity
D. Average bearing capacity
11: What are alluvial soils?
A. Soils deposited by glaciers
B. Soils deposited in a valley or slightly graded area by transporting sediments through a mountain river or streams.
C. Soils deposited by wind
D. Soils deposited in a valley
12: What does AASHTO stand for?
A. American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials
B. American Association of Schools and Hospitals
C. American Association of State and Highway Transportation Officials
D. American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials' Classification System
13: At which angle does shear failure occur for a given soil?
A. Angle of internal friction
B. Maximum Normal Stress
C. Minimum Shear Stress
D. Failure Stress
14: What is the angle of repose?
A. The maximum angle, just before failure, of a slope composed of granular material
B. The maximum angle, just before success, of a slope composed of granular material
C. The minimum angle, just before success, of a slope composed of granular material
D. The minimum angle, just before failure, of a slope composed of granular material
15: What does the angle of shearing resistance measure?
A. The amount of energy required to shear a material
B. The maximum stress a material can withstand
C. The amount of deformation a material can undergo before failure
D. The ratio of effective shear and normal stresses mobilized at any state prior to failure.
16: Angle of slip plane refers to the angle of ________.
A. The force that holds particles together in a solid
B. The melting point of a substance
C. A plane or other surface along which a discontinuous slip or rupture may occur
D. The freezing point of a substance
17: What is the angle referred to horizontal of a plane or other surface along which a discontinuous slip or rupture may occur?
A. Angle of slip plane
B. Angle of depression
C. Angle of transmutation
D. Angle of incidence
18: The angle of friction between soil and the bottom side of a foundation is known as the ___________.
A. Angle of wall friction
B. Foundation
C. Angle of wall friction
D. Slope
E. Soil
19: What is the angle of wall friction?
A. A measure of how far one object is from another
B. The slope of a line segment
C. The angle between two lines
D. The angle of friction between soil and the surface of a retaining wall or bottom side of a foundation.
20: What is the ratio between the relative deflection between two points in a foundation and the distance between them called?
A. Angular distortion
B. Linear distortion
C. Planar distortion
D. Vertical distortion
21: What does the term "anisotropic" refer to?
A. Soil having similar properties in all directions
B. Soil composed of organic material
C. Soil composed of inorganic material
D. Soil having different properties in different directions
22: What is the meaning of "Aquifer"?
A. A method of irrigation that uses a network of pipes to transport water
B. A device used to measure the depth of water in a well
C. A large body of water, such as a lake or ocean
D. A stratum of soil with relatively high permeability; a water-bearing stratum of rock or soil.
23: What is the definition of artesian?
A. A well in which water rises to the surface by hydrostatic pressure.
B. A condition that exists when the water table piezometric surface lies above the ground level.
C. A water table that has water present all year long.
D. A natural underground reservoir in which water is under pressure.
24: What is at-rest earth pressure?
A. The vertical stress developed in a mass of soil loaded in conditions of zero horizontal strain.
B. The horizontal stress developed in a mass of soil loaded in conditions of zero horizontal strain.
C. The vertical stress developed in a mass of soil loaded in conditions of zero vertical strain.
D. The horizontal stress developed in a mass of soil loaded in conditions of zero vertical strain.
25: What are the Atterberg Limits?
A. The maximum density of a substance
B. The point at which a substance changes from a liquid to a gas
C. The temperature at which water turns to ice
D. The water contents of a soil mass corresponding to the transition between a solid, semi-solid, plastic solid or liquid.
26: What do the Atterberg Limits test for?
A. The texture of clay and silt particles
B. The transition between a solid, semi-solid, plastic solid or liquid
C. The hardness of a soil mass
D. The amount of water in a soil mass
27: What is axial strain?
A. Strain measured perpendicular to the applied load on a Sample
B. The ratio of deformation to original dimensions.
C. Direct strain measured along an axis of a triaxial test sample.
D. Direct stress measured along an axis of a triaxial test sample
28: What is axial stress?
A. Both horizontal and vertical stresses acting along an axis of a triaxial test sample.
B. Confining stress acting along an axis of a triaxial test sample.
C. Vertical stress acting along an axis of a triaxial test sample.
D. Total or effective stress acting along an axis of a triaxial test sample.
29: What is the sum of the confining and vertical stresses along an axis of a triaxial test sample called?
A. Axial stress
B. Contact stress
C. Torsional stress
D. Combination stress
30: What is the definition of bearing capacity?
A. The ability of the underlying soil to support the foundation loads without shear failure.
B. The load at which failure of the soil begins.
C. The minimum load that can be applied to an soil without failure.
D. The maximum load that can be applied to an soil without failure.
31: What do bearing capacity factors represent?
A. The angle of internal friction of the soil
B. The load-bearing capacity of the soil
C. The type of foundation
D. The amount of soil erosion
32: What does bearing pressure refer to?
A. The pressure on the soil below the foundation
B. The weight of the building transferred to the foundation
C. The load on the foundation
D. The total stress transferred from the structure to the foundation, then to the soil below the foundation.
33: What is the total stress transferred from the structure to the foundation called?
A. Compressive stress
B. Bearing pressure
C. Flexural stress
D. Shear stress
34: What is the definition of bedrock?
A. Igneous rock formed from solidified lava
B. Strong rock underlying surface deposits of soil and weathered rock.
C. A type of sedimentary rock
D. Earth's outermost solid layer
35: What is a borrow?
A. A site that is used to supply soils for earthwork construction
B. A large sum of money that is borrowed and then needs to be repaid
C. An adjective
D. A type ofverb
36: What is braced excavation?
A. The process of shoring up a trench
B. A type of machine used in construction
C. The use of bracing to laterally support the side-walls of temporary trenches or cuts.
D. When two beams are placed back-to-back to support each other
37: What does the British Soil Classification System classify soils on?
A. PH Level
B. Color
C. Fertility
D. Size, consistency, and structure.
38: What is the British Soil Classification System based on?
A. Colour
B. PH
C. Size, consistency and structure
D. Soil Type
39: What is the mass of water and soil particles contained in a unit volume of soil called?
A. Soil Density
B. Unit Volume
C. Bulk density
D. Volume Mass
40: What is the unit of measurement for Bulk density?
A. Oz/gal
B. Kg/m^3
C. Pcf
D. G/mL
41: What is the bulk unit weight?
A. The total weight of water and soil particles contained in a unit volume of air.
B. The total weight of water and soil particles contained in a unit mass of soil.
C. The total weight of water and soil particles contained in a unit volume of soil.
D. The total weight of water and soil particles contained in a unit area of soil.
42: Buoyant density is equal to what?
A. Soil density / Density of water
B. Soil density - Density of water
C. Soil density + Density of water
D. Density of water - Soil density
43: What is a Caisson?
A. An architectural term for a recessed panel in a wall
B. A component of a particular foundation system.
C. A large watertight chamber used in the construction of bridges and tunnels
D. A French word for
44: What does CBR stand for?
A. California Bearing Ratio
B. Controlled Breaking Ratio
C. Chinese Balloon Route
D. Cannot Be Repeated
45: What is the California Bearing Ratio (CBR) used for?
A. To determine the suitability of a soil for use as a base in a pavement section.
B. To determine the hardness of a soil.
C. To determine the suitability of a soil for use as a top layer in a pavement section.
D. To determine the suitability of a soil for use as a subbase in a pavement section.
46: Which of the following is not a result of capillary stresses?
A. Soil erosion
B. Meniscus in void spaces
C. Pore water pressures greater than atmospheric values
D. Soil particles compacting
47: What produces capillary stresses?
A. Hydrostatic pressure
B. Surface tension of pore water
C. Thermal expansion
D. Fluid pressure
48: What is a circular footing?
A. A footing that is circular shaped and spread out
B. Isolated/ spread footing that is circular shaped.
C. A footing that is used to support circular structures.
D. A type of load-bearing foundation
49: What is the size of Clay Soil particles?
A. 0.004 mm
B. 0.003 mm
C. 0.001 mm
D. 0.002 mm
50: What is the definition of coarse-grained soils?
A. Soils with more than 50% by weight of grains retained on the #200 sieve (0.075mm).
B. Soils with more than 50% by weight of grains retained on the #350 sieve (0.0441mm).
C. Soils with more than 50% by weight of grains retained on the #100 sieve (0.149mm).
D. Soils with more than 50% by weight of grains retained on the #150 sieve (0.105mm).
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