Soil Mechanics Laboratory Manual [Paperback]

Braja M. Das (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1576450104 | ISBN-13: 978-1576450109 | Publication Date: April 30, 1997 | Edition: 5th

Soil Mechanics Laboratory Manual, Fifth Edition is designed for a laboratory course in soil mechanics (also called geotechnical engineering) that commonly accompanies a lecture course in the same subject. The book is designed for junior-level (third-year) undergraduate courses in civil engineering departments and includes laboratory procedures essential to understanding the properties of soils and their behavior under stress and strain. Features � Includes sample calculations and graphs relevant to each laboratory test � Supplies blank tables (that accompany each test) for laboratory use and report preparation � Contains a new chapter on soil classification (Chapter 9) � Provides two useful appendices: Appendix A: Weight-Volume Relationships Appendix B: Data Sheets for Laboratory Experiments � Offers a list of relevant references

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Braja M. Das, Dean, School of Engineering and Computer Science, California State University, Sacramento.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 5th edition (April 30, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1576450104
• ISBN-13: 978-1576450109
• Product Dimensions: 10.6 x 8.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,604,429 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good book, but still has errors, too much wasted paper, February 3, 2009

By 

Guard Dad (Southern NH) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Soil Mechanics Laboratory Manual (Paperback)

(Review updated 1/14/2011)

I have used this book for many years in my Soils & Foundations class that I teach at the University of New Hampshire, and just upgraded to this latest 7th Edition. I was very glad to find that they finally dropped the included diskette that used to be glued into the back, the files on it were very old and frankly worthless, and the "install" routine never worked correctly. I'm pleased my students are no longer paying for it.

In general, this is an OK book that works well with classes that are in a 2-year AAS program, and it would probably suffice in a 4-year Civil Engineering soils mechanics class. The photos and diagrams are good and clear, as are the descriptions. The blank data sheets in the Appendices are a great addition, as long as you don't care about re-selling the book later. In my opinion the graph paper sheets in the back in this edition are also nice, but mostly a waste of expensive paper. The perforations are not very well done, it can be tough to tear out the sheets if you want. I think it would be much better to provide the data sheets and graph paper as PDFs that the students could download from a web page on the Oxford Press website, this would also save a lot of paper and cost of producing the book (hello publishers!! college textbooks are too expensive!!). I also wish this book was spiral-bound so it would properly lay flat when reading the exercises of filling in the data sheets.

Probably the biggest detractor in this book is the errors in a several places, that have been there for many editions. I tried to email the author my comments after the previous edition came out, but apparently he never got it, as the errors are still there in this edition. I'll try again, but meanwhile I just point them out to my students so they don't get caught by them.

Update: this is the last semester I will be using this book. I guess I'm fed up with my students paying for such an expensive book, when at least half of it is wasted paper that they never use. I'm in the process of writing my own for my specific class, meanwhile I have created my own data sheets for the labs, that do not contain all the mistakes in this book. Last year I had a lot of students scan the blank sheets from the book so they didn't have to write on them, so I'd rather they not be plagiarizing, but I guess I can't really blame them.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars to a geotechnical engineerit is a BIBLE, February 28, 2001

By 

sundar singh (Patiala) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Soil Mechanics Laboratory Manual (Paperback)

I have gone through all the experiments carefully,I have found the sequences,the calculations and the method or representing the results in an examplary manner,The simplicity with which the matter has been explained is worth praising.

0 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars engineering suckssssssssssss., December 25, 2011

By 

phil - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Soil Mechanics Laboratory Manual (Paperback)

would somebody be an engineer if the pay was that of a janitor. no! people don't love engineering. they do it for the money all the time. follow your dreams, people, no matter what the risk. quit being averse to it, or you'll die comfortably unhappy.