Soil Investigation

Sudheesh T. K.
Assistant Professor
Civil Engineering
IIT Palakkad
sudheesh@iitpkd.ac.in

Short-Term Course on Roadway Materials, Design and Construction, IIT Palakkad, January 27th – 30th, 2020
 Soil Investigation
 Several terms are in use:
Site Investigation
Subsurface Exploration
Soil Investigation
Geotechnical Investigation
Sub-soil Characterization
Ground Investigation

• Deals with determining the suitability of a site for the proposed

construction

Short-Term Course on Roadway Materials, Design and Construction, IIT Palakkad, January 27th – 30th, 2020
Soil Investigation
Determination of surface and subsurface soil conditions and features
such as:
• Soil and rock profile
• Geological features of the region
• Position and variation of ground water table
• Physical properties of soil and rock
• General data of adjacent structures, hydrological data, etc.

Short-Term Course on Roadway Materials, Design and Construction, IIT Palakkad, January 27th – 30th, 2020
 Objectives / purposes of Site Investigation
 To select the type and depth of foundation, i.e. shallow or deep foundation
 To make recommendations regarding the safe bearing capacity or pile load
capacity
 To estimate the probable uniform and differential settlements
 To predict lateral earth pressure against retaining structures
 To select suitable construction techniques
 To ascertain the suitability of the soil as a construction materials
 To identify any difficulties that may arise during construction due to ground
and other local conditions
 To ensure the safety of surrounding existing structures.

Short-Term Course on Roadway Materials, Design and Construction, IIT Palakkad, January 27th – 30th, 2020
 Why is it important?
 Sub-soil formations are complex in nature; vary significantly with depth
and laterally at any given site.
 Proper identification of various soil strata, the lateral and vertical variability
of soil mass, various engineering properties of soil are essential
 Geotechnical parameters are required for the design of foundation and
appropriate
 construction method can be obtained only through a good quality
geotechnical investigation
 Anticipated post construction issues can only be identified through proper
geotechnical investigation

Short-Term Course on Roadway Materials, Design and Construction, IIT Palakkad, January 27th – 30th, 2020
 Planning the Exploration Program
 Should be planned so that the maximum amount of information at
minimum cost
 Sufficient exploration should be undertaken to avoid making an
expensive recommendation to protect against uncertainties that could
have been detected by a reasonable program
 An overly conservative recommendation made by the consultant for
the sole purpose of self-protection after an adequate exploration is
unethical.
 Taking excessive number boring in some condition is also unethical!
 Consultant must have a good knowledge of current and accepted
methods of both field exploration and laboratory testing and their
limitations
Short-Term Course on Roadway Materials, Design and Construction, IIT Palakkad, January 27th – 30th, 2020
 Phases of Soil Investigation
1. Feasibility Phase (Reconnaissance):
It generally involves collection of background information about the site.
Following information is collected:

• Project Details
• Type of structure, intended use of structure, construction method, etc.
• Surface and Subsurface Conditions of the site
• Study of topographic/geologic maps, aerial photographs, data from
previous investigations, satellite imagery, etc.
• Study of existing structures in the area

Short-Term Course on Roadway Materials, Design and Construction, IIT Palakkad, January 27th – 30th, 2020
 Phases of Soil Investigation
2. Preliminary Investigation
• Location of bedrock is established by drilling a few holes. Position of GWT
may also be established
3. Detailed Investigation
• This phase may include test pits excavation, boreholes, in-situ testing and
collection of both disturbed and undisturbed soil samples for detailed
laboratory testing/analysis. GWT may also be monitored by installing
piezometers
4. Construction/Post Construction Investigation
• Sometimes monitoring of movement of structure and monitoring of
groundwater fluctuations, both during and after construction, may be
required

Short-Term Course on Roadway Materials, Design and Construction, IIT Palakkad, January 27th – 30th, 2020
Short-Term Course on Roadway Materials, Design and Construction, IIT Palakkad, January 27th – 30th, 2020
 Location and Spacing of Boring
 Depends upon many factors, major being the following:
o Nature and extent of project (building, highway, dam, etc.)
o Site conditions (variability of soil/rock strata, GWT)
o Availability of fund, time and equipment

The main rule for determining the extent of investigations is that

there is no hard and fast rule for this purpose!!!

 Highway projects: vary from 30 to 150 m in changeable soils

and 300 m in uniform soils
 Building (IS 1892):
o Small /less important building – 1borehole/test pit
o Compact building (covering 0.4 ha) – 5 boreholes
Short-Term Course on Roadway Materials, Design and Construction, IIT Palakkad, January 27th – 30th, 2020
 Depth of Boring (IS 1892)
 Depends upon :
o Type of structure
o Load, size, shape and disposition of loaded area
o Soil profile

 Road fills: 2 m (min.) or height of fill

 Bridge Approach Embankments: 20 min or 2.5 x ht. of embankment
(IRC:75-2015, MORTH 2400)

 Shallow footing: 1.5 x width below footing

 Closely spaced footings: 1.5 x width of entire loaded area
 End bearing pile group: 1.5 X width of pile group
 Should go beyond the zone of seasonal variations
Short-Term Course on Roadway Materials, Design and Construction, IIT Palakkad, January 27th – 30th, 2020
 Method of Exploration
 Accessible explorations
 Borings
 Geophysical Methods

Short-Term Course on Roadway Materials, Design and Construction, IIT Palakkad, January 27th – 30th, 2020
 Accessible Explorations

Short-Term Course on Roadway Materials, Design and Construction, IIT Palakkad, January 27th – 30th, 2020
 Boring
 Refers to advancing a hole in the ground
 It is required for the following:
o To obtain representative soil/rock samples for lab tests
o To locate groundwater table
o To perform in-situ test(s)
 Some of the common types are:
o Auger boring: Hand auger and Mechanical auger
o Rotary drilling
o Wash boring
o Percussion drilling

Short-Term Course on Roadway Materials, Design and Construction, IIT Palakkad, January 27th – 30th, 2020
 Auger Borings
 Simplest method
 Manual or Mechanical
 Suitable in all soils above GWT;
 But only in cohesive soil below GWT

Short-Term Course on Roadway Materials, Design and Construction, IIT Palakkad, January 27th – 30th, 2020
 Auger Borings – Mechanical Auger
 Continuous flight type
 Bore hole depth up to 50 is possible
 Can be solid stem or hollow stem continuous flight auger
 Internal diameter 50 to 150 mm

Short-Term Course on Roadway Materials, Design and Construction, IIT Palakkad, January 27th – 30th, 2020
Short-Term Course on Roadway Materials, Design and Construction, IIT Palakkad, January 27th – 30th, 2020
Short-Term Course on Roadway Materials, Design and Construction, IIT Palakkad, January 27th – 30th, 2020
 Rotary Drilling
 It is a procedure by which rapidly rotating drilling
bit attached to the bottom of drilling rod cut and
grind the soil and advance the borehole
 Water or drilling fluid is pumped down the hollow
rods and passes under pressure through narrow
holes in the bit or barrel

Various types of diamond

drill bits for rotary drilling

Short-Term Course on Roadway Materials, Design and Construction, IIT Palakkad, January 27th – 30th, 2020
There are two forms of rotary drilling:
Open-hole drilling
o Used as a means of advancing the hole in soils and weak
rock

o Drilling rods can then be removed to allow tube samples to

be taken or in-situ tests to be carried out

Core drilling
o Used to procure intact cores from rock and hard clay strata

o Diamond bit cuts an annular hole in the material and an

intact core enters the barrel

o Natural water content of the material is liable to be

increased due to contact with the drilling fluid

Short-Term Course on Roadway Materials, Design and Construction, IIT Palakkad, January 27th – 30th, 2020
Wash Boring
 In this method, a casing about 2m to 3m long is
driven into the ground.
 The soil inside the casing is then removed by
means of a chopping bit that is attached to a
drilling rod.
 Water is forced through a drilling rod, and it
goes out at a very high velocity through the
holes at the bottom of the chopping bit.
 The water and the chopped soil particles rise
upward in the drill hole and overflow at the top
of the casing through a T-connection.
 The wash water is then collected in a container.

Short-Term Course on Roadway Materials, Design and Construction, IIT Palakkad, January 27th – 30th, 2020
 Percussion Drilling
 An alternative method of advancing a
borehole through hard soil and rock.
 In this technique, the borehole is
advanced by the percussive action of the
tool which is alternately raised and
dropped (usually over a distance of 1–2m)
by means of the winch unit.
 Borehole diameters can range from 150 to
300mm. The maximum borehole depth is
generally between 50 and 60m.

Short-Term Course on Roadway Materials, Design and Construction, IIT Palakkad, January 27th – 30th, 2020
 Standard Penetration Test (SPT)

63.5 kg

Short-Term Course on Roadway Materials, Design and Construction, IIT Palakkad, January 27th – 30th, 2020
SPT hammers:

Short-Term Course on Roadway Materials, Design and Construction, IIT Palakkad, January 27th – 30th, 2020
 SPT N Value Corrections
 Correction for energy and equipment

Short-Term Course on Roadway Materials, Design and Construction, IIT Palakkad, January 27th – 30th, 2020
 SPT N Value Corrections
 Overburden Correction

Short-Term Course on Roadway Materials, Design and Construction, IIT Palakkad, January 27th – 30th, 2020
 SPT N Value Corrections
 Dilatancy Correction

Short-Term Course on Roadway Materials, Design and Construction, IIT Palakkad, January 27th – 30th, 2020
 Soil samples
1. Disturbed sample
● Natural structures of soils gets partly or fully modified or destroyed,
although with suitable precaution the natural water content may be
preserved.
● Obtained by direct excavations by auger and thick wall samplers.
2. Undisturbed sample
● Natural structure and properties remain preserved.
● Used to tests for shear strength, consolidation and permeability.
3. Non-representative sample
● Consists of a mixture of soil from different soil strata
● Such samples may help in determining the depths at which major
changes may be occurring in subsurface soil strata.

Short-Term Course on Roadway Materials, Design and Construction, IIT Palakkad, January 27th – 30th, 2020
 Samplers: Design Features

Should be ≤ 10% for

good quality undisturbed
sample
2
Should be between 0.5
and 3% for good quality
undisturbed sample

Should be minimum for

reducing driving force.
Normally 0 – 2%.

Short-Term Course on Roadway Materials, Design and Construction, IIT Palakkad, January 27th – 30th, 2020
 Samplers: Split-spoon sampler

Short-Term Course on Roadway Materials, Design and Construction, IIT Palakkad, January 27th – 30th, 2020
Samplers: Thin-wall tube sampler (Shelby tube)

Short-Term Course on Roadway Materials, Design and Construction, IIT Palakkad, January 27th – 30th, 2020
 Samplers: Split-spoon sampler

Short-Term Course on Roadway Materials, Design and Construction, IIT Palakkad, January 27th – 30th, 2020
Sample handling and storage
 Care should be used to avoid subjecting the sample to conditions which
might alter the properties of the material such as impact, vibration, freezing,
excessive heating or contamination
 Samples should be stored in water tight container or plastic bags
 Shelby Tube samples shall be properly capped and sealed with wax and
transported to the lab within 3 days of sampling in an upright position and
protected from vibration, shock, and extreme temperatures
 All samples must be clearly and accurately labelled to ensure the proper
samples are tested.
 Rock samples should be transported with care to prevent breakage
 Soil /rock core samples should be stored in a location to prevent freezing or
exposure to extreme heat.
Short-Term Course on Roadway Materials, Design and Construction, IIT Palakkad, January 27th – 30th, 2020
 Ground water level measurement
 Information on Existing Wells
 Open Borings
• The water level in open borings should be measured after any
prolonged interruption in drilling, at the completion of each boring

• If the borehole has caved, the depth to the collapsed region should be
recorded as this may have been caused by groundwater conditions

Short-Term Course on Roadway Materials, Design and Construction, IIT Palakkad, January 27th – 30th, 2020
 Soil Exploration Report

Short-Term Course on Roadway Materials, Design and Construction, IIT Palakkad, January 27th – 30th, 2020
 Boring log

Short-Term Course on Roadway Materials, Design and Construction, IIT Palakkad, January 27th – 30th, 2020
 Thank you!

Short-Term Course on Roadway Materials, Design and Construction, IIT Palakkad, January 27th – 30th, 2020