SOIL/SITE INVESTIGATION

SITE INVESTIGATION

Site Investigation is the gathering of the

information about the proposed location of a
project, e.g. highway or buildings or any other
structure.
 The Purpose of Site Investigation

1. The site investigation is aimed at providing sufficient

reliable subsurface information for most economical,
satisfactorily safe foundation for the proposed structure.

1. The site investigation should reveal sufficient

subsurface information for the design and construction
of a stable foundation safe from both collapse and
detrimental movements.
The Scope of Site Investigation

 Topography

 Soil profile

 Ground-water condition
 The Stages of Site Investigation

In general, a site investigation program should comprise four stages, i.e.

 Desk study and site reconnaissance,

 Preliminary ground investigation,

 Detailed ground investigation,

 Monitoring
 Desk study and site reconnaissance
 The desk study is the first stage of the site investigation
process which involves researching the site to gain as much
information as possible, both geological and historical.
 A good starting point is to use Ordinance survey maps which
allow the selection of the site by obtaining accurate grid
reference through the maps.
 In addition to present maps, old maps are used to gain
historical information such as former uses of the site;
concealed mine workings; in filled ponds; old pits; disused
quarries; changes in potential landslide areas, etc.
 The source of information that useful in
desk study:
1. Geological map

Geological maps are probably most important source of information as

these give and excellent indication of the sort of ground conditions like to
be encountered.

2. Aerial photography

Aerial photography is another extremely useful source of information on

topography and ground conditions.

3. Records of previous investigation

Records of previous investigation reports also helpful in a desk study. The

many sources of site investigation data include previous company and Public
Works Department.
The reconnaissance phase of a site investigation

 This site investigation is done through a site visit or walk-over

survey.

 Important evidences to look for are site lay out, surface

condition, climate and hazards water levels, etc.

 Generally the desk study and reconnaissance is aimed at the

feasibility study of the being planned.

 If the desk study shows that the site is feasible for the structure,
then preliminary investigation should follows.
 Preliminary Investigation
 Preliminary Investigation is aimed at predicting the geological
structures, soil profiles and the position of ground water table by
geophysical method or by making a few boreholes.
 The investigation should give information on the existence on
ground structures that may need closer examination: for example,
1. The extent of disturbed strata,
2. The location and extend of natural cavities and mine workings.
3. Fractures and river crossings or alluvial areas that may have buried soft
material or pet, their liability to cause subsidence, surface movements or
instability
4. Information on suitability of soil for fills work, ground water condition and
the possibility of flooding should be provided at this stage.
 Detailed Investigation
 At this stage, the extent of the test, number and depth of boreholes,
selection of appropriate equipment for field testing and the choice of
laboratory testing are made.

 Soil exploration consists of three steps:

1. Boring and in-situ testing,

2. Sampling,

3. Laboratory testing.
 Monitoring
 Monitoring during construction and maintenance period is required
whether the expectations of the proceeding investigation have been
realize.
 No one can ensure that the soil parameters used for design is the most
representative of the soil conditions at the site unless the response is
observed.
 Field observation can help for early diagnosis and redemption of any
problem that might be encountered during construction.
 Among the measurement made during the monitoring stage are the
settlement, displacement, deformation, inclination, and pore water
pressure.
 Steps of Soil Exploration
A. BORING
Soil borings are the most common method of subsurface
exploration in the field. A bore hole is used to determine the
nature of the ground in a qualitative manner and then recover
disturbed and undisturbed samples for quantitative
examination.
Some types of borings are hand/mechanical auger borings,
wash borings, percussion drilling, rotary drilling, and core
borings. An auger is a screw-like tool used to bore a hole.
Some augers are operated by hand: others are power operated
 Hand/Mechanical Auger
 Hand augers may be used for boring to a depth of about 6 m.

 Power augers may be used for boring to a depth of about 10 to 30 m.

 As the hole is bored a short distance, the auger may be lifted to

removed soil. The removed soil can be used for field classification

and laboratory testing, but it must not be considered as an

undisturbed soil sample.

 Power auger set with a drill rig can be used to obtain samples from

deeper strata. Some rigs can be used to drill a hole to 100 m depth.
 Wash Boring
 Wash borings consists of simultaneous drilling and jetting
action. A hole is bored through a casing by using a drilling
bit.

 Jetting action is accomplished by pumping water

downward through the drilling bit to soften the soil.
Samples taken using the wash boring methods are
disturbed sample.
Percussion Drilling

 Percussion Drilling is the process of making boreholes by

striking the soil then removing it.

 The tools are repeatedly dropped down the borehole while

suspended by wire from the power winch.

 Water is circulated to bring the soil cuttings to the ground

surface.

 A casing and a pump are required to circulate the water.

 Rotary Drilling
 Rotary Drilling uses rotation of the drill bit with the simultaneous
application of pressure to advance the hole.

 This method is the most rapid method of advancing a hole in soil

and rock.

 Drilling mud may be needed to prevent soil cave-in.

 Sample obtained from drilling by this method is relatively less

disturbed as compared to samples obtained by the preceding
methods.
Boring tools

Auger boring Power drills

17
SOIL BORING

18
19
20
B. SAMPLING
 Sampling refers to the taking of soil sample from bored hole.

 There are two types of samples:

1. Disturbed samples

This sample are usually needed for index properties of soil.

2. Undisturbed samples

This sample are usually needed for determining the engineering

properties such as shear strength and consolidation characteristic
of the soil.
 The sampling procedures varies according to the type of strata in
which the investigation takes place. Undisturbed samples are
normally needed for clays at every 1.5 m depth or change of stratum.

 If undisturbed sample cannot be retrieved at a specific depth, then

bulk samples should be taken.

 Undisturbed sample are not practically for sand and gravel due to the
lack of cohesion.

 Bulk samples to be taken every 1 m or every change of stratum while

alternate disturbed and undisturbed samples should be taken for silt
layer at 0.75 m intervals.

 Undisturbed sample may be possible for soft rock such as chalks and
marls.
 A sampling program should be consistent with the required accuracy
of design and the scale of the structures.

 Disturbed sample can be obtained from auger boring, core boring,

split spoon sampler in standard penetration test (pit and trench, and
some types of sampler such as thick walled sampler, displacement
sampler, and Beggemann sampler.

 Undisturbed sample are generally required during a detail

subsurface exploration to provide specimens for laboratory testing.
 If a test pit is available in clay soil, an undisturbed sample may be
obtained by simply carving a sample very carefully out of the
side of the test pit. Such a sample should then be coated with
paraffin wax and placed in an airtight container.

 A more common method of obtaining an undisturbed sample is to

push a thin tube into the soil, thereby trapping the undisturbed
sample inside the tube and then to remove the tube and the intact
sample.

 The most popular tube is the open drive sampler while the
recommended sampler for the soft soil is the piston sampler.
 Several types of piston samplers are available, for instance the
fixed piston sample, free piston sampler, and restraint sampler.

 The term undisturbed is considered relative because the process of

extracting the sample from a depth in soil, transporting the samples
to laboratory and preparing the specimen for testing my introduce
disturbance that can cause the result of laboratory testing will not
be representative of in-situ condition.

 To ensure the quality of the sample, some step should be taken

after obtaining the undisturbed sample in appropriate tube.
 Immediately after the tube containing the sample is brought to
the ground surface, the ends of the tube should be sealed with
paraffin wax.

 After sealing the tube, the following data should be attached to

the sampling tube:

1. Project name,

2. Name of drilling operator,

3. Date of the sampling,

4. Borehole number and sample number,

5. Depth of sample.
 Care should be taken during shipment and stored of the sealed
tube for testing in the laboratory because these processes may
result in serious sample disturbance.

 On arrival at the laboratory, it is important to check the

conditions of the samples and compare them with the states
recorded in the field.

 The samples should be stored in a room where the temperature

and humidity are kept constant and similar to the in situ-
conditions.
 Visual inspection of undisturbed samples
should be made to ensure that there is:
1. no visible distortion of strata in the sample,

2. no opening or softening of the material,

3. specific recovery ratio (SRR) should not be

less than 95%,

4. area ratio (Ar) should be less than 15 %.

 The SSR and Ar can be defined as follows:

 SRR = length of undisturbed sample recovered from the tube

Length of the tube
(2.1)

D D 2 2
Ar  2
o
x100% 1

D1 (2.2)

Where, Di = inside diameter and

Do = outside diameter
 IN SITU TESTING
 In some cases the data obtained from sampling and laboratory testing
is less reliable than those from in-situ testing. Moreover, sampling can
be more expensive than in-situ testing.

 Therefore, the program of sampling may be planned in combination

with in-situ testing.

 Common types of field testing include the standard penetration test

(SPT), cone penetration test (CPT), vane shear test (VST), and
pressure meter test (PMT),
STANDARD PENETRATION TEST (SPT)

 The standard penetration test (SPT) is a dynamic test and is a measure

of the density of the soil. The SPT is carried out in a borehole by
lowering the split spoon sampler of about 650 mm length, 50 mm
external diameter, and 35 mm internal diameter (Figure 2.5), and
driving it using repeated blows by a freely dropped hammer at falling
height of 765 mm.

 There are two types of hammer : automatic trip hammers and slip-
rope-hammers but the standard weight of the hammer is 63.5 kg.

 The test procedure is standardized in ASTM D 1586.

 The blow count is made in three steps of 150 mm. The strength
of the soil is measured by the number of blow count of the last
300 mm penetration denoted as N blows/300 mm.

The blow count (N) may be corrected by field conditions such as,

a) energy used for driving the rod into the soil (Em),

b) Variations in the test apparatus (Cs and CR),

c) Size of drilling hole (CB)

 The values of Em, Cs, CR, and CB depend on the SPT equipment.
 Many of the correlations developed based on hammer
that have an efficiency of 60%, the results of other
hammer should be corrected to this efficiency factor.
Thus :

Em C B C S C R

(2.3)
N 60 N
0.6
 The SPT test should be stop when soil shows some refusal i.e.
when more than 50 blows are required to penetrate any 150 mm
increment or 100 blows are obtained for 300 mm penetration or if
10 successive blow produce no advance in the penetration.

 The N values can be correlated with the relative density of the

soil, and internal friction angle of cohesion less soil (Table 2.1).

 Even though not reliable for cohesive soil, relationship between

the N value and the consistency and the undrained shear strength
of cohesive soil was also developed (Table 2.2)
Table 2.1
SPT Relative Internal friction State of
N Density angle packing
(blows/300 (%)
mm)
4 20 30 Very loose
4 – 10 20 – 40 30 – 35 Loose
10 – 30 40 – 60 35 – 40 Compact
30 – 50 60 – 80 40 – 45 Dense
> 50 > 80 45 Very dense
Table 2.2

SPT Undrained shear strength

N Cu Consistency
(blows/300 mm) (kPa)
2 10 Very soft
2–4 10 – 25 Soft
4–8 25 – 50 Medium
8 – 15 50 – 100 Stiff
15 – 30 100 – 200 Very stiff
> 30 > 200 Hard
CONE PENETRATION TEST (CPT)
 The CPT is used widely in Europe and other parts of the world because of
its versatility. The procedure has been standardized in ASTM D 3441.

 Basic parts of this equipment include a cone to measure the tip resistance
and skin friction of soil, some rods, and measuring devices.

 Two type of cone currently available are mechanical cone and electric
cone. Both have two parts , a 35.7 mm diameter cone shaped tip with a
60o apex angle and 35.7 mm diameter and 133.7 mm long cylinder.

 Cone is equipped with a pore pressure transducer to measure pore

pressure. In recent year, the CPT is supplemented by additional sensors,
such as seismic cone, lateral stress sensing, and electrical resistivity for
estimating in situ porosity or density.
 Cone Penetration Test (CPT) Procedures

Cone penetration test carried out by mechanically or hydraulically

pushing a cone into the ground at a constant speed (20mm/sec) while
measuring the tip resistance and friction.

 For piezocone, pore pressure (ub in kg/cm2) is measured along depth

of penetration.

 The parameters obtained from cone penetration test can be correlated

with relative density, soil classification, and unconfined compression
strength, sensitivity of clay, degree of over-consolidation, pile design
parameter, bearing capacity and settlement.
 The cone penetration resistance can be related to the
undrained shear strength (cu) of cohesive soil by the
following equation:

(2.5)
qc   ' 0
cu 
Nk
In which s’o is the overburden pressure and Nk is the
cone factor which ranges from15 to 20 depending on the
type of cone used.
Cone penetration apparatus
VANE SHEAR TEST (VST)
 Vane shear test is commonly used to measure the shear strength
and sensitivity of clay.

 The equipment consists of four-bladed rectangular vane,

rotating rod, and measuring device.
 Vane Shear Test (VST) Procedures
 The test is carried out in a borehole or directly pushing the
vane into the ground.

 The vane rod is then rotated at a rate of 60/min, while the

torque is read at interval of 30 seconds.

 After maximum torque is achieved, the vane is rotated at a

higher rate to obtain the remolded strength of the soils

 Measure parameters include the peak torque (Tpeak).

 The theoretical formula for relating the results of vane
shear test to the shear strength parameters of the soil is

T
cu 
 d 2 h   d 3 
     
 2   6  (2.6)

 Where: cu is the undrained shear strength of soil, T is

the maximum torque, d is the diameter of the vane,
and h is the height of the vane.
 The test result may be affected by several factors i.e. the
disturbance due to vane insertion, blade thickness, rate of
rotation, time lapse between insertion of the vane and the
beginning of the test, and possible friction of the rod and
surrounding soils.

 Type of soil and strength anisotropy may also affect the results.

 Skempton recommended multiplying the vane diameter by 1.05

for interpretation of strength.
 Cohesive soils often lose some of their shear strength if disturbed and
most of the soil samples obtained in the field are subject to
disturbance.

 A parameter known as sensitivity indicates the amount of strength lost

by soil as a result of disturbance.

 Vane shear test is usually performed to predict the sensitivity of a

cohesive soil by repeating the test at the same point after remolding
the sample by completely rotating the blade.
 The first maximum torque represents the peak strength,
while the second maximum torque represent the residual
strength of the soil.

 Sensitivity of the soil can be calculated from (Equation

2.7).
T peak
S 
Tres
(2.7)
 The Range Of The Sensitivity Of Clays

 The sensitivity of most clays ranges between 2 and about 4.

 For sensitive clays, the sensitivity ranges from 4 to 8.

 For extra sensitive clays, the sensitivity ranges from 8 to 16.

 Quick clays, the sensitivity greater than 16.

Observation of Ground Water
Information on the groundwater level and any artesian pressure in
particular strata is very important and should be determined
carefully during site investigation.

Several problems related to the presence of ground water table:

1. Shear strength of a soil may be reduced below water table.

2. Foundation may be uplifted by the water.

3. Possibility of dewatering if the structure should be constructed

in dry conditions, etc.
 The location of ground water table is usually determined by
measuring the depth of water surface in a borehole after a suitable
time lapse because water table in boreholes may take some time to
stabilize depending on the permeability of the soil.

 Common practices is to measure the depth of ground water table

after drilling and covering the hole with a small piece of plywood.

 In soil with high permeability such as sand and gravel, 24 hours is

adequate for the water level to stabilize.
 In soil with low permeability such as silts and clay, it may take
several days for the water level to stabilize.

 In this case, measurement should be made at a regular interval of

time until it stabilizes.

A piezometer should be utilized to find the pore water pressure..

 Ground water sample may be taken for chemical analysis

because some chemical may attack structural material such as
concrete and steel.
 Laboratory Testing
 In site investigation program, the determination of soil properties is
generally made in soil mechanics laboratory. To get a good quality of
testing results, the samples retrieved from the ground should be tested
as soon as after arrival at laboratory.

 Standard laboratory testing may be grouped based on its purpose as

shown in Figure 2.18.
Laboratory Testing for Undisturbed Samples

Undisturbed samples are needed for more sophisticated laboratory test

such as;

1. Shear strength, include the unconfined compression test, direct

shear or shear box test and Triaxial test under unconsolidated
undrained (UU), consolidated undrained (CU), and consolidated
drained conditions (CD).

2. Consolidation test.

The consolidation test is usually performed on standard oedometer

cell.
Laboratory Testing for Disturbed Samples
Disturbed samples are normally used for determining index
properties of the soil such as;

1. The unit weight,

2. Specific gravity.

The samples also used for classification test such as;

1. Sieve and hydrometer analysis to obtained the particle size

distribution,

2. Atterberg limit tests to find the consistency of cohesive soil.

 Soil Exploration Report
 Soil exploration report should be presented upon the completion of a
soil exploration program.

 The report should include the scope of investigation, description of the

proposed structure, and general site conditions.

 The report should present the general description of soil strata, position
of ground water table and other information related to the site.

 The detail of field exploration should include the number of borings,

lay-out and depth of boring, type of boring and other specifications of
field test conducted during the exploration.