Subsurface Investigations: Geotechnical Site Characterization

The course manual behind one of the most widely taught geotechnical programs, running from subsurface exploration and soil classification through laboratory testing, slope stability and earth retaining structures. Over a thousand pages, with a worked design example at nearly every step.

Federal Highway Administration

A complete design reference organized the way a project actually runs, from site characterization and soil properties through foundations, walls, embankments, unstable slopes and seismic design. Each chapter states the design criteria and the checks that go with them.

Washington State Department of Transportation

A collection of research chapters on soil mechanics and foundation engineering, covering subgrade behavior under railway loading, offshore pipeline scour, the seismic response of saturated soils and the geotechnical assessment of historic structures. Useful when you want current research rather than textbook fundamentals.

Sayed Hemeda and Mehmet Barış Can Ülker

Written for engineers who are not geotechnical specialists but still have to read a soils report. Walks through site explorations, soil properties, bearing capacity and settlement of footings, lateral earth pressure, retaining walls, deep foundations and compacted fill, in plain language.

Richard P. Weber

Course notes built around a standard syllabus: soil origin and classification, permeability and seepage, compaction and consolidation, and shear strength. Follows the module structure most engineering programs use, with derivations kept short and worked problems at the end of each topic.