Chapter-7 Site investigation and Sub Soil Exploration

The stability of the foundation of a building, a bridge, an embankment or any other

structure built on soil depends on strength and compressibility characteristics of the
subsoil. The field and laboratory investigations required to obtain the essential
information about the subsoil is called soil exploration or soil investigation. Site
investigation is essential
• for judging its suitability for the proposed engineering works and for preparing
adequate, safe and economic designs.
• for analysing the safety and causes of failure of existing works.
• for selecting construction material and deciding the construction methods.
• To obtain necessary information about the soil and hydrological conditions at
site.
• To know the engineering properties of soil

The object of soil exploration is to provide reliable, specific and detailed information about
the soil and ground water condition of the site which may be required for a safe and
economic design of the engineering works. Soil exploration enables the engineers to draw
soil profile indicating the sequence of soil strata and the properties of soil involved on. A
detail soil exploration programme involves deep boring, field tests, laboratory tests for
determination of different properties of soils required for the design of any structure.

Two stages of subsoil exploration

1.Preliminary exploration/General exploration: (IS:1892-1979)

Preliminary Exploration - The scope of preliminary exploration is restricted to the

determination of depths, thickness, extent and composition of each soil stratum, location of
rock and ground water and also to obtain approximate information regarding strength in
compressibility of the various strata. When reconnaissance is not possible it is essential to
carry out preliminary investigation to decide the method of approach of investigation. During
preliminary investigation, geophysical methods and tests with cone penetrometers and
sounding rods are useful guides

The general exploration is thus able to give information about the following
I. Depth, extent and composition of soil strata
II. Depth of rock, when necessary
III. Ground water table
IV. Engineering properties requiring disturbed or partly disturbed samples
V. Preliminary selection of foundation type.
2. Detailed Exploration - Detailed investigation follow preliminary investigation and should
be planned on the basis of data obtained during reconnaissance and preliminary
investigations. This plan may require review as the investigations progress. The scope of
detailed exploration is ordinarily restricted to the determination of engineering properties of
strata which are shown by preliminary exploration to be critical. The object of detailed
exploration is to determine shear strength and compressibility of all types of soils, density,
density index, natural moisture content, and permeability. It may also be necessary to
determine the preconsolidation pressure of the strata from oedometer tests and to determine
the consolidation characteristics beyond preconsolidation pressure. Appropriate shear tests
should also be conducted on samples subjected to ambient pressures beyond the
preconsolidation range also. The detailed investigation includes boring programme and
detailed sampling to determine these properties. Field tests which may be performed are in-
situ vane shear tests and plate load tests. The field permeability test and the test for the
determination of dynamic properties of soils may also be conducted where necessary. More
advanced methods of logging of bore holes by radioactive methods fall under the category of
detailed investigations. All in-situ tests are to be supplemented by laboratory investigations.

Methods of soil Exploration

• Open excavation: Test pits, Trial pits, Trenches
• Borings
Auger
Auger and shell
Wash Boring
Percussion drilling
Rotary Drilling

• Sounding or penetration Tests and Geophysical methods

Open excavation: Test pits and trenches can be used for all types of soil. Soils can be
inspected in their natural condition and samples, disturbed or undisturbed can be
conveniently taken.
The cost of open excavations, however increases rapidly with depth. They are generally
considered suitable for shallow depths (say upto 3m). For greater depths (over 6m) and below
ground water table, specially in pervious soils, measures for lateral support and ground water
lowering become necessary.

Boring: Making and advancing of boreholes is known as boring.

Auger boring
• Soil auger is a device that helps in advancing a bore-hole into the ground.
• Augers are used in cohesive and other soft soils above water table.
• Hand operated augers are used for boring holes to a depth of 6m in soft soils which
can stand unsupported.
• Power driven augers are used for greater boring depths.
• Boring is done by pressing the auger into the ground and rotating it with the handle at
the top.As soon as the auger is filled with soil, it is taken out and soil is removed from
the blades.
• Samples obtained from auger boring are severely disturbed. Useful for identification
purposes only.
• Suited for explorations for shallow foundation, highways and borrows pits.
• Different types of augers are ---post hole auger, helical or spiral auger, short flight
screw auger, continuous screw auger etc.
 Auger boring

Auger and shell boring

• Cylindrical augers and shell with cutting edge or teeth at the lower end can be used
for making deep boring.
• The shell is raised and then fall in a hole.
• The soil that is cut enters the tube which is emptied when full.
• It is useful for very stiff and hard clay.

Wash boring
• Soil exploration below the ground water table is usually very difficult to perform by
means of pits and auger -holes. Wash boring in such cases is a very convenient
method provided the soil is either sand, silt or clay. This method is not suitable if the
soil is mixed with gravel or boulders.
• In wash boring the hole is advanced to a short depth by auger and then a casing pipe is
driven in the ground to prevent the sides of the bore hole from caving in .Boring is
continued by using chooping bit fixed at the end of a hollow drill rod.
• Water is forced under pressure through the hollow drill rod which may be rotated or
moved up and down inside the casing.
• The slurry flowing out provides an indication of soil type.
• The soil in suspension settles down in the settling tank and the waterflows in the sump
which is reused for circulation
• The samples recovered from wash boring are of no value.
• This method can be used for all types of soil except hard soil or rock.
 Percussion boring
• Boring by percussion drilling is carried out by breaking up the formation by repeated
blows of a heavy bit or a chisel inside a casing pipe.
• The bore hole is usually kept dry except for a limited quantity of water used to form
the slurry of pulverized material.
• The pulverized slurry is bailed out using a bailer or sand pump.
• This is the only method suitable for drilling boreholes in boulder and gravelly strata.

Rotary drilling
• Very fast method of advancing hole in rocks and soils.
• Boring is affected by the cutting action of a rotating bit which is kept in firm contact
with the bottom of the hole.
• Drilling mud (usually bentonite solution with or without other admixtures) is
continuously forced down the hollow drill rod.
• The mud returning upwards through the annular space between the drill rod and the
side of the hole brings the cuttings to the surface. The method is also known as mud
rotary drilling.
Preparation of bore hole log:

After the soil investigation has been completed and the results of laboratory tests
become available, the ground conditions discovered in each bore hole are summarized
in the form of a borehole log. The method of investigation and details of equipment
used should be stated on each log. The location, ground level and diameter of the hole
should be specified. The name of the client and the project should be mentioned.
The borehole log should include the following informations
• Boring number and type of boring
• Starting and completion dates of boring
• Diameter of boring
• the soil profile with elevations of different strata
• Ground water level
• Termination level of the borehole
• The depths or ranges of depth at which samples were taken or at which in situ
tests were performed
• The type of soil samples

A typical record of boring (as per IS:1892) is shown below

Criteria for deciding the location and number of test pits and bore holes

The disposition and spacing of the trial pits and borings should be such as to reveal
any major changes in thickness, depth or properties of the strata over the base area of
the structure and its immediate surroundings. The number and spacing of bore holes
or trial pits will depend upon the extent of the site and the nature of structures coming
on it.

i)For buildings:
On uniform soils, at least three borings, not in one line, should be made for small
buildings and at least five borings one at each corner and one at the middle should be
made for large buildings. As far as possible the bore holes should be drilled closed to
the proposed foundations but outside their outlines.

boreholes

For small building

For large building

For a compact building site covering an area of about 0.4 hectare, one bore hole or
trial pit in each corner and one in the centre should be adequate. For smaller and less
important buildings even one bore hole or trial pit in the centre will suffice. For very
large areas covering industrial and residential colonies, the geological nature of the
terrain will help in deciding the number of bore holes or trial pits. Cone penetration
tests may be performed at every 50 m by dividing the area in a grid pattern and
number of bore holes or trial pits decided by examining the variation in the
penetration curves. The cone penetration tests may not be possible at sites having
gravelly or boulderous strata. In such cases geophysical methods may be useful

ii)For roads:
Boring should be usually located along the proposed Centre line of the road.

Centre line
Borehole
 iii)For airports:
Boreholes should be located along the proposed Centre line and at each edge of each
runway.

iv)For dams:
preliminary borings should be located at 50m spacings along the top line of the
upstream face of the dam across one or both abutments.

Depth of exploration:
Generally soil exploration should be advanced to a depth up to which the increase in pressure
due to structural loading will have no damaging effect (such as settlement & shear failure) on the
structure. In other words, the depth at which soil does not contribute settlement of foundation.
This depth is termed as significant depth.

Significant depth

Various factors affecting significant depth are as follow.

▪ Type of structure
▪ Weight of structure
▪ Dimension of structure
▪ Disposition of the loaded area
▪ Soil profile and layer properties

The following 3 thumb rules can be used to know the significant depth.

1. It can be that depth where net increase in vertical pressure becomes less than 10%
of the initial overburden pressure.
2. The maximum depth reached by the pressure bulb or isobar diagram drawn with
an intensity of pressure varying from 1/5th or 1/10th of the surface loading intensity
(i.e. 0.2Q to 0.1Q). (Where Q = Initial loading intensity).
3. It may be equal to one and half to two times the width or smaller lateral
dimension of the loaded area.
THUMB RULES TO DECIDE DEPTH OF SOIL
EXPLORATION
The following rules (Table-1) can be used as a guide to decide the depth of soil exploration to
commence the exploration work.

Table-1 (Thumb Rules to Predict Depth of Exploration)

Sl.
Type of Foundation Depth of Exploration
No.

Isolated spread footing

1 One and a half times the
width
or raft

Adjacent footing with

clear spacing less than One and a half times, the length of the
2
footing
twice the width

10 to 30 meters or more, or to a depth

of one and a half
times the width of structure

3 Pile and well foundations from the bearing level

(toe of pile or bottom of

well)

One and half times the base width or

4 Base of retaining wall one and half times the exposed height
of face of wall, whichever is greater
5 Floating basement Depth of construction
1. One-half the bottom width of
earth dams
2. Twice the height from stream bed
to crest for concrete dams, for dams
less than 30 m high
6 Dams
3. Upto bed rock, or else, though all
soft, unstable and permeable strata of
overburden

1. One metre where little cut or fill is

7 Road cuts
required
 2. In cut sections, one metre below
formation level
3. In deep cuts, equal to the bottom
width or depth

of the cut

Two metre below ground

level or equal to the height
8 Road Fill of the fill whichever is
greater

Convenience of excavation and

9 Borrow areas
thickness of available material

Types of soil samples:

Representative sample
• Disturbed samples
Remoulded sample

• Undisturbed samples

Disturbed samples
A disturbed sample is that in which the natural structure of soils get partly or fully
modified and destroyed, the moisture content may also differ from in-situ value.
However, with suitable precautions the natural water content and the proportion of
mineral constituents may be preserved. These are called representative samples ,even
though they are disturbed samples..where in addition to alteration in the original soil
structure, soils from other layers gets mixed up or the mineral constituents get altered,
the samples are called non-representative samples.Representative samples are useful
for identification tests but non-representative samples are virtually of no use.

Undisturbed samples:
Undisturbed sample is that in which the natural structure and properties
remain preserved. These samples are required for identification and classification
tests.
The sample disturbance depends upon the design of samplers and methods of
sampling.
• The design features governing the degree of disturbance are cutting edge, inside wall
friction, on-return valve.

.
Disturbed sampling-
• Disturbed samples can be obtained by direct excavations, augers and thick wall
samplers.
• For sampling, saturated cohesion less soil a trap valve is inserted in the cutting edge.
• The disturbed samples may be used for mechanical analysis, water content
determination, index properties, and compaction and stabilization tests.
• The sample should be so transported and stored that the original composition is
preserved and the water content also does not change.

Undisturbed sampling
• undisturbed samples are required for tests on shear, consolidation and permeability
tests. They can also be used for other tests like the disturbed samples.
• Undisturbed samples are obtained by forcing a thin wall sampler into the soil at the
bottom of the bore hole.
• A piston sampler may be used with in soft soils below water table.
• Undisturbed samples of cohesion less soils below the water table can be obtained by
a compressed air sampler.
• It is relatively easier to obtain undisturbed samples of both cohesive and cohesion less
soils from open pits and trenches.
• In stiff and sufficiently cohesive soil undisturbed samples can be cut and trimmed to
regular shapes. The sample is wrapped in wax paper or a polythene sheet and is given
a wax coating on the outside.
• A sample may also be cut by removing the soil from the sides and left projecting like
a stump.