Including unsaturated soil concepts in undergraduate courses: The UPC experience

Abstract

The development of Unsaturated Soil Mechanics in the last decades has been spectacular, but mainly in the context of research. There is still a route to go when referring to practical applications or incorporating those concepts in teaching. Many University Departments around the world have participated in research projects contributing to Unsaturated Soil Mechanics, but in general, including the research results in the syllabus of the Civil Engineering curriculum is not straightforward. In fact, it is a topic seldom found in most soil mechanics textbooks. However, the authors believe that the topic is mature enough to be incorporated not only in Master courses, but also in Undergraduate subjects. The paper includes a brief historical perspective of the topic and presents the personal experience of the authors at UPC-BarcelonaTech, trying to include Unsaturated Soil concepts in the subject “Soil Mechanics” of the Civil Engineering Bachelor Degree.

Peer Reviewed

Postprint (published version)