Basic and Applied Soil Mechanics is intended for use as an up-to-date textbook for the two-course sequence of Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering offered to undergraduate civil engineering students. It provides a modern coverage of the engineering properties of soils and makes extensive reference to the Indian Standard Codes of Practice while discussing practices in Foundation Engineering. Some topics of special interest, like the Schmertmann procedure for extrapolation of field compressibility, determination of secondary compression, Lambe?s stress-path concept, pressuremeter testing and foundation practices on expansive soils including certain widespread myths, find a place in the text. The book includes over 160 fully solved examples, which are designed to illustrate the application of the principles of soil mechanics in practical situations. Extensive use of SI units, side by side with other mixed units, makes it easy for the students as well as professionals who are less conversant with the SI units, gain familiarity with this system of international usage. Inclusion of about 160 shortanswer questions and over 400 objective questions in the Question Bank that makes the book useful for engineering students as well as for those who are preparing for GATE, UPSC and other qualifying examinations. In addition to serving the needs of the civil engineering students, the book will serve as a handy reference for the practising engineers as well. About the Author Gopal Ranjan obtained his PhD from the Technical University of Nova Scotia, Halifax, Canada. He joined the University of Roorkee in 1960 and became Professor in 1975 and Vice Chancellor in 1996. He is an active consultant. His research papers, numbering over a hundred and fifty five have been published in national and international journals and conferences. He is the author of three books widely used by engineering students. He was the President of the Indian Geotechnical Society during 1984-85. He is the recipient of Khosla research awards, Kuecklemann award and has been honoured by the Southeast Asian Society for his services to the geotechnical community. The Indian Geotechnical Society honoured him with honorary fellowship at the Golden Jubilee Conference in Delhi in 1998. He is a fellow of Institution of Engineers (India), Indian Society of Earthquake Technology and Indian Society of Desert Technology. Also, he is a member of Indian Roads Congress, Indian Building Congress and Indian Society of Technical Education. He has chaired technical sessions at various conferences in India and abroad. A S R Rao obtained his Bachelor?s and Master?s degree from National Institute of Engineering, Mysore and the University of Roorkee respectively. He taught for sometime at the AC College of Engineering and Technology, Karaikudi before joining the University of Roorkee in 1964 where he served as the Professor of Civil Engineering. He has been a member of the National Executive Committee of the Indian Geotechnical Society for three terms. He has been a member of several Committees of Bureau of Indian Standards. He is a fellow of the Institution of Engineers (India) and the Indian Geotechnical Society. He is also a life member of the Indian Society of Technical Education and Indian Society for Desert Technology. An active consultant in Geotechnical engineering, he has authored several papers in technical journals and conference proceedings and is the recipient of the award by the Union Ministry of Irrigation and Power.
