Course syllabus

Course-PM

ACE060 ACE060 Deep foundations lp4 VT26 (7.5 hp)

Course is offered by the department of Architecture and Civil Engineering

Find all information here.

Course purpose

Short description of the course purpose and content: can be copied from syllabus in Studieportalen. Additional information can be added.

Schedule

TimeEdit

Course literature

List all mandatory literature, including descriptions of how to access the texts (e.g. Cremona, Chalmers Library, links).

Also list reference literature, further reading, and other non-mandatory texts.

Course design

Description of the course's learning activities; how they are implemented and how they are connected. This is the student's guide to navigating the course. Do not forget to give the student advice on how to learn as much as possible based on the pedagogy you have chosen. Often, you may need to emphasize concrete things like how often they should enter the learning space on the learning platform, how different issues are shared between supervisors, etc.

Provide a plan for

• lectures
• exervises
• laboratory work
• projects
• supervision
• feedback
• seminars

Should contain a description of how the digital tools (Canvas and others) should be used and how they are organized, as well as how communication between teachers and students takes place (Canvas, e-mail, other).

Do not forget to describe any resources that students need to use, such as lab equipment, studios, workshops, physical or digital materials.

You should be clear how missed deadlines and revisions are handled.

Changes made since the last occasion

A summary of changes made since the last occasion.

Learning objectives and syllabus

Learning objectives:

● Knowledge
○ Describe the principles, benefits and limitations of various foundation and retaining wall types and in-situ instrumentation and monitoring concepts.
● Comprehension
○ Distinguish the difference and select between undrained and drained analysis in the context of ultimate and serviceability limit state design
○ understand the limitations of various analytical and numerical design methods for geotechnical structures.
○ understand the role of the soil and the structure in the analyses of soil-structure interaction in context of retaining walls and foundations.
● Application
○ calculate bearing capacity and settlements of shallow and deep foundations.
○ calculate earth pressures (at rest, active, passive) for drained (long-term) and undrained (short-term) conditions.
○ calculate stability of earth retaining structures.
● Analysis
○ analyse stress paths in the soil adjacent to foundation elements.
○ analyse strength in soils as a function of initial state and load path.
○ calculate stability and consolidation & creep settlements of foundations.
○ analyse soil-structure interaction problems.
● Synthesis:
○  dimension retaining walls and the response of shallow and deep foundations using theoretical knowledge and engineering judgement

○ Compare predicted and expected soil response, e.g. comparing results of advanced numerical methods against monitoring data or hand calculations.

Link to the syllabus on Studieportalen.

https://www.chalmers.se/en/education/your-studies/find-course-and-programme-syllabi/course-syllabus/ACE060/?acYear=2026/2027

If the course is a joint course (Chalmers and Göteborgs Universitet) you should link to both syllabus (Chalmers and Göteborgs Universitet).

Examination form

Description of how the examination – written examinations and other – is executed and assessed.

Include:

• what components are included, the purpose of these, and how they contribute to the learning objectives
• how compulsory and/or voluntary components contribute to the final grade
• grading limits and any other requirements for all forms of examination in order to pass the course (compulsory components)
• examination form, e.g. if the examination is conducted as a digital examination

• time and place of examination, both written exams and other exams such as project presentations
• aids permitted during examinations, as well as which markings, indexes and notes in aids are permitted

Do not forget to be extra clear with project assignments; what is the problem, what should be done, what is the expected result, and how should this result be reported. Details such as templates for project reports, what happens at missed deadlines etc. are extra important to include.