UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA

DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY

SIWES SEMINAR PRESENTATON ON:

GEOTECHINCAL ASSESSMENT
(SUBSOIL INVESTIGATION)
BY:
BASSEY DANIEL KUFRE
2010/170012
SUPERVISOR: MR. I. OKONKWO
 OUTLINE
• COMPANY PROFILE
• ACTIVITIES UNDERTAKEN
• SUBSOIL INVESTIGATION
 METHODOLOGY
 TEST RESULTS
 RESULT ANALYSIS
 INTERPRETATION AND RECOMENDATION
• SKILLS ACQUIRED
• CHALLENGES
• CONCLUSION
COMPANY PROFILE
 KDF KONSULT LIMITED is a geotechnical and engineering company
with head office at No. 3, Balogun Street, Ikeja, Lagos State.

 KDF KONSULT LIMITED is a leading service provider in:

 Geotechnical assessment (subsoil investigation)
 Mining
 Dredging
 Water and environmental engineering
 Soil stabilization
 Foundation design
 Geophysical/geological and hydrographic investigation
SUBSOIL INVESTIGATION
APPARATUS

 There are several methods of subsoil investigation or soil testing.

They are:
 Cone Penetration Test (CPT)
 Standard Penetration Test (SPT)
 Vane Shear Test (VST)
 Pressuremeter Test (PMT)
 Flat Plate Dilatometer Test (DMT)
SUBSOIL INVESTIGATION
APPARATUS
CONE PENETRATION TEST (2.5 TON CAPACITY)
 This is done using a DUTCH CONE PENETROMETER.
The apparatus consists of:
 Sounding rods
 Push/pull adaptor
 Spiral anchor
 Handle and T-piece
 Mantle cone
 Wrenches set
 Testometer
SUBSOIL INVESTIGATION
APPARATUS

 The apparatus consists of a cylindrical

probe of 1000mm2 cross sectional area,

and a conic head of apex angle of 60o

CONE

attached to a rod enclosed by an outer

1M ROD
sleeve.
 SUBSOIL INVESTIGATION
PROCEDURE

 The probe is forced down through the soil at a steady rate of about
20mm/s in the closed position by exerting pressure manually for a 2.5 Ton
capacity machine or hydraulic pressure (for larger capacity machines).
 The cone penetrometer is used to estimate soil bearing capacity and
settlement of foundations.
 The results from CPT can be correlated with lab test results and
other field tests (usually Standard Penetrometer Tests) to build
empirical relationship for soil strength and deformation parameters.
SUBSOIL INVESTIGATION
SUBSOIL INVESTIGATION
TEST RESULTS

 The resistance offered by the soil to the penetration of the cone is measured.

 This is called Cone Resistance Value (or Qc Value).

 A low Qc value indicates soft or weak soil strata and thus poor geotechnical
quality while a high Qc value is indicative of good geotechnical property.

 The groundwater level/condition can also be assessed during testing.

 Test is aborted when the machine anchor legs pull from the ground as this
indicates that the rod can penetrate no further.
SUBSOIL INVESTIGATION
TEST RESULTS

Generally,
For clay: For sand:
Qc value Remark Qc value Remark

• 0–2 Very soft • 0 – 40 Loose sand

• 2–4 Soft • 40 – 100 Medium dense
• 4 – 10 Firm • >100 Dense
• 10 – 20 Stiff
• >20 Stiff to hard
 SUBSOIL INVESTIGATION
TEST RESULTS

Qc VALUE
(kgf/cm2) DEPTH (m)
SOIL PROFILE 0 0
5 0.25
10 0.5
DEPTH(m) DESCRIPTION
10 0.75
13 1
11 1.25
10 1.5
Dark-brown 14 1.75
0 – 0.75 cohesionless soil 17 2
23 2.25
21 2.5
Firm to stiff 29 2.75
0.75 – 2.0 cohesive soil 35 3
43 3.25
56 3.5
Stiff to very stiff 70 3.75
2.0 – 5.0 cohesive soil 81 4
100 4.25
112 4.5
131 4.75
152 5
SUBSOIL INVESTIGATION
TEST RESULTS (SPT)

GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING PARAMETERS

DEPTH (m) N-VALUE U4 SAMPLE

0.00 – 0.75 -- --

0.75 – 6.00 -- Retrieved at

3.00m
6.00 – 12.75 14 – 16 Abortive

12.75 – 16.50 20 – 32 N/A

16.50 – 20.00 20 – 32 N/A

SUBSOIL INVESTIGATION
TEST RESULTS (SPT)

 The sampler is driven in three

successive 150mm (450mm) into

the soil before retrieval.

 The “N” value is taken as the

number of blows required to drive

the sampler the last 300mm

through the soil.

 SUBSOIL INVESTIGATION
TEST RESULTS ANALYSIS

 From the test results shown,

  the following information can be obtained:
Depth (m) Geotechnical Properties
0.00 to –.0.75 Moderate geotechnical properties, moderate shear
strength and moderate compressibility potential.

0.75 to –2.00 Moderate to good geotechnical properties, moderate

to high shear strength and low compressibility
potential.

2.00 to –5.00 Good geotechnical properties, high shear strength

and low compressibility potential
 SUBSOIL INVESTIGATION
TEST RESULTS ANALYSIS

BEARING CAPACITY ANALYSIS

 ULTIMATE BEARING CAPACITY Where;

qult = CNc + ΨDNq + 0.5BΨNΨ C = cohesive strength of soil

D = depth of foundation
NOTE:
For pure clay, For pure sand, B = width of foundation
Φ=0 C=0 ΨD = overburden pressure
Nc = 5.14
Nq = 1 Ψ = unit weight of soil
NΨ = 0 Nc = BC factor (cohesion)
Thus, for the test above, the equation
Nq = BC factor (surcharge and friction)
becomes:
NΨ = BC factor (self weight and friction)
qult = 5.14Cu + ΨD
*BC = Bearing Capacity
SUBSOIL INVESTIGATION
TEST RESULTS ANALYSIS

 ALLOWABLE BEARING CAPACITY

Where;
Qa = Qult / FS
*FS = Factor of Safety
S = Total Settlement

SETTLEMENT ANALYSIS Mv = volume of compressibility potential

Settlement for the calculated Allowable Bearing qn = net foundation base pressure
Capacity must not exceed 50mm. D = depth of foundation
S = 1.1Mv x 0.55qn x D
SUBSOIL INVESTIGATION
TEST RESULTS ANALYSIS

The table below shows the permissible settlement as per I.S. Code:
     

SOIL TYPE PERMISSIBLE TOTAL PERMISSIBLE DIFFERENTIAL

SETTLEMENT SETTLEMENT
 ISOLATED RAFT FOOTINGS  ISOLATED FOOTINGS RAFT FOOTINGS
FOOTINGS

         

Sand 4.0cm 4.cm to 6.5cm 2.5cm 2.5cm

         

Clay 6.5cm 6.5 to 10.0cm 4.0cm 4.0cm

 SUBSOIL INVESTIGATION
TEST RESULTS INTERPRETATION

 From the test result and analysis presented above, Shallow Foundation
(Stiffened Raft Slab) is considered adequate for the proposed development.

 The Stiffened Raft Slab foundation design is a quite simple and common
slab Foundation design, can be used on most classes of soil, and helps to
Minimize differential settlement as it spreads structural load evenly.
SKILLS ACQUIRED

After my internship with KDF KONSULT LIMITED, :

 i can effectively carry out soil testing using a Dutch Cone Penetrometer.

 i can effectively carry out soil testing using a Standard Penetrometer.

 i can accurately give recommendation on foundation design.

CHALLENGES

 Work place procedures/routine.

 Poor welfare of internship students.

 Restriction from some information.

 Time constraint.
CONCLUSION

 The SIWES programme has made it possible to apply the theoretical

knowledge in real work situations especially as it concern geotechnical

assessment and engineering geology in general.

 I was also able to develop good work ethics and cooperation.

THANK
YOU