SOIL EXPLORATION

Soil Investigation

A. Purposes of a Soil Investigation

A soil investigation program is necessary to provide information for design and construction and for
environmental assessment. The purposes of a soil investigation are:

a. To evaluate the general suitability of the site for the proposed project.
b. To enable an adequate and economical design to be made.
c. To disclose and make provision for difficulties that may arise during construction due to ground and
other local conditions.

B. Phases of a Soil Investigation

The scope of a soil investigation depends on the type, size and importance of the structure, the
client, the engineer’s familiarity with the soils at the site, and local building codes. Structures that are
sensitive to settlement such as machine foundations and high-use buildings usually require a thorough
soil investigation compared to foundation of a house. A client may wish to take a greater risk than normal
to save money and set limits on the type and extent of the site investigation. If the geotechnical engineer
is familiar with a site, he/she may undertake a very simple soil investigation to confirm his/ her
experience. Some local building codes have provisions that set out the extent of a site investigation. It is
mandatory that a visit be made to the proposed site.

In the early stages of a project, the available information is often inadequate to allow a detailed
plan to be made. A site investigation must be developed in phases.

Phase I. Collection of available information such as site plan, type, size and importance of the structure,
loading conditions, previous geotechnical reports, topographic maps, air photographs, geologic maps and
newspaper clippings.

Phase II. Preliminary reconnaissance or a site visit to provide a general picture of the topography and
geology of the site. It is necessary that you take with you on the site to visit all the information gathered in
Phase I to compare with the current conditions of the site.

Phase III. Detailed soil exploration. The objectives of a detailed soil exploration are:

1. To determine the geological structure, this should include the thickness, sequence and extent of the
soil strata.
2. To determine the groundwater conditions.
3. To obtained disturbed and undisturbed samples for laboratory tests.
4. To conduct in situ tests.

Phase IV. Write a report. The report must contain a clear description of the soils at the site; methods of
exploration, soil profile, test methods and results, and the location of the groundwater table. You should
include information and/or explanations of any unusual soil, water-bearing stratum, and soil and
groundwater condition that may be troublesome during construction.

C. Soil Exploration Program

A soil exploration program usually involves test pits and/or soil borings (bore-holes). During the
site visit (Phase II), you should work out most of the soil exploration consists of:

1. Preliminary location of each borehole and/or test pits.

2. Numbering of the boreholes or test pits.
3. Planned depth of each borehole or test pit.
4. Methods and procedures for advancing the boreholes.
5. Sampling instructions for at least the first borehole. The sampling instructions must include the
number of samples and possible locations. Changes in the sampling instructions often occur after the
first borehole.
6. Requirements for groundwater observations.

D. Soil exploration Methods

Access to the soil may be obtained by the following methods:

1. Trial pits or test pits

2. Hand or powered augers
3. Wash boring
4. Rotary rigs
Advantages and Disadvantages of Soil Exploration Methods

Method Advantages Disadvantages

1. Test pits
A pit is dug either by hand
or by a back hole.
2. Hand augers
The auger is rotated by
turning and pushing down
on the handlebar.
3. Power augers
Truck mounted and
equipped with continuous
flight augers that bore a
hole 100 to 250 mm in a
diameter. Augers can have
a solid or hollow stem.
a. Cost effective
b. Provide detailed information of
stratigraphy
c. Large quantities of disturbed soils
are available for testing
d. Large blocks of undisturbed
samples can be carved out from
the pits
e. Field tests can be conducted at
the bottom of the pit.
a. Cost effective
b. Not dependent on terrain
c. Low headroom required
d. Portable
e. Low headroom required
f. Used in uncased holes
g. Groundwater location can easily
be identified and measured
a. Quick
b. Used in uncased holes
c. Undisturbed samples can be
obtained quite easily
d. Drilling mud not used
e. Groundwater location can easily
be identified
a. Depth limited to about 6m
b. Peep pits uneconomical
c. Excavation below groundwater
and into rock difficult and
costly.
d. Too many pits may scar site
and require backfill soils
a. Depth limited to about 6m
b. Labor intensive
c. Undisturbed samples can be
taken only for soft clay deposit
d. Cannot be used in rock, stiff
clays, dry sand or caliche soils
a. Depth limited to about 15m. At
greater depth drilling becomes
difficult and expensive
b. Site must be accessible to
motorized vehicle

4. Wash boring
Water is pumped to bottom
of borehole and soil
washings are returned to
surface. A drill bit is rotated
and dropped to produce a
chapping
a. Can be used in difficult terrain
b. Low equipment costs
c. Used in uncased holes
a. Depth limited to about 30m
b. Slow drilling through stiff clays
and gravels
c. Difficulty in obtaining accurate
location of groundwater level
d. Undisturbed soil samples
cannot be obtained
 5. Rotary drills
A drill bit is pushed by the
weight of the drilling
equipment and rotated by a
motor.
a. Quick
b. Can drill through any type of soil
or rock
c. Can drill to depths of 7500 m
d. Undisturbed samples can easily
be recovered
a. Expensive equipment
b. Terrain must be accessible to
motorized vehicle
c. Difficulty in obtaining location
of groundwater level
d. Additional time required for
setup and cleanup

E. Soil Identification in the Field

In the field, the predominant soil types based on texture are identified by inspection. Gravels and
sands are gritty and the individual particles are visible. Silts easily crumble and water migrates to the
surface on application of pressure. Clays fail this water migration test since water flows very slowly
through clays. Clays feel smooth, greasy and sticky to the touch when wet but are very hard and strong
when dry.

F. Depth of Boreholes

In compressible soils such as clays, the borings should penetrate either 1. 5 to 2 times the least
dimension of the foundation or until the stress increment due to the foundation loads is less than 10%,
whichever is greater. Borings should penetrate at least 1 m into rock. In very stiff clays, borings should
penetrate 5m to 7m to prove that the thickness of the strata is adequate.

G. Soil Sampling

The objective of the soil sampling is to obtain soils of satisfactory size with minimum disturbance
for observations and laboratory tests. Soil samples are usually obtained by attaching an open-ended thin-
wall tube-called a Shelby tube or, simply, a sampling tube-to drill rods and forcing it down into the soil.

H. Boring Log

During soil exploration all pertinent details are recorded and presented in a boring log. Additional
information consisting mainly of laboratory and field test results is added to complete the boring log.

Essential points:

1. A site investigation is necessary to determine the nature of the soils at a proposed site for design and
construction.
2. A soil investigation needs careful planning and is usually done are phases.
3. A number of tools are available for soil exploration. You need to use judgment as to the type
appropriate for a given project.

References:

1. Geotechnical Engineering (Revised Third Edition) by C. Venkatramaiah

2. Principles of Geotechnical Engineering (Fourth Edition) by Braja M. Das
3. Soil Mechanics and Foundations by Muni Budhu