Why We Need a Specific Soil Investigation in Construction Design

Soil is the most important thing in construction project. All structures, buildings, roads, bridges,
dams, and even life itself is based on the soil. Soil is the natural foundation that support all structure
above it. But, some clients see soil inverstigation is waste of fund and ignore the importance of soil
investigation. Soil investigation is very important for construction design and a crucial part of
foundation design. There are some reason why we need a specific soil investigation in construction
design. First, soil investigation helps to determine varying physical and chemical characteristic of soil,
which is vary in every place. The example is, the soil in a swamp area is wet, different with the soil in
urban area, the soil in urban area is dry and not as wet as swamp area. So, it need soil investigation
in every construction design. Second, soil investigation helps to determine the load sustance
capability of the soil. Then, it needed for select the type and depth of the foundation. Example, if the
soil contain by sulphur, it will attack the foundation. Therefore, sulphur resisting cement, so cement
must be used in the foundation. Third, soil investigation helps for knowing the height difference.
Example, before a building is built, previously should know the height of ground level and the plan
for flatten the surface, so we can calculate how much the soil digged and how much sand backfill
needed, and for determine the elevation of the building that will be built, for the floor height
guidance and etc. So, it can be conclude that soil investigation is very important for construction
design, because it has a relation with the foundation of the building and for soil stabilization and the
foundation depth to attain the required bearing capacity.