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In modern era, a construction of infrastructure projects necessitates a geotechnical investigation, which usually involves the execution of boreholes and laboratory testing on their samples as well as in-situ testing. A useful test, important for both educational and practical reasons, is the Cone Penetration Test (CPT), used to estimate the strength and compressibility of loose-to-medium dense coarse grained and soft to stiff fine-grained geomaterials, the excavation of which requires special attention. In this paper, a theoretical review on geotechnical surveys, in-situ testing of static cone penetrometer, statistical analysis of results, geotechnical correlations for the evaluation of results along with a dimensioning of the retaining wall with pile boards, is presented. The paper aims at highlighting the use of CPT for selecting the proper type of the temporary retaining structure, necessary to support excavations in loose-soft soils. The case study includes a pump room construction along with its aqueduct, close to Aliakmonas River in Greece. From this point of view, it may offer a rather powerful research design basis than purely experimental methods.

The terms loose, compressible or organic refer to the soils that comprise the surface layers of the soil, including soil, sludge, peat, organic soils, as well as soils that have come from land fillings with unconcentrated homogeneous or non-homogeneous materials. By the term improvement or strengthening of a soil material, be it natural or breakable, we mean the processing of this material which is aimed at improving its geotechnical properties (durability, erosion, compressibility, permeability, porosity, physical characteristics, mechanical properties etc.). Many degraded areas in terms of soil characteristics, are used for construction works, either due to a lack of space (peri-urban areas) or because of increased requirements for the geometric characteristics of large infrastructure projects. For the use of these soils, in such or other cases, methods of improving and enhancing their geotechnical properties are necessary to be used.

The needs of modern times for more economical, more efficient construction lead to a move away from the one-dimensional concept of "security" and are now turning towards the search for the "optimum" in search of the best solution through a set of secure options. Recognition of this need led to the creation of original mathematical programming techniques that focus on solving optimization problems. They include finding a set of variables that optimize the objective function and satisfy some predefined design constraints. Their capabilities have now been widely recognized, resulting in applications of genetic and other evolutionary algorithms, as well as neural networks extending not only to nonlinear problems but also to all aspects of geotechnical engineering. Studies of metaheuristic optimization algorithms have shown that they can provide appreciable results in geotechnical applications, such as the example of generating random fields of soil properties using the following L.A.S. method. It is estimated that their wider application to practical and theoretical geotechnical problems can bring beneficial results and become a particularly useful tool in the hands of civil engineers.

Although many researchers have already published relative studies, the fact remaining, stands for academic campuses with obvious problems of connectivity as regards the daily transport to the cities and vice versa. Nevertheless, it is easily perceptible that the existing infrastructure presents, at the most cases, insufficient transport systems, meaning inherent deficiencies in terms of commuting. A methodology to develop a framework so as to upgrade the daily transport activities from/to academic campuses is the essence of this paper. The case of the Technological Educational Institute of Larissa, Greece stands for the subject the proposed methodology was implemented on. The comprehensive procedure aspires to be an asset for academic institutions in the field of sustainable mobility from/to their campuses. Its flexibility of conforming students’ needs is a key factor for specialized approach according to each case particularity.

When a construction presents a huge vertical concentrated load (e.g. a bridge) and has to be founded on a ground of insufficient stability, the procedure to be followed is the use of pillars. However, in the case of a seismic event, the pillars are in danger due to: a) their fraction owed to high bending moments, due to the presence of significant horizontal soil movements along their length, b) shear failure of the foundation soil, in the case where the shear stress on a sliding surface, due to the static loading along with the seismic excitation, exceeds the local soil strength, c) a usually upwards pillar shift with respect to its surrounded soil, owed to the liquification of the underground. A description on the methods of analysis corresponding to the dynamic behavior of pillars along with the seismic event, concerning the collapse of the Higashi – Nada bridge of Kobe in Japan – after the earthquake of 17th January 1995 – is then to be presented.