The lecture on embedded retaining walls relied upon some concepts from Rock and Soil Mechanics (effective stresses, active/passive pressure, moment equilibrium) which was beneficial as it felt as though we simply 'picked up where we left off'. The examples covered in this lecture were particularly useful and I found the DVD of the basement excavation in Melbourne interesting. Following the largely theoretical nature of embedded retaining walls, the lectures moved into a very descriptive examination of earth dams, tailings dams and landfill technologies. Although I am a fan of equations, theories and numbers, I found these lectures very interesting as I want to be designing such structures in the future.
In regards to semester 1, I was very happy with how Rock and Soil Mechanics went and am very much enjoying and looking forward to the rest of Geotechnical Engineering N. In fact, I would be surprised if I missed out on more than 4 marks in the end of semester examination as I felt really confident with the previous material.
The content to be covered this semester will be particularly beneficial to me as I have been successful in obtaining vacation work in geotechnical engineering at Golders Associates. This represents a fantastic opportunity and every application discussed so far (sheet piles, contiguous pile walls, landfills, tailing dams) gets me thinking about what I may be designing in the future. This is a great source of motivation which has resulted in me spending many hours this past week in the computer pools designing an earth embankment.
In regards to assessment, I was pleased to discover that the practicals will be a greater focus this semester (50%) as it these that I learn most from, and put the most effort into throughout the semester (not just a cram at the end).
I apologise for the somewhat late entry for this early study period post (I inferred it meant anytime in the first half of semester until I talked to a few other students).
No comments:
Post a Comment