Chapter 5.

Fundamentals of Site Investigation

5.1. Data collection
Data collection needs two kinds of studies: Office study
and Field study

1. Office study • Office study/data collection

• Gathering all the existing
information useful to the
investigation like
geomorphology,
hydrogeology, geology,
population, accessibility,
aerial photography, etc.
• Office study reduces time of
field work if conducted
properly.
is completed once
– The available sources have
been tapped
– The information extracted
and data are organized in a
usable form
– Finally compare the
available data with what is
required and it gives a
guide to select the
appropriate methods for
acquiring it. 1
 2. Field study
• Involves generating new data
through exploration and testing
• Surface exploration
– Such as locating springs,
seeps, mapping landslides,
measuring the structural
parameters of rock outcrop
– Data collected are usually
transferred to a map base.
– The map may be the end
product of the investigation
or serve as a means of
recording data to establish
the spatial distribution of
certain information.
• Subsurface exploration
– Direct examination by test
pits, trenches, drilling, etc
– Indirect examination by
geophysical ( refraction,
reflection, electrical
resistivity and magnetic
surveys, etc).
– Subsurface data compiled in
the form of geologic profiles,
graphic logs, or other 3-D
representations of subsurface
conditions.
• Sampling and testing may occur
consecutively with the surface
and subsurface exploration.
2
• Decide in-situ or • Field notes and drilling
laboratory testing! Need logs are very important
a careful consideration • Should indicate where
by eng. geologist. and when the
• Laboratory testing - observation was made.
unable to reflect the • The type of instrument
influence on strength used
exerted by the number, • A sketch or cross-
spacing, and character section to show the
of discontinuities in the setting is helpful.
rock mass.
• Always record the units
• Documentation is for any measurement.
important to data
• Use a consistent
collection in both office
approach to numbering
and field
the samples taken. 3
 Site investigation
• Site investigation is done for obtaining information about
surface and subsurface conditions for the proposed
construction site.
• Information about surface & subsurface features is
essential for the design of structures and planning
construction techniques.
• SI consist of determining the profile of natural soil
deposits at the site, taking the soil samples, and
determining the engineering properties of soils.
• It also includes in-situ testing of soils.
• SI is done to obtain useful information such as;
✓ To select the type and depth of foundation for a given
structure
✓ To determine bearing capacity of the soil
4
 Cont’d
– To determine the maximum probable and differential
settlement
– To establish the ground water level and determine
properties of water
– To predict lateral earth pressure against retaining walls
and abutments
– To select suitable construction techniques
– To predict and solve potential foundation problems
– To ascertain the suitability of soil as construction material
– To investigate the safety of existing structures and suggest
the remedial measures.
➢ Relevant information is obtained by drilling, taking soil
samples, determining the index and engineering properties of
soils.
➢ In-situ tests are conducted to determine the properties of soil
at its natural conditions 5
Generally, the purpose site investigation is to:

▪ Assess the suitability of a site for the proposed structure

▪ Evaluate the impact of construction on existing site conditions

and existing site conditions on proposed construction

▪ Anticipate what can be expected during construction

▪ Develop criteria for design and construction based on site

specific physical parameters.

6
 Site investigation
A. Regional study
• Address questions of land and
resource allocation
• Provide information for land
use planning
• Involves large areas &
information developed lacks
the detail needed to base
engineering design
• Useful for broad-decision
making purposes required in
regional planning
• Maps and inventories are the
result of regional study.
B. Site investigation
• Commonly associated with
engineering geology
• Study that provides a
description of the state of
physical characteristics of the
site in most economical
manner.
• Concentrates on geologic
information that affect the
design and construction of a
particular project at a specific
location.
7
❖ Two types of site exploration/ Detailed investigation:
1. Surface exploration
2. Subsurface exploration

• Surface exploration: surface information (soil &rock)

understand geological processes which formed the soils and
rocks (natural outcrops, river cut, etc)

• Subsurface exploration:
– to know thickness of overburden/ soil,
– if there is uncertainty of the relation of springs & seeps to the
regional groundwater table.
– If there is a need to identify nature of discontinuities and
orientations in the subsurface.
8
 Subsurface investigation

• Subsurface exploration depends on;

– The type of structure to be built

– The variability of strata at the proposed site

– The relative cost of the investigation

– The entire project for which it is undertaken

– Location of the project (e.g. small house in an already

built area vs house is to be built in a newly developed
area)
9
 Cont’d
➢ If multi-building is to be constructed, extensive sub-
surface exploration would be necessary b/c they impose
very heavy loads.
➢ As the variability of soil strata is found increase the
extent of investigation. But, if the site is found to
underlain by uniform deposits, the extent of investigation
is decreased.
➢ In general, the aim of investigation should be to get
maximum information that is useful in the design and
construction of the project at a minimum cost. 10
 Stages in sub-surface exploration

1. Reconnaissance
❖ Sub-surface exploration is done in three stages:
❖ The geotechnical engineer makes a visit to the site for a careful
inspection in reconnaissance.
❖ The following features are examined during reconnaissance;
➢ The general topography of the site, the existence of drainage
ditches and dumps of debris and sanitary fills
➢ Existence of settlement cracks in the structure near the site
➢ Evidences of landslides, creep of slopes and shrinkage cracks
➢ Stratification of soils as observed from deep cuts near the site
➢ Location of high flood marks on nearby building and bridges
➢ Depth of ground water as observed in the wells
➢ Existence of springs, swamps etc at the site 11
 ➢ Drainage pattern existing at the site
➢ Type of vegetation existing at the site (give clue nature of soil)
➢ Existence of underground water, power conduit at the site
✓ this is the first step in sub-surface exploration
✓ It includes a visit to site to study maps & other records
✓ It helps in deciding future programme of site investigation, scope of work,
methods of exploration to be adopted, types of samples to be taken and
laboratory and in-situ testing.
2. Preliminary exploration:
✓ The aim is to determine the depth, thickness, extent and composition
of each soil stratum at the site.
✓ The depth of bedrock and ground water table is also determine
✓ PE is generally in the form of a few borings and test pits
✓ Tests are conducted with cone penetrometers and sounding rods to
obtain information about the strength and compressibility of soils.
✓ Geophysical methods are also used in for locating boundaries of
different strata. 12
 3. Detailed exploration
❖ Two main goals;
I. Determining & interpreting surface & subsurface conditions
that influence design & construction
II. Evaluating the behaviour, characteristics & engineering
significance of earth materials present or those intended for use
in construction.
✓DE is used to determine also the engineering properties of soil at
different strata.
✓It includes an extensive boring, sampling and testing of samples
in a laboratory.
✓Field tests such as vane shear tests, load tests & permeability
tests are conducted to determine the properties of soils in natural
state
✓For complex projects involving heavy structures such as bridges,
dams & multi-story buildings, it is essential to have DE.
13
 Cont’d
➢ Besides, making site visit, the geotechnical engineer should study
geological maps, aerial photographs, toposheet, soil maps and
blueprint of existing buildings => geologic character of the area
➢ The geotechnical engineer should get information about the type of
structure to be built and its proposed use
✓ In case of multi-stored building
▪ information about the loads and their approximate locations
should be obtained.
✓In case of bridges;
▪ The span length and load carried by piers and abutments
✓In case of dams;
▪ Type of dam, its height, base width etc
14
 Depth of exploration
➢ Depends on the degree of variation of subsurface data in
horizontal and vertical directions.

➢ Governed by depth of influence zone. The depth of influence

zone depends on; type of the structure, intensity of loading,
shape & nature of the loaded area, soil profile and physical
characteristics of the soil.

15
 Lateral extent of exploration
• LEE and spacing of boreholes depend on mainly on the
variation of the strata in horizontal direction.
• For small buildings, one borehole at the center is sufficient.
• For big & multi-buildings there should higher of boreholes w/c
are placed one at the center, while others are at the corner.
Spacing of borings
Proposed Projects boring spacing
One-story buildings 25-30m
Multi-story buildings 15-25m
Highways 250-300m
Earth dams 25-50m
Residential subdivision planning 60-100m
16
 Methods of subsurface exploration
There are two methods of subsurface exploration;
✓ Direct: excavations (pit, trench, boreholes, etc)
✓ Indirect: geophysical surveys
(1) Pits and Trenches:
▪ Pits & trenches are excavated at the site to inspect sub-surface
▪ The size of the pit should be sufficient to provide necessary
working space.
▪ The depth of pit depends on the requirement of investigation.
▪ Shallow pits up to depth of 3m can be made without lateral
support. when it goes deeper, lateral support is needed.
• For depths > 6m , boreholes are more economical than pits
• Trenches are long shallow pits
• Trenches are more suitable than pits for exploration on slopes
17
 Boring for exploration
• When depth of exploration is large, borings are used for
exploration.
• Vertical borehole is drilled to get information about sub-soil strata
• Used to conduct in-situ & laboratory tests soil samples
• Depending on the type of soil and purpose of boring, there are d/t
methods of drilling holes; Auger boring, rotary drilling,
percussion drilling, core drilling etc,

1. Auger boring:
▪ Used for shallow depth and soft soils
▪ Used in soils w/c can stay open without casing (e.g. clay, silt),
but sandy soils below water table requires support (casing)
▪ Not used in the presence of large cobbles, boulders
▪ Disadvantage: soil samples are highly disturbed
18
Boring tools
Auger boring Power drills

19
 Cont’d
2. Rotary drilling:
▪ Used in clay, sand and rocks
▪ Not used for materials containing large percentage of gravel size
and larger
3. Percussion drilling:
▪ Used for making holes in rocks, boulders and other hard strata
▪ Advantage: it is used for all types of materials including drilling
holes in glacial tills.
▪ Disadvantage: the material at the bottom of the hole is disturbed
by heavy blows.
▪ It is quite expensive than others
4. Core drilling:
▪ Used for drilling holes and obtaining rock cores.

20
 Types of soil samples
• Soil samples are generally classified into two categories;
1. Disturbed samples:
• In w/c the natural structure of the soil gets disturbed during sampling
• Represent the composition and mineral content of the soil
• Used to determine index properties of the soil such as, grain size,
plasticity characteristics and specific gravity.
2. Undisturbed samples:
• In w/c the natural structure of the soil and water content are retained.
• It is impossible to truly undisturbed sample
• Used for determining the engineering properties of soils such as,
compressibility, shear strength and permeability, porosity, water
content
• Some index properties such as shrinkage limit can also be determined
• Soil sample disturbance is described by Area Ratio. 21
• Sampling is essential for performing laboratory tests on earth and
rock materials, for testing potential concrete sand and aggregate
deposits, for designing concrete mixes, and for testing potential
riprap sources.
• Data obtained from laboratory testing of samples are used:
✓ To finalize the design of foundations and embankments.
✓ To select construction materials for use in earth, concrete dams and in
other structures.
• Obtaining undisturbed samples requires significant experience and
meticulous to maintain in-place material conditions.

• Both hand and mechanical sampling methods commonly used to

recover disturbed and undisturbed subsurface samples.
22
 Hand Sampling Methods for Obtaining Disturbed Samples:
• Accessible Test Pits, Trenches, and Borings.

• Disturbed Samples (hand-sampling methods) are normally used to obtain

samples from accessible excavations or from shallow hand-auger borings
(including road cut and river bank deposits)

• Hand Auger Borings: Small auger holes cannot be logged and sampled as
accurately as an open trench or a test pit

23
 Mechanical Sampling Methods for Obtaining
Disturbed Samples:

• Using mechanical methods are often obtained from drilled holes;

however, samples are also obtained using construction excavation
equipment (trenchers, dozers)

• Samples obtained with construction equipment are generally

unsuitable for use in laboratory testing because of severe mixing
of material that occurs during the excavation process.

24
 Hand Sampling Methods for Obtaining Undisturbed Samples
Undisturbed Hand-Sampling Methods
• Undisturbed samples in the form of cubes, cylinders, or irregularly
shaped masses can be obtained from strata exposed in the sides or
bottoms of open excavations, test pits, trenches, and large-diameter
auger holes.
• Such samples are useful for determining in-place density and
moisture content and for other laboratory tests.
• Hand cut cylinder samples and block samples provide the highest
quality undisturbed samples for laboratory testing and are often
preferred in critical studies of weak zones when access is available.

• Two techniques are used in geotechnical engineering practice for

undisturbed soil sampling
25
– Blocks and Shelby tubes: best for cohesive soils
Shelby tube

26
Mechanical Sampling Methods for Obtaining Undisturbed Samples
• Each soil type dictates use of different types of sampling equipment
to effectively recover high quality samples.

Saturated Cohesionless Soils: poorly graded sand, silty sand are

difficult to sample below the water table
• Efforts to characterize engineering properties of cohesionless soils
currently depend on penetration resistance testing such as Standard
Penetration Test or Cone Penetrometer Test.
• In situations where cohesionless soils must be recovered, piston
sampling or sampling barrels with baskets or retainers can be used.
• A fixed-piston sampler is designed to obtain a sample within a
thin-wall cylindrical tube by pushing the tube into the soil with an
even and uninterrupted hydraulic thrust.
• The sample is held within the tube during removal from the drill
hole by a vacuum created by a locked piston, which is an integral
part of the sampler
27
Thinwall fixed piston sampler
28
  Medium to Hard Soils and Shales
• Medium to hard soils and shales located either
above or below the water table can usually be
sampled in an undisturbed condition using
double-tube coring barrels.
• The types of core barrels commonly used are the
Pitcher sampler and Denison core barrel

29
  Unsaturated water sensitive soils
• Dry drilling techniques are preferred for sampling water
sensitive unsaturated soils.

• Water sensitive soils include windblown loess deposits and

slope wash that can collapse when exposed to water

• Continuous hollow-stem auger samplers are preferred for

sampling b/c exposure to drilling fluids is not permitted.

• Block samples provide the highest quality sample.

• Thin wall tubes & pitcher sampling result in unacceptable

sampling disturbance.
30
Rock Coring Methods

Layne Rock Drilling

31
 RQD

• Rock Quality Designation index, or RQD, was introduced by Don

Deere in 1963. It judges rock quality based solely on measurements
of recovered rock core (above left) in 10 foot increments, based on
percent recovery and percentage of the pieces longer than 4 inches.
32
 RQD
• RQD = Σ pieces > 4” long (100)
total length cored

• 100-90 Excellent
• 90-75 Good
• 75-50 Fair
• 50-25 Poor
• <25 Very poor
the reported RQD value varies along
the scan line of the recovered core
33
 IN-SITU ENGINEERING GEOLOGICAL TESTS
Several in-situ tests define:
1. The geostratigraphy and
obtain direct measurements
of soil properties and
Geotechnical parameters.
The common tests include:
1. Standard penetration test
(SPT),
2. Cone penetration test (CPT),
3. Piezocone (CPTu),
4. Flat dilatometer (DMT),
5. Pressuremeter (PMT),
6. Vane shear (VST).
7. Pocket penetrometer test
(unconfined compression
strength)
8. Guleph Pereameter
Field tests can be used to
obtain information concerning
in-place subsurface conditions
when exploring foundations.
These include:
• Permeability tests,
• In-place density tests,
• Penetration tests,
• In situ strength and
modulus tests,
• Hand tests (Schmidt
Hammer). 34
• SPT- most common in-situ test
worldwide.
• designed to provide information on
the geotechnical engineering
properties of soil & delineate
stratigraphy.
• The main purpose of the test is to
get information of the relative
density of granular deposits, such
as sands and gravels from which it
is virtually impossible to obtain
undisturbed samples.
• Adv: simple and inexpensive
• Best applied: fine grained sand
• Least applied: clay and gravely soil
• Most of the time SPT and
collection of split-spoon
samples are done at 1.5m
interval or with changes in
soil strata.
• The N value can be used to
estimate strength and
compressibility of sands,
consistency of clays, and
bearing capacities.
35
1. STANDARD PENETRATION TEST (SPT)

36
Standard Penetration Test 37
 APPROXIMATE CORELATION OF STANDARD
PENETRATION NUMBER

Standard penetration CONSISTENCY of UNCONFINED

CLAY COMPRESSION
number, n STERNGTH (KN/m2)
0-2 Very soft 0-25
2-4 soft 25-50
4-8 Medium stiff 50-100
8-16 Stiff 100-200
16-32 Very stiff 200-400
>32 Hard >400

38
 2.Cone Penetration Test (CPT),

• mostly popular type of test because it is fast, economical, and

provides continuous profiling of geostratigraphy and soil
properties evaluation.
• Mechanical systems and electronic systems and, consists of
pushing a cylindrical steel probe into the ground at a constant rate
of 20 mm/s and measuring the resistance to penetration.
• The standard penetrometer has a conical tip with 60° angle apex,
2
35.7mm diameter body (10cm projected area), and 150cm2
friction sleeve.
• The CPT can be used in very soft clays to dense sands, yet is not
particularly appropriate for gravels or rocky terrain.

39
 The pros and cons of CPT
Advantages of CPT
▪Fast and continuous profiling
▪Economical and productive
▪Results not operator-dependent
▪Strong theoretical basis in interpretation
▪Particularly suitable for soft soils
Disadvantages of CPT
-High capital investment
-Requires skilled operator to run
-Electronic drift, noise, and calibration
-No soil samples are obtained.
-Unsuitable for gravel or boulder deposits*

*Note: Except where special rigs are provided and/or additional drilling support is available.

Figure: Various Cone Penetrometers Including Electric Friction and Piezocone Types. 40
CPT, cont’d

41
42
 Geophysical Methods
• Geophysical methods are subdivided into active or passive
methods, depending on whether or not the instrument puts energy
into the ground.
• Active methods: disturb the natural system and measures the
response.
• Active methods have the advantage of potentially greater
penetration or resolution.

• Passive methods are often based on anomalies in the strength of a

potential field.

• Passive methods have the advantage of being totally non-

destructive and requiring less equipment.
 Geophysical Methods

• Gravity - Isostasy, density variations

Passive method
• Magnetic - magnetic intensity

• Seismic - Reflection, Refraction Active method

• Electric - Conductance/ Resistance
 Geophysical… cont’d
• Subsurface conditions are known only at the bore or test pit location.
• Used in preliminary investigations of sub-soil strata.
• Used for location of different strata and rapid evaluation of the subsoil
characteristics. However, they are very approximate.
• The different methods are; seismic, electrical, magnetic and gravity
methods.
1. Seismic methods
• Based on the principle that the elastic shock waves have different
velocities in different materials.
• At the interface of two different materials, the waves get partly
reflected and refracted.
• Seismic methods of subsurface explorations generally use refracted
waves.
• The shock wave is created by a hammer blow or small explosive.
45
 Seismic Surveys:
➢ Seismic refraction surveys are used to determine the
compressional wave velocities of subsurface materials
➢ It can help us to determine the depth of bed rock, thickness of
overburden soil, fault, joint etc
➢ Therefore we can use this method for foundation study, tunnel
alignment, slope stability study and exploration activity.
➢ To determine the depth of bed rock layer or the
thickness of overburden layer we can use the following
formulae.

xd = is the crossover distance which is determine from

distance –
time graph which is the intersection point of the direct
wave
and the refracted wave.
H= depth of bed rock or thickness of overburden layer
V1 = velocity of Direction wave
V2 = Velocity of refracted wave
 Cont’d
Limitation of the seismic methods
✓ Can not be used if hard layer with greater seismic velocity
overlies a softer layer with smaller seismic velocity.
✓ Can not be used for the areas covered by concrete, asphalt
pavements or any other artificial hard crust, having high seismic
velocity.
✓ If the area contains some underground features such as buried
conduits, irregularly dipping strata, irregular water table, the
interruption of results becomes very difficult.
✓ If the surface layer is frozen, the method cannot be successfully
used, as it corresponds to a case of harder layer overlying a softer
layer
✓ The method requires sophisticated and costly equipment
✓ For proper interpretations of seismic results, the service of an
expert is required. 50
 2 Electrical resistivity methods
➢ The electrical resistivity (ρ) conductor is:
ρ = RA/L
➢ The resistivity of a material depends upon: the type of material, its
water content and concentration of dissolved ions and other factors.
➢ Rocks and dry soils have greater resistivity than saturated clays.

➢ There are two methods of electrical resistivity methods: Electrical

profiling and sounding methods.
51
 (A) Electrical profiling method
• Four electrodes (two current electrodes and two potential electrodes)
are used at a constant spacing.
• used to determine the variations in apparent resistivity in a
horizontal direction.

• The mean resistivity(ρ) is given by:

52
 Cont’d

• Profiling method is useful for establishing boundaries

between different strata.

• Generally used for locating sand and gravel deposits

within fine-grained soil deposits.

• This method is particularly useful for reconnaissance

surveys in structural prospecting for contacts, dikes,
faults and fissured zones.

53
 Electrical sounding methods
• The electrode system is expanded about a fixed location as shown
• Used to determine the vertical succession of various conducting
zones, their thickness and true resistivity.

• The spacing is gradually increased to a distance equal to the depth of

exploration.
• As the depth of current penetration is equal to the electrode spacing,
the change in mean resistivity is correlated to the changes in strata at
that location.
 Cont’d
• The method is useful in studying the changes in strata with increasing
depth at a point.
• It can indicate sub-surface variation when hard layer overlies soft
layer or vice versa.
• It can also used to locate the water table.

Limitation of electrical resistivity method

✓ The methods are capable of detecting only the strata having different
electrical resistivity.
✓ The results are considerably influenced by surface irregularities;
wetness of the strata and electrolyte concentration of ground water
✓ As the resistivity of different strata at the interface changes gradually
and not abruptly as assumed, the interpretation becomes difficult.
✓ The service of an expert in the field id needed
55
 Cont’d
• Notwithstanding above limitations, the method is extremely
useful for determination of the average strata in different
conditions
• It is very rapid and economical for preliminary investigations.

56
 Magnetic methods
• All rocks, minerals and ore deposits are magnetized to a lesser
or greater extent by earth’s magnetic field.

57
 Magnetic survey using a proton magnetometer
• They are fast, provide a great
deal of information for the cost
and can provide information
about the distribution of rocks
occurring under thin layers of
sedimentary rocks, useful to
locate ore bodies
• Aeromagnetic surveys are taken
from a moving plane.
• A magnetometer is the
instrument used to measure the
intensity of the magnetic field
at a particular place.
 Magnetic survey using a proton magnetometer 2
• The data for a survey can be plotted as
a contour map using lines which join
points of equal "magnetic" value.
• From these maps geoscientists can
locate magnetic bodies (even if they
are not outcropping at the surface),
interpret the nature of geological
boundaries at depth, find faults etc.
 Gravity Surveys
• These use a gravimeter that
measure the gravity at a given
point.

• These can be carried in planes,

ships or carried by hand.
• If there are denser rocks below
(ores) they will give a positive
gravity anomaly.

• If there are less dense rocks

(salt/halite) there will be a
negative anomaly.