This volume provides coverage of the basic principles of soil mechanics for undergraduate and equivalent students of civil engineering and geotechnics. Structural engineers, foundation, environmental and mining engineers and engineering geologists should also find it an invaluable source of reference. The main aims are to provide the reader with an understanding of the nature of soil, an appreciation of soil behaviour and insight into how the principles are applied in the practical engineering context. Emphasis is placed on the application of soil mechanics in the ground, rather than on the behaviour of soils in the artificial environment of the laboratory.