Knowledge Sharing session

Topic: Geotechnical Survey

2 Introduction

 Soil investigation refers to the methodology of

determining surface and subsurface features of the
proposed area.
 It consist of determining the profile of natural soil
deposits at the site, taking samples and determining
the properties.
3 Objectives of Soil Investigations
 To establish the parameters for the foundation design
of the structure, various properties and parameters
regarding the subsoil at site are required. These can
be elaborated as below:
 Sub-surface conditions which will reflect the
thickness of the different soil strata.
 Depth of ground water table
 Safe bearing capacity of the soil which will need the
determination of the foundation type.
 Depth & Suitable type of foundations
4 Continue…..

 To estimate the probable maximum and

differential settlements.
 To predict the lateral earth pressure against
retaining walls and abutments.
 To determine soil properties required for design.
 To investigate the safety of existing structures and
to suggest the remedial measures.
5
Phases of a Soil Investigation
 Phase I.
Collection of available information such as a site
plan, structure type, size, and importance,
loading conditions, previous geotechnical
reports, topographic maps, air photographs,
geologic maps.
6
7
8

Phase II.

Preliminary inspection or a site visit to provide a

general picture of the topography and geology of
the site.
visual inspection is done to gather information
on topography, soil stratification, vegetation,
water marks, ground water level, and type of
construction nearby.
9
Phase III. Detailed soils exploration.

 Detailed planning for soil exploration in the

form of trial pits or borings, their spacing and
depth.
 Type of field tests adopted and the type of
sampling done, presence of water table if met
with are recorded in the form of bore log.
 The soil samples are properly labeled and sent to
laboratory for evaluation of their physical and
engineering properties.
10

Phase IV.

 Write a report. The report must contain a clear

description of the soils at the site, methods of
exploration, soil profile, test methods and
results, and the location of the groundwater.
11 Boring

 Bore holes shall be taken at specified locations to

obtain information about the sub-soil profile, its
nature and strength and to collect soil samples for
strata identification and conducting laboratory
tests. The minimum diameter of the bore shall be
150 mm.
12 Methods of borings
 Auger boring :-
preferred for shallow depths , low ground water
table
 Wash boring :-
high water table, deeper soil deposit
 Rotary drilling:-
high quality boring, also for rock drilling
 Percussion drilling:-
fast drilling
 Core drilling:-
used to collect the samples of rock.
13 Auger Boring
Power drills
14 Auger Boring

 Auger boring can be adopted in soft to stiff

cohesive soils above water table.
 Augers shall be of helical or post hole type
which may be manually, or power operated.
 No water shall be introduced from the top
while conducting Auger boring
15 Wash boring

 Hole is drilled by driving a casing about 2 to

3m long and inserting drill rod with a chisel-
shaped chopping bit at the lower portion.
 Water is pumped down.
 Hole is advanced by chopping action and
jetting action.
 Chopped soil and water is collected in tub
16
17
Rotary drilling
 Bore hole is advanced by rotating a hollow drill rod
which has cutting bit at lower end.
 Drill head is provided at the top.
 It consists of rotary mechanism and an arrangement
for applying downward pressure.
 Bentonite mud shall be used as the drilling fluid to
prevent caving in of the bore hole sides
 Can be used in clay & sand.
 The method is not suitable if the soil contains a high
percentage of gravel/cobbles
18
19 Percussion drilling

 Used for making holes in rocks, boulders & hard

strata.
 Heavy chisel is used which is alternatively get
lifted and dropped in a vertical hole.
 Main disadvantage material at the bottom of the
hole is disturbed by heavy blows.
20
21 Core drilling

 Used for drilling holes and obtaining rock

cores.
 Done using a diamond studded bit or cutting
edge.
 A double tube barrel is used to get good quality
sample of rock.
22

Core drilling machine-

23

Core drilling samples-

24 Soil Sampling
Need for sampling
 Sampling is carried out in order that soil and
rock description, and laboratory testing can be
carried out.
25 Type of soil samples
26
Non-Representative samples
 Non-Representative soil samples are those in
which neither the in-situ soil structure,
moisture content nor the soil particles are
preserved.
 They are not representative
 They cannot be used for any tests as the soil
particles either gets mixed up.
27
Disturbed soil samples
 Disturbed soil samples are those in which the in-situ
soil structure and moisture content are lost, but the
soil particles are intact.
 They are representative
 They can be used for grain size analysis, liquid and
plastic limit, specific gravity, compaction tests,
moisture content, organic content determination and
soil classification test performed in the lab
 obtained through cuttings while auguring, SPT, etc.
28 Undisturbed soil samples
 Undisturbed soil samples are those in which the
in-situ soil structure and moisture content are
preserved.
 They are representative and also intact
 These are used for consolidation, permeability or
shear strengths test (Engineering properties)
29 Method of applying force

 The degree of disturbance depends upon

the method of applying force during
sampling & rate of penetration of sample.
 For getting undisturbed sample, the
sampler should be pushed and not driven.
30 Standard Penetration Test
 This test shall be conducted in all types of
soil deposits met within a bore hole, to find
the variation in the soil stratification by
correlating with the number of blows
required for unit penetration of standard
penetrometer.
 This test shall be conducted at 1.0-1.5 m
intervals and every change of strata and as
per the direction of the Engineer.
31 Continue…
 The number of blows for the last 300 mm drive
shall be reported as N value.
 This test shall be discontinued when the blow
count is equal to 100 and the penetration shall be
recorded.
 Sufficient quantity of disturbed soil samples shall
be collected from the split spoon sampler for
identification and laboratory testing.
32 Continue…
33 Electrical Resistivity Test
 This test shall be conducted to determine the
Electrical resistivity of soil required for designing
safety grounding system for the entire power
plant area.
 The test shall be conducted using Wanner's four
electrode method.
34 Data Obtained
35
Field CBR Test

 This test shall be carried out to obtain the

properties of soil required for the construction
of roads.
36 Ground Water

 The level of ground water in each bore hole

shall be recorded 24 hours after the
completion of boring.
37 Laboratory Tests
Natural moisture content
Bulk density and dry density
Grain size analysis
Specific gravity of soil solids
Atterberg’s limit tests (liquid, plastic and shrinkage limits)
Shear Tests :
[I] Triaxial compression test (unconsolidated – undrained),
generally for fine- grained soils
[II] Unconfined compression tests, only on cohesive soils
[III] Direct shear tests, generally for coarse-grained soils
Chemical Tests
38
Soil Investigation report

 It should contain the data obtained from

bore holes, site observations & laboratory
results.
 It should give the recommendation about
the suitable type of foundation, allowable
soil bearing pressure and expected
settlement.
39 Test Results Table
40 Foundation recommendation
41

Isolated footing Pad footing

42
43 Pile foundation for MMS
 Questions Please???

44
 Thank You !

45