ENG2047 Soil Mechanics 2
Seepage Coursework Exercise
Assignment Guidance
Assignment Start Date: 10 March 2025
Assignment Submission Date: 31 March 2025
Submission Method: On course Moodle
Requirements of Assignment:
Each student must submit a short formal report, justifying a recommended depth of sheetpile penetration. The report should include an Introduction (describing the problem and based on the briefing document), other sections as appropriate to provide the evidence to justify the final recommendation, and a final Conclusion section to present the recommendation. Within appropriate sections should be flownets for 3 different sheetpile penetrations, all calculations and whatever tables and graphs are helpful in providing the evidence to justify the final recommendation. Adequate explanation should be provided throughout.
Objectives of Assignment:
• to gain understanding and practice in construction of flownets;
• to tackle successfully a small but realistic geotechnical engineering problem, involving
technical issues, optimisation of cost and consideration of safety and sustainability issues;
• to prepare a short technical report, recommending a particular solution to a closely defined problem and providing the reasons and supporting evidence for this recommendation in a clear and well-argued fashion.
Assessment Weighting:
This assignment contributes 20% of the assessment weighting for Soil Mechanics 2.
Marking Criteria:
Criteria taken into account in marking the report (equally weighted) will be:
• technical correctness and quality of flownets;
• correct calculation of flowrates, pumping costs and total costs;
• correct calculation of hydraulic gradients;
• appropriate recommendation of embedment depth, including explanation and taking account
• of both costs and risk of piping;
• quality of report (layout, quality of writing, effective use of tables and figures, etc).
Assignment Rules:
• The School’s coursework cover sheet must be used, which can be downloaded from the School’s website.
• Text and tables within the report should be word-processed, but flownets can be hand-
drawn and graphs can be either hand-drawn or prepared using an appropriate software tool (e.g. Excel or a graphics package).
• Standard university-wide penalties will be applied for late submission.