The Geotechnical Engineering option has gained popularity due to many challenging geotechnical problems in the Kingdom typified by the expansion of urban and rural areas and the awareness of geoenvironmental aspects and their impacts on society. Research in this option includes foundation problems encountered in expansive soils, sabkha, calcareous materials and other troublesome deposits in the Arabian Gulf region; capillary rise in salt-contaminated soils; soil contamination; ground improvement and soil stabilization; rock mechanics; soil dynamics; soil-structure interaction; coastal engineering; and the modeling of soils to simulate the response and behavior of substructures. As a result of the growing research activities, several areas of excellence within the Option have evolved.

These include soil stabilization, ground improvement, foundations on problematic soils, characterization and engineering properties of eastern Saudi soils, soil dynamics, and sand and pipeline interaction. The findings of some of these projects have been incorporated into the Codes of Practice of several authorities in the Eastern Province. Research and testing in the field of Geotechnical Engineering are often funded by KACST, Dammam Municipality, the Ministry of Communications, Saudi ARAMCO, the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, geotechnical laboratories, etc.

The Geotechnical Engineering Laboratory is equipped with the facilities for both conventional testing and sophisticated testing for advanced research.

Basic Facility Laboratory: equipped with the classical tools to conduct all the soil mechanics laboratory tests from soil classification to consolidation, triaxial and CBR.

Advanced Research Laboratory: equipped with the most recent tools to conduct research, such as a fully automated stress path triaxial setup for static and dynamic testing, flow pump, odometer and triaxial cells with precise thermal control, slake durability for stabilized soils, a large scale consolidometer and chambers for geotextile testing, a suction measurement device, and modified odometers for leaching tests.