Geotechnical Engineering[CV332]

BSc Civil Engineering – 5th Semester

Lecture # 3
Geotechnical Investigations-III
9 - September – 2022
by
Dr. Mehtab Alam
Assistant Professor,
Civil Engineering Department – GIKI
Email: mehtab.alam@giki.edu.pk
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OUTLINE
o Purpose of Geotechnical Investigation
o Phases of Geotechnical Investigation
o Geotechnical Investigation Program
✓Investigation/exploration methods
✓Number & Depth of Boreholes
✓Soil Sampling
✓Groundwater conditions
✓Lab & Field Tests
o Geotechnical/Soil Report
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FIELD IN-SITU TESTS
o Standard penetration test (SPT)
o Cone penetrometer test (CPT) Most widely used
o Vane shear test (VST)
o In-situ density test
o Dynamic cone penetration test (DCP)
o Pressure meter test (PMT)
o Flat plate dilatometer (DMT)
o Plate load test
o Pile load test
• Geophysical tests
• ERT/ERS
• SASW
• MASW

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FIELD IN-SITU TESTS
• Standard penetration test (SPT)
o The SPT is performed by driving a standard split spoon sampler into the
ground by blows from a drop hammer of mass 63.5 kg falling 760 mm
(30 in.).
o The sampler is driven 152 mm (6 in.) into the soil at the bottom of a
borehole, and the number of blows (N) required to drive it an additional
304 (12 in.) mm is counted. The number of blows (N) is called the
standard penetration number.
o Determination of the standard penetration number and collection of
split-spoon samples usually are done at 1.5 m (5 ft) intervals.
o Various corrections are applied to the N values to account for
energy losses, overburden pressure, rod length, and so on.

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FIELD IN-SITU TESTS
Standard penetration test (SPT)
• Correcting for field procedures and on the basis of field observations, it
appears reasonable to standardize the field penetration number as a function
of the input driving energy and its dissipation around the sampler into the
surrounding soil, or

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FIELD IN-SITU TESTS
Standard penetration test (SPT)

Based on the recommendations of

Seed, et al. (1985) and Skempton
(1986)
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FIELD IN-SITU TESTS
• Standard penetration test (SPT)
• In granular soils, the standard penetration number is highly dependent on the
effective overburden pressure, σ’o
• Field standard penetration number N60 to a standard effective overburden
pressure, σ’o of 96 kN/m
2

Liao and Whitman (1986) Skempton (1986)

σ’o in kN/m2
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FIELD IN-SITU TESTS
• Sample Disturbance
• The degree of disturbance of the sample collected by various methods can be
expressed by a term called the area ratio

• The area ratio should be preferably be less than 10 %, but it is possible that the
greater area ratio can be tolerated when the sampler is provided with a stationary
piston and / or the cutting edge having very small angle of taper .
• For good sampling process, the ratio should be within 0-2 %.
For an undisturbed sample, the inside clearance should be
between 0.5 to 3%
Outside Clearance- For an undisturbed soil sample the
outside clearance should be lies between 0 and 2%

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FIELD IN-SITU TESTS
• Cone Penetration/ Penetrometer Test (CPT)
• Pushed into the soil, and the cone end resistance, qc, and cone skin friction, fs, to
penetration is measured.
• Dutch cone penetrometer is a device by which a 60 cone with a base area of 10
cm2 (1.54 in)

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FIELD IN-SITU TESTS
Vane Shear Test

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FIELD IN-SITU TESTS
Vane Shear Test
• Shear Strength in undisturbed clay
• During borehole advancement-Soft clay encountered- shear strength of clay

T is the maximum torque, h is the height, and d is the diameter of the vane.

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LAB TEST
• Grain size analysis
• Hydrometer analysis
• Atterberg limits
• Natural moisture content Soil Mechanics
• Compaction tests
• Consolidation test
• Permeability tests

• Unconfined compression test

• Direct shear test These are shear strength tests will be
• Triaxial test (UU, CU, CD) performed in Geotechnical Lab
• Simple Shear Test 13
LAB TEST
• It is desirable to test soil samples under the same loading and
boundary conditions that would likely occur in the field.
• Often, this is difficult to accomplish because the loading and
boundary conditions in the field are uncertain.
• Even if they were known to a high degree of certainty, it would be
difficult and perhaps costly to devise the required laboratory apparatus.
We then have to specify lab tests from conventional devices that best
simulate the field conditions.`

Level ground in-situ state of Sloping ground in-situ state of

stress stress 14
LAB TEST

State of stresses on the failure surface of embankment loading

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 LAB TEST
• Direct shear test

For example, the state of stress in

shear failure of soil behind retaining
wall!

This can be simulated in direct shear

apparatus to find the shear strength of
soil
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LAB TEST
• Triaxial Test

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GEOTECHNICAL INVESTIGATION REPORT
• A clear, concise, and accurate report of the site investigation must
be prepared.
• A document (often a letter) authorizing the investigation.
• A summary of the work done and recommendations (about one page).
• Scope of work.
• Description of the site.
• Details of the types of an investigation conducted, soil and groundwater
information including lab and field test results, assumptions and limitations of the
investigation, and possible construction difficulties.
• Soil boring logs are normally used to summarize the soil data. A log of each
boring should be performed by the geotechnical field personnel.
• Analysis and interpretation of the data collected.
• Recommendations for design and construction, with discussions of any
special provisions.

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GEOTECHNICAL INVESTIGATION REPORT
• Typically, the boring log should contain
the following:
• Name of project and location, including
street name, Location of boring—station and
offset, Date boring was performed, Surface
elevation,
• Depth and thickness of each stratum, with fill
pattern to quickly identify different soil
types. A legend of the fill pattern must be
included in the soils report, Depths at which
samples or in situ tests were conducted, with
sample or test numbers.,
• Soil classification of each stratum,
• Depth to water (if encountered).

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THANKS

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