Unit Outline

This unit provides students with a fundamental understanding of earth materials and their influence on civil engineering design, construction, and long-term infrastructure stability. The unit consists of two key components: geology and soil mechanics. The geology component introduces engineering geology, rock classification, and geophysical exploration methods, with a focus on how geological features impact the stability of slopes, tunnels, dams, and bridges. The soil mechanics component covers soil classification, permeability, compaction, effective stress, and consolidation, enabling students to evaluate the engineering behaviour of soils under various conditions.

Building on the fundamental statics and material concepts introduced in the first year units, this unit prepares students for advanced geotechnical design and analysis in later units. Students will apply Darcy’s Law, Terzaghi’s Effective Stress Principle, and consolidation theory to real-world infrastructure challenges, including settlement behaviour under changing environmental conditions.

Through laboratory experiments, field trips and case studies, students will gain practical experience in identifying, testing, and classifying earth materials, ensuring they develop the skills necessary for designing resilient and climate-adaptive civil structures.

Intended Learning Outcomes

As per the Assessment and Results Policy 1.3, your results will reflect your achievement against specified learning outcomes.

On completion of this unit, you will be able to:


1	Identify earth materials and geological processes in the laboratory and in the field on the basis of their characteristic properties relevant to civil engineering.
2	Classify earth materials in a systematic and unified manner according to Australian and international standards.
3	Apply geological and geophysical methods to discover essential information on the distributions and properties of earth materials.
4	Evaluate soil permeability, consolidation, deformation and strength properties by applying Darcy’s law, effective stress principle and Terzaghi consolidation theory.
5	Integrate climate change considerations into the stability and design of civil engineering structures constructed with earth materials.

Requisites


REQUISITE TYPE	REQUISITES
Pre-requisite	ENG106 Civil Engineering Foundations

Alterations as a result of student feedback

This is a brand new unit and has not been offered before. Thus, student feedbacks are yet to be collected, for example through formal unit and teaching surveys.

How will I be Assessed?

For more detailed assessment information please see MyLO.

Assessment schedule


ASSESSMENT TASK #	ASSESSMENT TASK NAME	DATE DUE	WEIGHT	LINKS TO INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES
Assessment Task 1:	Field Trip	Refer to Assessment Description	15 %	LO3, LO5
Assessment Task 2:	Assignment	Refer to Assessment Description	15 %	LO4, LO5
Assessment Task 3:	Laboratory	Refer to Assessment Description	40 %	LO1, LO2, LO4, LO5
Assessment Task 4:	Examination	Exam Period	30 %	LO3, LO4, LO5

Assessment details

Assessment Task 1: Field Trip

Task Description:

Students will engage in a field trip where they will be exposed to industrial applications of engineering geology with a consideration of climate safe applications of the geological and geophysical technologies theories they are learning about. During the field trip, students will complete a series of exercises on a proforma to perform calculations and analyse systems. Engagement with industry representatives throughout the field trip will provide students an opportunity to further develop their understanding of engineering geology and soils. This field trip experience will build on skills developed in the lab work. Generative AI use is not permitted

Task Length:

5 A4 pages excluding appendices

Due Date:

Refer to Assessment Description

Weight:

15 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Apply geological mapping methods to quantify the geological features of surface earth materials	LO3
2	Apply electromagnetic methods to discover the geological features of subsurface earth materials	LO3
3	Assess the impact of geological features and geological processes on the stability of slopes, tunnels and road cuts	LO5

Assessment Task 2: Assignment

Task Description:

Within one week following each tutorial, one problem of similar length and difficulty to a typical exam question will be submitted for marking. Software may be used to check solutions. The tutorials develop students' skills in classifying engineering soils, applying Darcy's flow theory and Terzaghi's effective stress principle, and performing necessary calculations. These assignments are formative assessment tasks designed to develop the geotechnical analysis skills needed to complete the final exam.

The assignments will be due in week 9 and 11, respectively.

Generative AI use is permitted but must be acknowledged.

Task Length:

4 to 5 short-answered questions in each assignment

Due Date:

Refer to Assessment Description

Weight:

15 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Apply Darcy’s law to evaluate soil permeability in the laboratory and in the field	LO4
2	Apply effective stress principles to evaluate the effectiveness stress, deformation and strength of soils	LO4
3	Apply Terzaghi consolidation theory to evaluate the settlement and consolidate rate of soils as well as serviceability limits of structures on the soils	LO4
4	Assess the settlement and expansion behaviour of soils under repetitive dry and wet conditions	LO5

Assessment Task 3: Laboratory

Task Description:

Students will work in groups to conduct geology (25%) and soil practicals (15%). These practicals provide a hands-on experience, allowing students to identify and classify various minerals, rocks, soils, apply geological and geophysical methods to analyse their distributions and properties. The practical will provide students with a real-world perspective of the geotechnical analysis skills developed through lectures and tutorials. The practicals develop students' design and evaluation capabilities which provides a foundation for later geotechnical design units. Feedback will be provided in class.

Weekly from week 1 to 7 for geology practicals and two soil practical sessions from week 8 to 12.

Generative AI use is permitted but must be acknowledged.

Task Length:

Lab proformas with 1 to 5 pages in each practical

Due Date:

Refer to Assessment Description

Weight:

40 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Identify common minerals, soils and rocks based on their characteristic properties	LO1
2	Identify folds, faults, joints and veins in the field through personal field observations of earth materials	LO1
3	Classify rock masses according to prevalent rock mass classification systems such as RMR, Q and GSI	LO2
4	Classify engineering soils according to unified soil classification system and describe their engineering applications	LO2
5	Apply Terzaghi consolidation theory to evaluate the settlement and consolidate rate of soils as well as serviceability limits of structures on the soils	LO4
6	Assess the settlement and expansion behaviuor of soils under repetitive dry and wet conditions	LO5
7	Assess the impact of geological features and geological processes on the stability of slopes, tunnels and road cuts	LO5

Assessment Task 4: Examination

Task Description:

This closed book examination ensures that, on completion of the unit, students will have developed a high level fluency in characterising earth materials and evaluating their characteristic properties on the design and stability of geotechnical engineering structures. Students will demonstrate their ability to classify rocks and soils according to Australian and international standards, apply geological and geophysical methods to discover the distributions and properties of earth materials and evaluate soil permeability, deformation and strength properties using Darcy's law and Terzaghi's effective stress principle. Students will draw on their laboratory, tutorial, field trip and project assessments to succeed in this assessment. The skills assessed in the exam are used in later geotechnical design units for setting up, validating and interpreting computer models. Generative AI use is not permitted.

Task Length:

2 hours

Due Date:

Exam Period

Weight:

30 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Apply geological mapping methods to quantify the geological features of surface earth materials	LO3
2	Apply electromagnetic methods to discover the geological features of subsurface earth materials	LO3
3	Apply Darcy’s law to evaluate soil permeability in the laboratory and in the field	LO4
4	Apply effective stress principles to evaluate the effectiveness stress, deformation and strength of soils	LO4
5	Apply Terzaghi consolidation theory to evaluate the settlement and consolidate rate of soils as well as serviceability limits of structures on the soils	LO4
6	Assess the settlement and expansion behaviour of soils under repetitive dry and wet conditions	LO5
7	Assess the impact of geological features and geological processes on the stability of slopes, tunnels and road cuts	LO5

How your final result is determined

To pass this unit, you need to demonstrate your attainment of each of the Intended Learning Outcomes, achieve a final unit grade of 50% or greater, and pass any hurdle tasks.

To pass ILO1, you must demonstrate a pass grade on either No. 1 or No. 2 assessment criterion of the assessment task of Laboratory/Practical associated with this ILO.

To pass ILO2, you must demonstrate a pass grade on either No. 3 or No. 4 assessment criterion of the assessment task of Laboratory/Practical associated with this ILO.

To pass ILO3, you must receive a mark of greater than or equal to 50% of the available marks for the components assessing this ILO on the assessment task of Field trip.

To pass ILO4, you must receive a mark of greater than or equal to 50% of the available marks for the components assessing this ILO on the assessment task of Assignment.

To pass ILO5, your aggregate mark on the assessment tasks of Assignment, Field Trip, Laboratory/Practical and Final Exam assessing this ILO weighted according to their contribution to the final mark must be greater than or equal to 50%.

Academic progress review

The results for this unit may be included in a review of your academic progress. For information about progress reviews and what they mean for all students, see Academic Progress Review in the Student Portal.

Submission of assignments

Where practicable, assignments should be submitted to an assignment submission folder in MYLO. You must submit assignments by the due date or receive a penalty (unless an extension of time has been approved by the Unit Coordinator). Students submitting any assignment in hard copy, or because of a practicum finalisation, must attach a student cover sheet and signed declaration for the submission to be accepted for marking.

Academic integrity

Academic integrity is about acting responsibly, honestly, ethically, and collegially when using, producing, and communicating information with other students and staff members.

In written work, you must correctly reference the work of others to maintain academic integrity. To find out the referencing style for this unit, see the assessment information in the MyLO site, or contact your teaching staff. For more detail about Academic Integrity, see Important Guidelines & Support.

Requests for extensions

If you are unable to submit an assessment task by the due date, you should apply for an extension.

A request for an extension should first be discussed with your Unit Coordinator or teaching support team where possible. A request for an extension must be submitted by the assessment due date, except where you can provide evidence it was not possible to do so. Typically, an application for an extension will be supported by documentary evidence: however, where it is not possible for you to provide evidence please contact your Unit Coordinator.

The Unit Coordinator must notify you of the outcome of an extension request within 3 working days of receiving the request.

Late penalties

Assignments submitted after the deadline will receive a late penalty of 5% of the original available mark for each calendar day (or part day) that the assignment is late. Late submissions will not be accepted more than 10 calendar days after the due date, or after assignments have been returned to other students on a scheduled date, whichever occurs first. Further information on Late Penalties can be found on the Assessments and Results Procedure.