45.2.

3 Contact stress measurement

The self-bored pressuremeter (see 42.1.2) and Camkometer may be used to
reduce disturbance on insertion to a minimum by fully supporting the ground
they penetrate. As pressure is applied to jack the cell into the ground, a cutting
tool slowly rotates and gentle water flush removes surplus materials. Once
installation has been completed the Camkometer electrical load cells measure
the contact pressure, from which an estimate of total horizontal in-situ stress is
obtained. The pressuremeter gives an estimate of the horizontal stress from the
lift-off pressures of the membrane (see Clarke, 1994 [86]). Facilities are available
to measure pore water pressure with the same instruments. Ground conditions
might limit the use of this technique.

45.2.4 Hydraulic fracturing

Hydraulic fracturing (see Bjerrum and Anderson, 1972 [100]) may be used to
estimate minimum total horizontal stresses in a deposit of soft to firm clay (one
where the expected horizontal stress is lower than the vertical). A length of
borehole is sealed and a pumping-in test carried out. Pressure in the test zone is
increased in increments until a sudden increase in water flow occurs, at which
time it is assumed that tensile failure has occurred in the ground. The pressure
at which failure takes place is related to the minimum in-situ stress by soil
properties.

46 Bearing tests
46.1 Vertical loading tests

46.1.1 General
In-situ vertical loading tests can be made by measuring the applied load and
penetration of a rigid flat object of known dimensions being pushed into a soil
or rock mass and should be carried out in accordance with BS 1377-9:1990, 4.1,
for soils (see also the ISRM document Suggested methods [55]). The test should
be carried out in shallow pits or trenches or at depth in the bottom of a
borehole, pit or adit (see Figure 14 and Figure 15). In soils, the test should be
carried out to determine the shear strength and deformation characteristics of
the material beneath the loaded plate. The ultimate load is often unattainable
in rocks, where the test is more frequently used to determine the deformation
characteristics.
NOTE 1 The test can be carried out either under a series of maintained loads or at
a constant rate of penetration (see Powell, et al., 1989 [101] and Marsland and
Powell, 1985 [102]). In the former, the ground is allowed to consolidate under such a
load before a further increment is applied; this yields the drained deformation
characteristics and, if the test is continued to failure, also the strength characteristics.
In the latter, the rate of penetration is often such that little or no drainage occurs,
and the test gives the corresponding undrained deformation and strength
characteristics.
NOTE 2 The results of a single loading test apply only to the ground that is
significantly stressed by the plate; this is typically a depth of about one and a half
times the diameter or width of the plate. The depth of ground stressed by a
structural foundation is usually far greater than that stressed by the loading test and
the results of loading tests carried out at a single elevation do not normally give a
direct indication of the allowable bearing capacity and settlement characteristics of
full-scale structural foundation.
To determine the variation of ground properties with depth, a series of plate
tests should be carried out at different depths. These should be carried out such
that each test subjects the ground to the same effective stress level it would
receive at working load.