Professional

Geotechnical Engineering
Introduction
All Civil Engineering begins with

Geotechnical Engineering
Typical Geotechnical Project
Geo-Laboratory
Geo- soil properties Design Office
- for testing - for design & analysis
construction site 3
Site Investigation
Information required
depth, thickness, properties of each soil layer

location of groundwater table
depth to bedrock
Preliminary Investigation
geological and agricultural maps
- types of soils or geological formations
aerial photographs
-drainage patterns and color and tone can indicate what type of soil
area reconnaissance
-other structures performance in the area
-wells can indicate groundwater levels
Site Investigation
Subsurface Investigation
Geophysical methods
-seismic or electrical:
variations in the speed of
sound waves or electrical
resistivity of soil formations
Site Investigation
Subsurface Investigation
Test pits or trenches

-shallow depths only
Hand Augers
-shallow depths only
Site Investigation
Detailed Soil Investigation
Boring test holes and

sampling with drill rigs
-principal method
for detailed soil
investigation
Boring
Making and advancing of boreholes
Some of the common types of boring are as follows:
Auger boring
Hand Augar
Mechanical Augar
Rotary drilling
Wash boring
Percussion boring
Boring- Auger
Hand Augar
a) Plugged while advancing the auger

b) Plug removed and sampler attached
Truck mounted auger boring machine

Continuous Flight Auger
Various types of diamond drill Boring- Rotary Drilling
bits for rotary drilling
Rotary Drilling
Boring- Wash Boring
Boring- Percussion Drilling
Sampling
Process of collecting samples
1. Disturbed Sample:
A disturbed sample is one having the same particle size distribution as the in-situ soil
but in which natural moisture content is disturbed and soil structure has been
significantly damaged or completely destroyed – Non representative sample
( No use)
With suitable precautions, natural moisture content and the proportion of mineral
constituents can be preserved- Representative sample: mainly for soil classification
tests, visual classification,compaction test.
Sampling
2. Undisturbed Sample:
Undisturbed samples are obtained by techniques which aim at preserving the
in-situ structure and water content of the soil.
It is impossible to obtain a sample that is completely undisturbed.
Undisturbed samples are used to determine the shear strength,
compressibility and permeability of the materials.
All samples should be clearly labelled to show the project name, date,
location, borehole number, depth and method of sampling.
Special care is required in the handling, transportation and storage of
samples prior to testing.
Common Samplers
1. Sampling by Standard Split Spoon

Common Samplers
2. Sampling by Thin Wall Tube (Shelby Tube)
3. Sampling by Piston Sampler
Sample Disturbance
The degree of disturbance of the sample collected by various method can be

expressed by a term called the area ratio, which is given by
Ar = (Do2 – Di2) / Di2
where Di and Do are inside and outside diameter of sampler respectively.

< = 20% for stiff formations
< = 10% for soft clays
Common Used Field Test
1. Penetration Test
2. Pressuremeter Test
3. Vane Shear Test
4. Plate Load Test

Common Used Field Test
1. Penetration Test
Standard Penetration Test (SPT) ConePenetration Test (CPT)

Standard Penetration Test (SPT)
This test gives information about soil strength.

It is carried out at regular intervals during a boring operation or where change of strata
is noted.
A split-spoon sampler is attached to the drill rods, lowered to the bottom of boreholes
and driven into the ground by repeated blows of a standard 65kg hammer falling freely
through 750 mm.
The number of blows requires to drive the sampler through three consecutive depths of
150 mm (total 450 mm) are noted.
The SPT N value is the number of blows required to drive the sampler through the last
30cm.
If, for N > 50, the sampler penetrates less than 250 mm, refusal is said to have been
reached and the test is discontinued until the boring advances to a new depth.
Standard Penetration Test (SPT) per ASTM D 1586
Significance
The standard penetration test is very useful for cohesionless soils and
medium clays.
The SPT test is very popular all over the world. It is simple, not too
expensive, reliable, and generally repeatable.
It is extensively used in problems such as design of foundations,

settlement analysis and liquefaction studies.
Significance- Representative samples obtained
Cohesionless soils-Correlation between N to ϕ.

Significance
Clays- Correlation between N to qu
*qu– Unconfined Compressive Strength
Cone Penetration Test (CPT)
Pressuremeter Test
Pressuremeter is a cylindrical probe that has

an expandable flexible membrane designed to
apply a uniform pressure to the walls of a
borehole.
A load-deformation diagram and soil

characteristics can be deduced by measurement
of the applied pressure and change in the
volume of the expanding membrane.
It can be used in most types of soil and rock, and is

capable of yielding stress-strain information for soil and
rock materials which cannot be sampled and tested in the
laboratory in the conventional manner
Pressuremeter Test
Vane Shear Test
M= Torque in N-mm
Plate Load Test
Bearing capacity and the settlement characteristics at site.

Typical load-settlement curves
from plate load tests
Determination of the bearing capacity of a footing of width b
1. Permissible settlement value ( 25 mm) substituted in the equation above- Sp, the
settlement of the plate is calculated.
2. From the load-settlement curve-pressure corresponding to Sp is found out.
3. It is the required value of the ultimate bearing capacity, qult, for the footing.
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Geotechnical Engineering

All Civil Engineering begins with

depth, thickness, properties of each soil layer

Test pits or trenches

Boring test holes and

Making and advancing of boreholes

Some of the common types of boring are as follows:

a) Plugged while advancing the auger

Truck mounted auger boring machine

1. Sampling by Standard Split Spoon

2. Sampling by Thin Wall Tube (Shelby Tube)

3. Sampling by Piston Sampler

The degree of disturbance of the sample collected by various method can be

Ar = (Do2 – Di2) / Di2

where Di and Do are inside and outside diameter of sampler respectively.

3. Vane Shear Test

4. Plate Load Test

Standard Penetration Test (SPT) ConePenetration Test (CPT)

This test gives information about soil strength.

It is extensively used in problems such as design of foundations,

Significance- Representative samples obtained

Cohesionless soils-Correlation between N to ϕ.

Pressuremeter is a cylindrical probe that has

A load-deformation diagram and soil

It can be used in most types of soil and rock, and is

Bearing capacity and the settlement characteristics at site.

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