Purposes of A Site Investigation
Purposes of A Site Investigation
Purposes of A Site Investigation
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COLLECTION OF EXISTING INFORMATION
Since the design of the investigation depends on the Civil
Engineering Project and the soil conditions, we must
collect all the relevant information that will enable us to
proceed rationally. There are four sources for collecting
this information:
• the client
• through actual observations at the site
• from municipal records
• Investigations conducted earlier by fellow consulting
geotechnical engineers
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Information collected from the client/architect/structural
engineer and we will need to know:
• Type of proposed structure- dimensions and layout
• Structural loads that need to be transferred to the soil
• Permissible settlement
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PHASES OF SUBSURFACE EXPLORATION
2. Reconnaissance
3. Preliminary exploration
4. Detailed exploration
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FACT FINDING AND GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
Assemble all information on dimensions, column spacing,
type and use of structure, basement requirements, and any
special architectural considerations of the proposed building.
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CLASSIFY THE SITE INVESTIGATION IN
ANOTHER WAY
constructional purposes.
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GUIDELINES FOR CHOOSING SPACING AND
DEPTH OF BORINGS
Depth of investigation is decided based on the intensity of
structured loading and the type of foundation contemplated.
This depth up to which the increase in stress due to
structural loading causes shear failure or excessive
settlement of foundation is known as Significant Depth.
This depth of investigation is generally taken as the depth of
pressure bulb of intensity 0.1q where ‘q’ is the intensity of
loading at the base of foundation.
IS 1892 provides the guidelines for depth of exploration for
different types of foundations.
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DEPTH OF EXPLORATION (IS: 1892-1979)
Sl Type of foundation Depth of
no. exploration
1 Isolated spread footings or raft or One and half times
adjacent footings with clear spacing the width
equal or greater than four times the
width
2 Adjacent footings with clear spacing One and half times
less than twice the width the length
3 Adjacent rows of footings
i. With clear spacing between rows less Four and half times
than twice the width the width
ii. With clear spacing between rows Three times the width
greater than twice the width One and half times
iii. With clear spacing between rows the width
greater than four times the width
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DEPTH OF EXPLORATION (IS: 1892-1979)
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GUIDELINES FOR CHOOSING SPACING OF
BORINGS
Spacing of borings/test pits depends on the type and size of
foundations and extent of variation in soil conditions. IS 1892
makes the following recommendations:
I. 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
II. For smaller and less important buildings even one bore hole or
trail pit in the centre will sufficient
III. For very large areas covering industrial and residential colonies,
the geotechnical nature of the terrain will help in deciding the
number of bore holes or trail pits.
IV. Cone penetration tests may be performed at every 50 m by
dividing the area in a grid pattern and number of bore holes or
trail pits decided by examining the variation in penetration
curves. The cone penetration tests may not be possible at sites
having gravelly or boulderous strata. In such cases geophysical
methods may be suitable.
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