Good soil information is precious. It can lead to significant savings and firm foundations designs because the parameter designs are well defined. If the information is comprehensive, the structure built will be more economical, and it will be stronger. The objective of geotechnical investigations is to build a good building at a low price, and not to build a cheap building. These site investigations can cost up to two percent of the total project cost, but they are imperative at the end of the day.
Qualified geotechnical engineers do geotechnical investigations. These professionals have valuable knowledgeon the physical characteristics of any type of soil around the site of a proposed structure. Geotechnical investigations should also be carried out when measuring thermal capacity of soils and backfill materials that are essential for belowground transmission lines, gas and oil pipelines, solar thermal warehousing facilities and radioactive waste disposal. The geotechnical investigation includes surface exploration and also the subsurface geographic expedition of a site. Geophysical methods have always been used to get critical data about sites.
Geotechnical investigation procedures
Surface exploration can be done in several ways. These include geologic mapping, photogrammetry, and geographical methods. It can also be done by a geotechnical professional who walks around the site to carefully discover the physical stipulations of the site. To get the information concerning the soil conditions that are below the surface, underground exploration is compulsory. There are several ways of detecting the soils under the surface, getting samples and determining the physical properties. These include trenching, test pits, in situ and boring tests.
There are two types of borings: Large diameter and small diameter.
There are two types of soil samples: disturbed and undisturbed. The undisturbed soil samples are not always completely disturbed.
During offshore soil connections, the professionals have to deal with some difficult variables. When the waters are shallow, this can be done perfectly off a barge. When the waters are too deep, a ship is needed. Deep-water samplers are usually the Kullenberg type. There are some seabed samplers too, and these can push the sampling tube into the soil.
The soil samples can be acquiredeasily suing a variety of common samplers. Some of these samplers only provide disturbed samples, and other can provide undisturbed samples.
Several investigation tests could be done on soils to determine its properties. These soil properties are believed to be intrinsic to the constitution of the soil matrix, and this means that they may not altered by the sample disturbance. Several other properties mostly depend on the structure of the soil and its composition. These soils can be adequately tested on samples that are considered undisturbed. Some of the soil tests measure the direct features of the soil, and others measure the index properties that provide valuable knowledge concerning the soil without measuring the property directly.
You need a company with undoubted reputation for your geotechnical needs. Tempsand and South East soil testing are the most promising companies in this field. They are able to do geotechnical investigations and determine geotechnical engineering needs for your soil. Their senior staffs have been in this field for long. They bring to us vast experience that they have obtained while working in local government projects. They ensure proper investigations are done before embarking in any of your home projects. All you need is to contact them in any of your future projects. You can be assured of one thing, all your soil need will be covered and quality soil investigations are guaranteed.