Safety and Civil Protection Engineering

- General introduction: overview of excavation and underground works in in the civil engineering sector. - Review of Continuum Mechanics basic concepts: stress and strain analysis, elasticity, plasticity. - Basic concepts of Soil Mechanics: soil classification, permeability and flow, principle of effective stress, constitutive relationships for soils, compressibility and consolidation, shear strength, laboratory tests, in situ tests and investigations. - Excavations: excavation techniques, support and reinforcement systems, risks during constructions, stability of unsupported excavations and natural slopes, earth pressure theories, design criteria for retaining walls, verification of ultimate limit states.

A prior knowledge and understanding of Continuum Mechanics, Hydraulics, Soil Mechanics and Engineering Geology is required to attend with profit this course. This knowledge is typically acquired during the following undergraduate courses: Structural Mechanics, Hydraulics, Geotechnics and Engineering Geology.

Teaching material provided by the teacher

Regular attendance is strongly recommended.

Oral examination with homework revision

Budhu M. (2011). Soils Mechanics and Foundations. John Wiley & Sons. Knappett J.A., Craig R.F. (2012). Craig’s Soil Mechanics. Spon Press. Lancellotta R. (2009). Geotechnical Engineering. Taylor & Francis.

Lessons at the blackboard and with the aid of PowerPoint presentations, seminars, class- and home-works.