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Programs UndergraduateGeotechnical Engineering and Pavements

Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering with an Area of Concentration in Geotechnical Engineering

Undergraduate students involved in the Geotechnical and Pavement Engineering program concentration gain a solid civil engineering foundation through a wide array of courses, and then focus on elective courses to individualize the program and best suit their career goals.

The Geotechnical and Pavement Engineering program concentration focuses on the ways natural materials are characterized and used for civil engineering construction. Historically, the geo-technical engineering program focused on structural foundations, slope stability, and earth dams. Today, the program's scope of activities includes natural and man-made hazard mitigation, advanced techniques for site and material characterization, constitutive modeling of natural materials, design of pavement systems, and geo-environmental assessment and remediation.

The faculty offers a broad and varied background, rich in long term practical experience and strong in theoretical mechanics and experimental modeling of geo-materials. Three faculty members in the group provide the diversity that enables a comprehensive course curriculum and a wide range of research opportunities to be offered to incoming undergraduate students. Current research projects include:

  • Analysis and performance of culverts/tunnels built by the inflatable form process
  • Consolidation and transient seepage analysis of tailings impoundments
  • Use of broken glass in asphalt pavements and granular backfills
  • Identification of the dynamic properties of earth dam soils using strong motion records
  • The mechanical properties of soil-rock mixtures
  • The liquefaction mechanics of sand lenses
  • The use of fractals in solving geo-technical and environmental engineering problems
  • The fracture mechanics of soils
  • Pavement Engineering and Analysis
  • Pavement Instrumentation

For more information on courses and applying:

Requirements

Students in the Geotechnical and Pavement Engineering program concentration must take the following core courses:

  • CEE 0085: Sophomore Seminar
  • CEE 0109: Computer Methods In Civil Engineering 1
  • CEE 1085: Departmental Seminar
  • CEE 1105: Materials Of Construction
  • CEE 1200: Construction Management
  • CEE 1211: Resource Use & Environmental Quality in Construction or CEE 1210 Engineering & Sustainable Development
  • CEE 1330: Introduction To Structural Analysis
  • CEE 1402: Fluid Mechanics
  • CEE 1503: Introduction To Environmental Engineering
  • CEE 1703: Transportation Engineering
  • CEE 1811: Principles Of Soil Mechanics

In addition to the core civil engineering courses, a Civil Engineering student concentrating in Geotechnical Engineering must also take:

  • One Geotechnical and Pavement Engineering design course: CEE 1821, 1714, 1715 or 2814
  • Engineering Geology: CEE 2800 and
  • Concrete Structures I: CEE 1340 and
  • Advanced Foundation Engineering: CEE 2818
  • The Geotechnical Design Project: CEE 1833
  • Two elective courses from the following list of certificate area courses: CEE 1714, 1715, 1717, 1718, 1821, 2800, 2801, 2802, 2814, 2818, GEOL 1445
  • One CEE elective design course from Water Resources area: CEE 2400, 2401, or 2405
  • One CEE elective design course from Environmental Engineering area: CEE 1505, 1507, 1513 or 1515

The student is also required to take a significant array of courses in non-engineering disciplines. Our students are encouraged to develop their skills in communications and critical reasoning, as well as appreciation of the importance of social and economic factors of civil engineering projects. Students may also elect specific courses which assist in future career development. For example, courses in economics and communications help prepare students for a management career.

Real world application

At Pitt, students learn from professionals and experts in their fields.

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