Roy Whitlow Basic Soil Mechanics Jun 2026
Sorting soils into sand, silt, and clay, and understanding their different engineering properties.
Soil is a three-phase material consisting of solid mineral grains, water, and air.
Soil grains touch each other at specific points of contact, forming a structural skeleton. When a load is applied to a soil mass, it is carried by both the soil skeleton and the water in the pore spaces. The total stress ( ) is equal to the effective stress ( σ′sigma prime ) plus the pore water pressure ( σ=σ′+usigma equals sigma prime plus u Rearranged, the effective stress is: σ′=σ−usigma prime equals sigma minus u roy whitlow basic soil mechanics
Every chapter features step-by-step calculations that mirror real-world design problems.
Roy Whitlow (1932-) was a distinguished academic whose career was dedicated to the study and teaching of geotechnical engineering and engineering geology. He served as a senior lecturer in these fields at the University of the West of England (UWE) in Bristol. His commitment to geotechnical education extended beyond his own university; he was a key figure in the GeotechniCAL project, a consortium of 22 UK universities funded to develop computer-aided learning (CAL) courseware in geotechnical engineering, where he served as its editor and secretary. This pioneering work in digital education underscores his lifelong dedication to making complex soil mechanics concepts accessible to students. Sorting soils into sand, silt, and clay, and
Several features make the book particularly effective as a learning resource. The author's philosophy is grounded in the idea that principles are best understood through their application, which is reflected in several key features:
The final practical application involves determining what is actually underground. Whitlow covers: When a load is applied to a soil
Soil skeleton carries structural weight, but water pressure within the pores (pore water pressure) fights back. The effective stress ( σ′sigma prime
Determined via sieve analysis for coarse soils (sand and gravel) and sedimentation (hydrometer analysis) for fine soils (silt and clay).
Soil volume and mass are divided into distinct components to calculate engineering properties: The mineral grains forming the soil skeleton.
): The ratio of the volume of voids to the volume of solids. Porosity (