2019-2020 / GEOL0001-1

Geology and Engineering geology

Duration

30h Th, 22h Pr, 2d FW

Number of credits

 Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Architectural Engineering5 crédits 
 Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Engineering5 crédits 
 Master of Science (MSc) in Geological and Mining Engineering5 crédits 

Lecturer

Alain Dassargues

Language(s) of instruction

French language

Organisation and examination

Teaching in the second semester

Schedule

Schedule online

Units courses prerequisite and corequisite

Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program

Learning unit contents

Fundamental concepts of Geology and Engineering Geology are introduced. These notions are needed to understand with efficiency other topics and courses linked to earth sciences and applications.
Globally the course content includes: introduction, Earth composition, minerals and rocks, igneous rocks and magmatic processes, sedimentary processes and rocks, stratigraphy, geological maps and cross-sections, metamorphic rocks, folds, faults and rock deformation, weathering, soils, mass wasting, erosion, fluvial, coastal and marine erosion and sedimentation, georesources and environmental issues, Eengineering geology for civil construction works, seismic hazard, geological aspects in dam, tunnel or waste disposal construction, ...

Learning outcomes of the learning unit

At the end of the course, the student will be able to: - understand and exploite theoretical and practical geological concepts; - explain the main geological processes in function of basic laws from physics, chemistry and biology; - predict and detect local geological specificities of a study-site in view of future works or exploitation; - identify the main minerals and rocks from macroscopic samples; - read and interpret geological maps in function of a given future land use project; - understand potential environmental impacts of the main civil engineering projects; - conceive and design attenuation measures to be taken for decreasing this environmental stress. Exercices and practical courses are lead by an assistant helped by two student-instructors. They will help each student to develop his self-sufficient capacities on practical and real case studies. The not compulsory reading of reference books (most of them in english) will allow additional documentation and understanding of scientific texts in this topic (in english).

Prerequisite knowledge and skills

This course is based on elementary notions of physics, chemistry and biology. No official prerequisite course is compulsory.

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

The course is composed of "ex-cathedra" lectures (35 hours) and practical courses (25 hours). The practical sessions are organised in direct relation with the topics covered by the theory lectures. Usually, two hours of lecture are followed by a practical session of two hours (except for the two first half-days of the semester). The foreseen time schedule is the Thursday morning of the second semester of the academic year. In addition, a one day geological trip will allow to figure out and visualise the geological conditions around Liege. The very particular geological context helps to understand and interprete the global geological conditions of Western Europe. An additional half-day on the field will be used for measuring dip and direction of geological stratifications, and for visiting karstic erosion problems and slope unstabilities. The field-trip dates will be fixed together with the students.

Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning)

Face-to-face 2nd semester: Thursday am 8h30-12h30

Recommended or required readings

A pdf copy of all transparents is made available on E-Campus. This is only a summary of what was said and shown during the lectures. Minimun one of these two reference books is adviced: - 'Geology for Engineers & Environmental Scientists' 2ème Edition, A.E. KEHEW, 1995, Prentice Hall, ISBN 0-13-303538-7 - 'Géologie - Bases pour l'Ingénieur', 2ème Edition, A. Parriaux, 2009, Presses polytechniques et universitaires romandes, 581 p., ISBN: 2-88074-810-4 Reading one of them, will allow the student to have more details and examples than collected during the lectures.

Assessment methods and criteria

Oral exam including practical skills (30%) about minerals and rocks identification, and geological maps interpretation. With open questions, the evaluation is mainly based on understanding the concepts and processes, but it requires memorisation. Indeed, a good knowledge and perfect command of the fundamentals are needed for preparing accurate and adequate answers.

Work placement(s)

Organizational remarks

2nd semester: Thursday am
The time and place should be checked on CELCAT.

Contacts

Alain Dassargues 04/3662376 Alain.Dassargues@uliege.be Philippe Orban P.Orban@uliege.be

Adaptation of teaching commitments following the COVID-19 pandemic for the May-June 2020 session

Teaching methods implemented : distance-learning

Assessment subjects

Assessment methods

A remote oral exam is scheduled using lifesize with camera at a rate of 4 students per hour. On the basis of the list of students that will be established, the students will be called in turn to connect to lifesize (ULiège license). The following modalities are foreseen: 1) call one by one. 2) the answers to the questions are expected directly spontaneous (no preparation). 3) the student must be prepared to draw a diagram/schema (on a white sheet of paper with a black marker) and show it on camera. 4) the practical aspects of rock and mineral reconnaissance and geological mapping will be integrated into the questions posed 5) in view of the previous point, the rating obtained will be global

Contacts

Adaptation of teaching commitments following the COVID-19 pandemic for the Aug-Sept 2020 session

Assessment subjects

Assessment methods

Contacts