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Unit of study_
CIVL9022: Geological Hazards
2025 unit information
This unit of study introduces the issues related to risk of ground instability, which concern all civil engineering projects. Students will learn how to identify, evaluate and mitigate hazards including landslides, sinkholes and earthquakes. They will develop the ability of assessing the impact of these hazards on the natural and built environment. They will acquire analytical skills to quantify ground (in)stability and foresee natural and entropic causes of ground failure. They will learn how to design engineering solutions to mitigate these risks.
Unit details and rules
Managing faculty or University school:
Engineering
| Study level | Postgraduate |
|---|---|
| Academic unit | Civil Engineering |
| Credit points | 6 |
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Prerequisites:
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None |
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Corequisites:
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None |
| Prohibitions:
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GEOL1501 or CIVL1022 |
| Assumed knowledge:
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None |
At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:
- LO1. Understand of the concepts and language of geology and risk management
- LO2. Identify and name common types of geological hazards
- LO3. Identify and name common types of soils and rocks
- LO4. Understand the relationship between the built environment and its geological substrate and the possible impacts of natural earth hazards on engineered structures
- LO5. Understand the relationship between microstructure and mechanical behaviour of geomaterials
- LO6. Calculate underground stresses
- LO7. Calculate shear strength and shear failure of geological substrates
- LO8. Calculate factor of safety and use this concept to quantify slope instability risk.
- LO9. Design engineering techniques to improve geological substrate stability.
- LO10. Demonstrate enhanced skills in written, oral, and interpersonal communication
Unit availability
This section lists the session, attendance modes and locations the unit is available in. There is a unit outline for each of the unit availabilities, which gives you information about the unit including assessment details and a schedule of weekly activities.
The outline is published 2 weeks before the first day of teaching. You can look at previous outlines for a guide to the details of a unit.
| Session | MoA ? | Location | Outline ? |
|---|---|---|---|
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Semester 2 2025
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Normal day | Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney |
Outline unavailable
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There are no availabilities for previous years.
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Modes of attendance (MoA)
This refers to the Mode of attendance (MoA) for the unit as it appears when you’re selecting your units in Sydney Student. Find more information about modes of attendance on our website.
