Cracking of soils affects their geotechnical properties and behavior such as soil strength and stability. In this paper, 2D Electrical Resistivity Imaging Method, as a non-invasive technique, was adopted to investigate the effect of soil cracks of a centemetric scale on resistivity of sandy soil. The electrical resistivity measurements were carried out using ABEM SAS 300C Terrameter system at a laboratory scale using Wenner array. The measurements were interpreted using horizontal profiles, forward modeling and 2D inverse resistivity sections. The results showed that soil cracks cause significant changes in soil resistivity. These changes can be attributed to the high resistivity contrast between the highly resistive air-filled cracks an

Experimental tests were conducted to study the behavior of skirted foundations rested on dry medium sandy soil subjected to vertical and inclined loads. To achieve this goal, a small-scale physical model was designed and performed which contained an aluminum circular footing (100 mm) in diameter and (10 mm) in thickness and skirts with different heights, local medium poorly graded dry sand is placed in a steel soil container (2 mm) thick with internal dimensions (1000 mm x 1000 mm in cross section and 800 mm in height). The main objective of this study was to evaluate the response of skirt attached to the foundation at different skirt (L/D) ratios (0.0, 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5) and is subjected to point load at different angles of inclinat

The genus Bacillus bacterium isolated from soil and tests their ability to produce glutamic acid, the bacteria are diagnosed by traditional methods and VITEK-2 system. And we studied the optimal conditions for production and try to improve the productivity of the isolation by manipulating the components of the production medium and of the circumstances environmental of production medium. There is 43 isolates of the 70 bacterial isolates belonging to the genus Bacillus depending on phenotypic characteristics of the colonies and microscopic characteristics and found that 13 isolated revert to species B.subtilis depending on physiological and biochemical characteristics. As well as on microscopic and biochemical tests, 13 isolates were subj

When the depth of stressed soil is rather small, Plate Load Test (PLT) becomes the most efficient test to estimate the soil properties for design purposes. Among these properties, modulus of subgrade reaction is the most important one that usually employed in roads and concrete pavement design. Two methods are available to perform PLT: static and dynamic methods. Static PLT is usually adopted due to its simplicity and time saving to be performs in comparison with cyclic (dynamic) method. The two methods are described in ASTM standard.

In this paper the effect of the test method used in PLT in estimation of some mechanical soil properties was distinguished via a series of both test methods applied in a same site. The comparison of

     The North Central Coast of Vietnam has a wide distribution of loose sand which is often exposed on the surface. The thickness changes from a few meters to over ten meters. This sand with the loose state can be sensitive to the dynamic loads, such as earthquakes, traffic load, or machine foundations. It can be liquefied under these loadings, which might destroy the ground and buildings. The Standard Penetration Test (SPT) is widely used in engineering practice and its values can be useful for the assessment of soil liquefaction potential. Thus, this article presents some ground profiles in some sites in the North Central Coast of Vietnam and determines the liquefaction potential of sand based on SPT