Abstract The Federal University of Goiás (UFG) and the University of Brasília (UnB), in partnership with the company Eletrobras Furnas, have developed research and, based on this, extension projects aimed at education in a broad sense, in which they seek to disseminate and popularise technical-scientific knowledge. This paper aims to present and evaluate educational actions carried out in the area of soil science and geotechnics applied to engineering, geography, and the environment. To do so, the educational experiences developed within the scope of two extension projects are shared. Besides that, the relevance of publishing books and primer, with language adapted to lay society, within the scope of research projects, is analysed. The results collected regarding the effectiveness of the extension actions as a tool for learning point to a positive evaluation by the students. Furthermore, social networks are an important tool for scientific dissemination and have the potential to disseminate knowledge more widely than in a classroom course. By comparing the number of citations in Google Scholar of the books and booklets with the papers arising from these projects, one can observe the reach of this type of publication, although its purpose is the popularisation of science, with reach in places not considered in the technical-scientific publication metrics. Finally, for effective scientific development, it is necessary to have public policies, effective interaction between universities, research centres and schools, and the participation of professional associations, funding and evaluation agencies, Education Departments and the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology, and Innovation.

Abstract The prediction of load capacity and the control of the execution of the Continuous Flight Auger (CFA) piles are often exercised with components of empiricism and intuition. This fact is often added to the uncertainties arising from the formation of the soils and the limitations of preliminary studies that support the project design. In this context, aiming to aid the executive control of CFA, a semi-empirical method is proposed based on the soil type, geometric dimensions of the piles, and the installation energy obtained during the pile excavation. The method makes it possible to determine the CFA pile load capacity during the execution process of each pile of pilling. As a consequence of the proposed method, the settlement of each pile can be controlled through the quantification of the energy required or the work carried out to excavate each pile through a specific software installed in the machinery monitoring system that increases the safety and reliability of the piling. (CFA intuition design context semiempirical semi empirical type excavation pilling piling

Abstract Allying technology, theory and engineering practice is one of the main challenges of modern foundation engineering. Current foundation and retaining walls designs may lead to oversizing or undersizing due to the spatial variability of the stratigraphic profile. As the design procedure of piled foundations involves defining the setting depth of the tip, sometimes the piles may not behave as expected, as the soil mass may change significantly even in a small region. In this paper, a study was conducted on the geoenergetic behavior of the soil mass and of the piles of a construction site located in Brasília, DF, Brazil. Previous studies showed that the energy needed to drill a continuous flight auger pile (CFAP) can be related to the strength of the drilled strata. Therefore, a methodological framework was built to further discuss how the geomechanical behavior of CFAPs foundations could be assessed by analyzing the energy needed to drill such piles. Statistical methods, in special the Bootstrap method, were used to assess the possible influences of construction procedures on pile behavior. It was studied how the execution energies of piles vary with initial depth and relative position in the terrain, as well as the influences that they suffer because of the order of execution within a same foundation group and due to the proximity to surrounding retaining walls. The proposed methodology can be used to improve the energy control procedure and performance evaluation of CFAPs, allowing a complementary reliability assessment for the foundation and retaining walls designs and implementations.

Abstract The practice of geotechnical engineering in tropical climate regions must consider the use of unsaturated soil concepts. However, these concepts must also take into account the specific behavior traits of tropical soils, particularly those related to soil aggregation, pore structure, and mineralogy. This paper will initially present considerations on the typical properties of unsaturated tropical soils as well as fundamental concepts. Throughout the article, several engineering problems will be presented alongside reflections on the complex interaction between the numerous variables involved in the modeling and engineering practice of tropical unsaturated soil behavior. The paper addresses issues related to soil formation, chemical and mineral composition, physical properties, tropical soil classification, and structural characteristics of soils. Issues related to compaction and the influence of weathering, geomorphology and bioengineering are also addressed.

Las bacterias, consideradas como el grupo de microrganismos de mayor abundancia y diversidad que habitan los suelos, son vitales en el proceso de bioprecipitación, en el cual estos microrganismos forman precipitados minerales cristalinos o amorfos, como resultado de sus actividades metabólicas sobre ciertas condiciones ambientales. En esta investigación, se aplicaron los conocimientos sobre bacterias para dar solución a algunos problemas de ingeniería, estudiando la capacidad de las bacterias nativas existentes en un suelo tropical de precipitar minerales de carbonato de calcio, a partir de la adición de un medio nutriente. Este nutriente resultó óptimo para inducir la bioprecipitación, generando fibras y cristales de carbonato de calcio, que varían las propiedades del suelo causando una mayor estabilidad estructural de los granos, un mejor desempeño de los agregados y una menor deformación en la masa de suelo.

Bacteria, considered as the group of soil microorganisms with the greatest abundance and diversity, are vital for bioprecipitation processes, where these microorganisms form crystalline or amorphous mineral precipitates as result of their metabolic activity under certain environmental conditions. In this investigation, knowledge about bacteria was applied for solving some engineering problems, studying the capacity of native bacteria found in tropical soil for precipitating calcium carbonate after the addition of a nutrient medium. This medium was optimal for inducing bioprecipitation, generating calcium carbonate fibers and crystals which modify soil characteristics, producing a greater structural stability of the grains, better performance of the aggregates, and less deformation of the ground mass.

As bactérias, consideradas como o grupo de microrganismos de maior abundância e diversidade que habitam os solos, são vitais no processo de bioprecipitação, no qual, estes microrganismos formam precipitados minerais cristalinos ou amorfos, como resultado de suas atividades metabólicas sob certas condições ambientais. Nesta pesquisa foram aplicados os conhecimentos sobre bactérias, para dar solução a alguns problemas da engenharia, estudando a capacidade das bactérias nativas existentes num solo tropical de precipitar minerais de carbonato de cálcio, a partir da adição do meio nutriente. Este nutriente se mostrou ótimo para induzir a bioprecipitação gerando fibras e cristais de carbonato de cálcio, que mudam as propriedades do solo, causando uma maior estabilidade estrutural dos grãos, um melhor desempenho dos agregados e uma menor deformabilidade da massa de solo.