LAZIM · MIS S ION · RAZON · S APID · TORRE

CE 97
FOUNDATION
ENGINEERING
Presented by REPORTER 2
 Sampling
Techniques
Topic Highlights
• Sampling with Piston Sampler

• Observation of Water Tables

SAMPLING WITH PISTON
SAMPLER
REPORTER:
LAZIM & MISSION
 PISTON SAMPLER
Is an auger made from a thin-walled,
high-quality stainless steel tube. The
piston sampler is ideal for sampling
from moderately cohesive soil layers
under the (ground) water table to a
maximum depth of 5 metres.

WHAT IS A
PISTON
SAMPLER?
 SIGNIFICANCE AND
USES
Sampling with Piston Sampler
1.
Used for loose or soft soils. This
samplers are especially suitable
for sampling soft to very soft
clays and silts, and sometimes is
effective in obtaining samples of
cohesionless, silty sands and
sands.
2.
Used to gather soil samples
for laboratory or field testing
and analysis for geologic
investigations, soil chemical
composition studies, and
water quality investigations.
3.
provide relatively undisturbed
soil samples of soft or loose
formation materials for testing
to determine accurate
information on the physical
characteristics of that soil.
4.
To a large extent, the presence
of the piston prevents distortion
in the sample by not letting the
soil squeeze into the sampling
tube very fast and by not
admitting
excess soil.
HYDRAULICALLY ACTIVATED
STATIONARY PISTON SAMPLER
ASTM D6519-15
“OSTERBERG (1952)” PISTON
SAMPLER
A stationary piston sampler in which the thin-walled
tube is forced over a fixed piston into the soil strata by
hydraulic fluid pressure or pneumatic pressure
developed by Professor Jori Osterberg of Northwestern
University.

Image from: (Bray et al., 2017)

SAMPLER IN
OPERATION
BY OSTERBERG 1952
Image from: (Rajib, 2020)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrLMszf6tPI
 1.1
Used to collect relatively undisturbed soil samples suitable for laboratory tests to
determine structural and chemical properties for geotechnical and environmental
site characterizations.

1.2
limited to soils and unconsolidated materials that can be penetrated with the
available hydraulic pressure that can be applied without exceeding the structural
strength of the thinwalled tube.

1.3
It is the responsibility of the user to establish and adopt appropriate safety and
health practices

1.4
ASTM D6519-15 The values stated in SI units or inch-pound units are to be regarded separately as

SCOPE
standard.
OBSERVATION OF WATER TABLES

REPORTER:
TORRE, SAPID & RAZON
WHAT IS A WATER
TABLE?
WATER TABLE

The water table is an underground boundary between

the soil surface and the area where groundwater
saturates spaces between sediments and cracks in
rock. Water pressure and atmospheric pressure are
equal at this boundary.
 APPLICATION
OBSERVATION OF WATER TABLES

1.
The presence of a water table near a
foundation significantly affects the
foundation’s load-
bearing capacity and settlement,
among other things.
2. 3.
If water is encountered in a borehole If accurate water-level measurements are
during a field exploration, that fact required, a
should be recorded. piezometer can be used.
PIEZOMETER

A piezometer basically consists of a porous

stone or a perforated
pipe with a plastic standpipe attached to it.

Casagrande-type piezometer (Courtesy

of N. Sivakugan, James Cook University, Australia.)
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPGWOcJfB1c
 1.1
This test technique covers how to measure the level of liquid in a borehole or well and
calculate the stable level of liquid in a borehole.

1.2
The test technique is applicable to boreholes (cased or uncased) and monitoring wells
(observation wells) that are vertical or sufficiently vertical for a flexible measuring
equipment to be dropped into the hole.

1.3
Borehole liquid-level readings produced using this test technique may not always
correlate to the level of liquid in the vicinity of the borehole until enough time has been
given for the level to attain equilibrium.

ASTM D4750-87 (WITHDRAWN)

SCOPE
 1.4
This test technique is often unsuitable for determining pore-pressure variations caused
by changes in earth material stress conditions.

1.5
This test technique is not suitable for simultaneously determining several liquid levels in
a borehole.

1.6
The values indicated in inch-pound units are to be considered the standard.

SCOPE
Royal Eijkelkamp. (n.d.). Piston sampler - bottom part. https://www.royaleijkelkamp.com/products/augers-samplers/soil-augers-
samplers/hand-augers/piston-sampler-bottom-part/#:~:text=A%20piston%20sampler%20is%20an,maximum%20depth%20of
%205%20metres.

Das, B. M. (2016). Principles of Foundation Engineering (8th Edition). Cengage Learning.

Das, B. M. (2016). Principles of Geotechnical Engineering (7th Edition). Cengage Learning.

Standard practice for sampling of soil using the hydraulically operated stationary piston sampler. (n.d.). https://www.astm.org/d6519-
15.html

Water table. (n.d.). https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/water-table/

Rajib. (2020, January 7). Is it possible to collect undisturbed soil sample? Civil Engineering World. https://www.civil-engg-
world.com/2020/01/07/is-it-possible-to-collect-undisturbed-soil-sample/soil-properties/

Bray, J. D., Markham, C. S., & Cubrinovski, M. (2017). Liquefaction assessments at shallow foundation building sites in the
Central Business District of Christchurch, New Zealand. Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering, 92, 153–164.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soildyn.2016.09.049

REFERENCES
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