Roads settle, embankments slide, and retaining walls crack — not because engineers get the structural drawings wrong, but because the soil underneath behaves differently than assumed. This Soil Mechanics training course by Arab British Fellowship Training Academy builds the practical skills needed to test, interpret and design around real ground behaviour on civil infrastructure projects, from roads and railways to bridges and retaining structures.

Positioned within the Construction and Civil Engineering Training course specialization and classified under Engineering maintenance and operation, the course focuses on geotechnical testing, soil compaction, earthworks, ground investigation and practical soil engineering applications. Participants learn to interpret soil data, evaluate ground performance, identify geotechnical risks, and support infrastructure projects involving foundations, roads, embankments and retaining structures.

• Understand soil classification, properties, stresses and engineering behaviour.
• Plan and interpret field and laboratory geotechnical testing.
• Assess groundwater conditions, seepage and effective stress, and apply drainage and control measures.
• Apply compaction principles and quality control to earthworks execution.
• Predict consolidation, settlement and long-term ground deformation.
• Evaluate soil strength, bearing capacity and slope stability.
• Apply soil mechanics to roads, railways, bridges and retaining structures.
• Identify geotechnical risks affecting civil infrastructure projects and apply corrective measures.
• Support safe, efficient and technically sound ground engineering decisions using modern practice.

Target Audience

• Civil and Geotechnical Engineers
• Structural and Foundation Engineers
• Geotechnical Laboratory Professionals
• Earthworks and Ground Engineering Specialists
• Site and Construction Engineers
• Infrastructure Project Managers
• Materials Testing Professionals and Construction Supervisors
• Engineering Consultants working in soil mechanics, earthworks and infrastructure development

Module 1: Why Ground Engineering Decides Infrastructure Success

• The role of soil mechanics in civil infrastructure
• Soil formation and geological origins
• Soil phases and composition
• Soil classification systems
• Engineering properties of soils

Module 2: Soil Classification and Index Properties

• Index properties of soils
• Grain size distribution
• Atterberg limits
• Soil density and moisture content
• Classification systems and engineering applications

Module 3: Testing the Ground: Field and Laboratory Investigation

• Principles of geotechnical testing
• Field investigation methods
• Boreholes and soil sampling
• Standard Penetration Testing and Cone Penetration Testing
• Laboratory soil testing and data interpretation

Module 4: Water in the Ground: Permeability, Seepage and Groundwater Control

• Principles of soil permeability
• Groundwater conditions
• Seepage and flow through soils
• Effective stress and pore water pressure
• Drainage and groundwater control during construction

Module 5: Compaction and Earthworks Execution

• Principles of compaction
• Compaction equipment and methods
• Moisture-density relationships
• Field compaction control
• Earthworks planning, embankments and engineered fills

Module 6: Consolidation, Settlement and Long-Term Deformation

• Principles of soil consolidation
• Immediate and long-term settlement
• Primary and secondary consolidation
• Differential settlement
• Settlement prediction, control and construction implications

Module 7: Soil Strength, Slope Stability and Retaining Structures

• Shear strength of soils
• Effective and total stress concepts
• Mohr-Coulomb failure criteria
• Bearing capacity
• Slope stability, earth pressure and retaining structures

Module 8: Applying Soil Mechanics to Roads, Rail, Bridges and Retaining Structures

• Foundations and soil-structure interaction
• Road and pavement subgrades
• Railway formations and embankments
• Bridges and infrastructure foundations
• Retaining walls, earth structures and ground improvement applications

Module 9: Earthworks Quality Control, Risk and Advanced Ground Engineering

• Earthworks inspection and compaction quality control
• Material suitability assessment
• Ground instability and failure risks
• Ground improvement, geosynthetics and digital geotechnical monitoring
• Sustainable and lifecycle considerations for infrastructure