By

Ir. Dr. Gue See Sew & Ir. Chow Chee Meng
http://www.gnpgeo.com.my

G&P Geotechnics Sdn Bhd (www.gnpgroup.com.my)

CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
OBJECTIVES
DESK STUDY
SITE RECONNAISSANCE
METHODS OF GROUND INVESTIGATION
FIELD TEST AND SAMPLING
PLANNING OF GROUND INVESTIGATION
SPECIFICATIONS
SUPERVISION
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 INTRODUCTION

Guidance notes to engineers on

the practical aspect of site
investigation

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 OBJECTIVES
Provide adequate information for
- Site assessment, safe and
economical designs
- Foresee construction difficulties.
- Choice of site and layout
arrangement.

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Geological Maps
Site Histories & & Memoirs Topographic
Landuse Maps

DESK STUDY
Results of Details of
Adjacent & Adjacent
Nearby Ground Aerial Developments
Investigation Photographs
 Scar

Aerial Photograph
1999..
Proposed
Residential
ResidentialProposed
Development

Development
Proposed
Development

Residential

1981..
1985..
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 SITE RECONNAISSANCE
Confirm and obtain additional
information.
Examine adjacent and nearby
development.
Compare the surface features and
topography with data obtainable in
the desk study.
Locate and study the outcrops,
previous slips.
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 METHODS OF GROUND
INVESTIGATION

G&P Geotechnics Sdn Bhd (www.gnpgroup.com.my)

Light Dynamic Penetrometer & Hand Auger

Excavation & Borehole

Soil & Rock Sampling

Groundwater Monitoring

SPT

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 LIGHT DYNAMIC PENETROMETER

JKR or Mackintosh probe

- to obtain preliminary subsoil information.
- limit to shallow depth.
- drop of hammer should be free fall and
consistent drop height.

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JKR OR MACKINTOSH PROBES

 HAND AUGER

- To determine soil type and ground

water.
- Depth 5m

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EXCAVATION
To prospect fill materials or exposing
materials.
Only apply to shallow depth ( 5m)

- Safety Precautions
Stability of sides / slopes
Barricades if the pit is needed for further
testing
Backfill and compact properly after use.

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 BOREHOLES
Refer to MS2038
Includes boring, sampling, in-situ testing
and water table observation.
Drill through soils and core through
rocks.
Two commonly used methods:
a) Rotary drilling method
b) Rotary wash boring
Rock Coring
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Care in Boreholes
- Levels and coordinates
- Samplers in good condition, clean & greased
- Samplers sealed, labelled & stored

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Sizes of commonly-
commonly-used Core barrels, Casings and Drill
Rods Used

Typical Rotary Drilling Rig

 Sampling in Boreholes
Wash Samples
- soil strata description
Disturbed Samples
- Split spoon samples from SPT
Undisturbed Samples
- Piston Sampler
- Thin wall sampler
- Continuous Sampler
- Mazier Sampler

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Mazier Sampler
- Three-tube core-barrels
containing detachable liners
within the inner barrel.

- Suitable for stiffer soil

stratum.
 Care in Sampling

Groundwater
Water level should be taken daily during SI
(particularly in the morning).
Piezometer should be used for accurate
and longer time measurement.
Good practice :
1. Lower down water level in borehole
2. Allow the ground water rise to original
level
3. Collect the water samples.
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Boreholes with
Standpipe
Piezometers Lockable Cap to
prevent vandalism

Bright Color
(Red + White) to
prevent vehicle
knocking into it.

Borehole Number
Clearly Marked on
Concrete

4m
Standard Penetration Test (SPT)
According to MS 1056
- Hammer weight = 65kg
- Drop height = 760mm
- Total penetration is 450mm and the
number of blows for the last 300mm is
the SPT N value.
Care
- depth of test vs casing L
*site supervision

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Equipment
for SPT
 PLANNING OF GROUND
INVESTIGATION

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Stage 1 - Preliminary
General subsoil profile
- Estimate earthwork and rock excavation
- Typical areas, cut or fill.
Preliminary confirmation of layout and
formation levels.
Preliminary soil parameters and water
table.
Conceptual design and preliminary cost
estimation.
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 S.I. In Grid Pattern
Not
Recommended

(Total = 32 nos)

Proposed SI

(Total = 32 nos)
 Typical Cross-
Cross-Section

Ground Level

Hard Material Level

Very Hard Material Level

Bedrock Level

Groundwater Level

EXISTING
CROSS SECTION GROUND
LEVEL
BH
BH C1, 1

BH

Seepage C3, 3

Water Table
Stage 2 Detailed Investigation
Carry out after optimum building
layout is confirmed.
Refine subsoil profile and obtain soil
parameters.
Soft soil fill area
Major cut and slope
Structures
- Retaining wall
- Loading areas
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Selection of Ground Investigation

Methods

Slope and cut areas

- use Boreholes
- SPT and Mazier samples for triaxial tests
- Piezometer

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 Extent of Ground Investigation
It depends on:
Available information.
Geological formation and features.
Variability of subsoil and
groundwater.
Proposed structures and platforms.
Adjacent property.

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Preliminary Ground Investigation
Number/ Spacing (Minimum)
Depth
- Fill area (Compressible with SPT N 30)
- Cut Area (Depth of potential slips)
Structures
- up to depth of soil where the pressure
induced by structure has little influence
(theoretically)
Geophysical survey for large area and to
determine bedrock profile and
characteristics.
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Depth of Investigation

Foundation Design

Stability Analysis
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Laboratory Test
a) Classification c) Compaction Fill
- Sieve Analysis
- Clay/Silt
- Atterberg Limits
- Moisture Content
- Unit Weight
d) Chemical
- SO4
- Specific Gravity
- CI
- Ph
b) Shear Strength - Resistivity
- Redox Potential
Effective
- CIU
- CID

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 G&P-Form6 (Rev3)
G&P GEOTECHNICS SDN. BHD.
(Geotechnical Consultants)

LABORATORY TEST SCHEDULE

Project No : .. Lab. Schedule No. .. Requested by : Date : ..

Project : .. Reviewed by : ... Date :

Direct SIEVE ANALYSIS CONSOLIDATION TRIAXIAL CHEMICAL ANALYSIS

SAMPLE DEPTH
BOREHOLE M/C A.L. B.D. S.G. Shear UCT OR GANIC SULPH ATE CHLO RIDE
NO. m Mech. Hydro. Std. Rapid S.S. CIU UU PH
Box CONTENT CO NTENT CONT ENT

TOT AL Requested
Performed
Note :
1) CIU - Isotropic Consolidated Undrained Triaxial Test with pore pressure measurements 5) To determine Cv from Consolidation Tests :-
- Use 70mm diameter sample (i.e. untrimmed Mazier sample) - Use Square-Root Time Method to determine d0.
- Sample should not have side filter during consolidation - Then use Log-Time Method to determine d100
- Shearing strain should be calculated using Cv values calculated during consolidation 6) Direct shear box test - Three (3) reconstituted specimens (60mm x 60mm x 20mm thick) shall be used.
stage. - Applied normal stress pressure of 0.5 v, 1.0v , 2.0v shall be adopted for the
- Multi-stage testing not allowed shear box test, where v is the total vertical in-situ stress.
- P-Q Stress Path Plotting shall be submitted. 7) All specimens for triaxial or consolidation tests shall be obtained from center of the recovered samples in
2) For CIU Tests, stress path and other relevant data shall be submitted in Hard Copy (Plots and Tabulated UD sampler.
Data) and Soft Copy (Computer files data). Cell confining pressure of 0.5 v , 1.0v , 2.0v shall be adopted 8) 2 moisture content tests shall be carried out on soil immediately besides the specimens retained for
for the CIU test, where v is the total vertical in-situ stress. triaxial or consolidation tests.
3) UU - Unconsolidated Undrained Test (at total overburden pressure of the sample) 9) Bulk density, particle size distribution and Atterberg Limit tests shall be carried out on every specimen
4) UCT - Unconfined Compression Test (untrimmed sample) after the triaxial or consolidation tests.

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Special Attention

Triaxial Compression Test

- No/Minimum Trimming
- No Side Drains
- No Multistage

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 SITE SUPERVISION

Full time Engineering Geologists, Engineers

or experienced Technicians
Briefing (Supervision Checklist)
Communication
Checklist (http://www.gnpgeo.com.my/RnD_spec_checklist_checklist.asp)

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CONCLUSIONS
1. You pay for soil investigation whether
you carry out or not. In fact you
eventually pay more without a soil
investigation.

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 CONCLUSIONS
Principal conclusions:
1. Delay and escalating
construction costs are due
to inadequate site
investigation
2. Consequences of
inadequate SI is not only
severe during design and
construction stage but
even more serious for full-
life costing

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CONCLUSIONS (cont)
2. You must know
- why you wanted them
- where they are to be carried out
- how they should be done

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 CONCLUSIONS (cont)

3. Use proper specifications

4. Full time supervision

5. Ensure QA/QC system.

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 YOU PAY FOR SOIL
INVESTIGATION
WHETHER YOU
CARRY OUT OR
NOT
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Reference
MS 2038: 2006 Code of Practice for Site Investigations
MS 1754: 2004 Code of Practice for Earthworks
MS 1756: 2004 Code of Practice for Foundation
MS 1056: 2005 Method of Test for Soils for Civil Engineering Purposes
Clayton, C.R.I. Simons, N.e. & Mathews, M. C. (1982) Site Investigation, A
Handbook for Engineers, Grenada London, 424P
European Group Subcommittee (1968)
Recommended method of Static and Dynamic Penetration Tests 1965
Geotechnique Vol. 1 No. 1
Head, K. H. (1984)
Manual of Soil Laboratory testing
GCO (1984) : Geotechnical Manual for Slopes, Geotechnical Control Office,
Hong Kong
 References (contd)
GCO (1980) : Geoguide 2 : Guide to Site Investigation, Geotechnical Control
Office, Hong Kong
Gue, S. S. (1985)
Geotechnical Assessment for Hillside Development
Proceedings of the Symposium on Hillside Development; Engineering
Practice and Local By-Laws, The Institution of Engineers, Malaysia
Neoh, C. A. (1995)
Guidelines for Planning Scope of Site Investigation for Road Projects,
Public Works Department, Malaysia
Ooi, T.A. and Ting, W.H. (1975)
The Use of a Light Dynamic Cone Penetrometer in Malaysia.
Proceeding of 4th Southeast Asian Conference on Soil Engineering, Kuala
Lumpur, pp. 3-62, 3-79
Ting, W.H. (1972)
Subsurface Exploration and Foundation Problems in the Kuala Lumpur
Area, Journal of Institution of Engineers, Malaysia, Vol. 13, pp. 19-25