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Nothing can be built without some excavation and transfer of soil (or rock) from one part of a site to another and this makes earthworks the most common product of civil engineering operations. Although normally seen as major structures, such as earth fill dams or large highways or railway embankments, the majority of earthworks are connected with minor civil works and building construction. Whatever the type of work, the principles are the same. Earthworks: a guide accumulates information on topics that are essential to earthworks engineering.
After a brief historical review, Earthworks: a guide establishes the essential theoretical background to the compaction process and describes some commonly available fills, including industrial materials, both from the construction and the in-service viewpoints. The Guide continues with a description of design construction control and monitoring procedures for earth fills, noting that design and control in earthworks are intimately linked.
The essential processes behind excavation, fill placement, cutting and embankment stability are presented and there is a description of approaches to the selection of engineering properties for the design of cut and embankment slopes. A separate chapter is devoted to factors of safety for these earth structures. Appendices present typical earthworks specification; descriptions of earthmoving plant, worked examples for cut and fill projects, and stability charts.
Earthworks is an essential and authoritative Guide for a readership, which will include the chartered, or near chartered civil engineer, and the geotechnical or engineering geologist specialist. The University student will also find this book an indispensable reference source.
