GEOTECHNICAL EXPLORATION

Importance and objective of field exploration

The stability of the foundation of a building, a

bridge, an embankment or any other structure
built on soil depends on the strength and
compressibility characteristics of the subsoil. The
field and laboratory investigations required to
obtain the essential information on the subsoil is
called Soil Exploration or Soil Investigation.
Soil exploration involves broadly the following:-
Planning of a program for soil exploration.
To determine bearing capacity of the soil.
To select the type and depth of foundation for a givrn
structure.
To investigate the safety of the existing structures and to
suggest the remedial measures.
Collection of disturbed and undisturbed soil or rock
samples from the holes drilled in the field. The number and
depths of holes depend upon the project.
Conducting all the necessary in-situ tests for obtaining the
strength and compressibility characteristics of the soil or
rock directly or indirectly.
Soil exploration involves broadly the following:-
Study of ground – water conditions and collection of water
samples for chemical analysis.
Geophysical exploration, if required.
Conducting all the necessary tests on the samples of soil /
rock and water collected.
Preparation of drawings, charts, etc.
Analysis of the data collected.
Preparation of report.
PRINCIPLE METHODS OF SUBSURFACE EXPLORATION

1. OPEN EXCAVATIONS.

2. BORINGS.

3. SUB-SURFACE SOUNDINGS.

4. GEOPHYSICAL METHODS.
1. OPEN EXCAVATIONS:-
a) PITS
1. OPEN EXCAVATIONS:-
b) TRENCHES
2. DRIFTS AND SHAFTS:-
a) DRIFTS
2. DRIFTS AND SHAFTS:-
b) SHAFTS
3. BORINGS FOR EXPLORATION:-

1. Auger Boring
• Auger borings are used in cohesive and other soft soils
above water table.
• Hand augers are used for depths=6m.
• Mechanically operated are used for greater depths.
• Samples recovered from the soil brought up by augers
are badly disturbed and are useful for identification
purposes only.
• Auger boring is for highway explorations at shallow
depths and for exploring borrow pits.
 1. Auger Boring

Hand operated
augers

Power driven augers

2. Wash Boring
• Wash boring is very
convenient method provided
the soil is sand, silt or clay.
• It is not suitable for gravel or
boulders.
• When an undisturbed sample
is required at a particular
depth, the boring is stopped,
and the chopping bit is
replaced by a sampler. The
sample is pushed into the soil
at the bottom of the hole and
the sample is withdrawn.
 2. Wash Boring.

Diamond Drill Bit

Tricone drill bit

3. Rotary Boring
• In the rotary drilling
method a cutter bit or a
core barrel with a coring
bit attached to the end of
a string of drill rods is
rotated by a power rig.
• When boring is over in
soil, the drilling bit is
removed and replaced by
a sampler
3. Percussion drilling

• Grinding the soil by repeated lifting and dropping

of heavy chisels or drilling bits.
• Water is added to form slurry of cuttings.
• Slurry removed by bailers or pumps.
• In general, a machine used to drill holes is
called a drill rig (generally power driven, but
may be hand driven).
• A winch is provided to raise and lower the
drilling tools into the hole.
 SOIL SAMPLES
Two types of soil samples can be obtained during sampling
disturbed and undisturbed. The most important engineering
properties required for foundation design are strength,
compressibility, and permeability. Reasonably good estimates of
these properties for cohesive soils can be made by laboratory tests
on undisturbed samples which can be obtained with moderate
difficulty. It is nearly impossible to obtain a truly undisturbed
sample of soil; so in general usage the term "undisturbed" means a
sample where some precautions have been taken to minimize
disturbance or remolding effects. In this context, the quality of an
"undisturbed" sample varies widely between soil laboratories.
 SOIL SAMPLES
Soil samples are obtained during sub-surface exploration to
determine the engineering properties of the soils and rocks. Soil
samples are generally classified into two categories :

Good quality samples necessary.

AR<10% O.D.2  I .D.2
AR   100 (%)
soil I .D.2

area ratio

sampling tube

Thicker the wall, greater the disturbance.

SOIL SAMPLES
 SOIL SAMPLERS
DESIGN FEATURES AFFECTING THE SAMPLE
DISTURBANCE
1. Area ratio:- The area ratio is defined as,

Area ratio

where, D1 = inner diameter of cutting edge.

D2 = outer diameter of cutting edge.

For obtaining good quality undisturbed samples, the area ratio should be 10
percent or less.
 SOIL SAMPLERS
DESIGN FEATURES AFFECTING THE SAMPLE DISTURBANCE

2. Inside clearance :- The inside clearance is defined as

Where, D3 = inner diameter of the sampling tube.

For an undisturbed sample, the inside clearance should be

between0.5 and 3 percent.
 SOIL SAMPLERS
DESIGN FEATURES AFFECTING THE SAMPLE DISTURBANCE

3. Outside clearance :- The outside clearance is defined as

where, D4 = outer diameter of the sampling tube.

For reducing the driving force, the outside clearance

should be as small as possible. Normally, it lies between zero
to 2 percent.
1. SPLIT SPOON SAMPLER
 3. SHELBY TUBES AND THIN-WALLED SAMPLERS

Shelby tubes are thin wall tube samplers made of

seamless steel. The outside diameter of the tube
may be between 40 to 125 mm. The commonly used
samplers have the outside diameter of either 50.8
mm or 76.2 mm.
The length of the tube is 5 to 10 times the diameter
for sandy soils and 10 to 15 times the diameter for
clayey soils. The diameter generally varies between
40 and 125mm, and the thickness varies from 1.25 to
3.15mm.
The sampler tube is attached to the drilling rod
and lowered to the bottom of the bore hole. It is
then pushed into the soil. Care shall be taken to
push the tube into the soil by a continuous rapid
motion without impact or twisting.
The tube should be pushed to the length provided for the sample. At least 5 minutes after pushing the tube into its
final position, the bottom before it is withdrawn. The tube is taken out and its ends are sealed before
transportation.
Shelby tubes are used for obtaining undisturbed samples of clay.
4. PISTON SAMPLER
 DEPTH OF FOUNDATION

Depth of exploration.

Depth of exploration for friction piles.

Depth of exploration for closely –spaced footings.

 STANDARD PENETRATION TEST

•The standard penetration test is the most commonly

used in-situ test, especially for cohesionless soils which
cannot be easily sampled.
•The test is extremely useful for determining the relative
density and the angle of shearing resistance of
cohesionless soils.
•It can also be used to determine the unconfined
compressive strength of cohesive soils.
•Dilatancy Correction: - Silty fine sands below the water table develop
pore pressure which is not easily dissipated. The pore pressure
increases the resistance of the soil and hence the penetration number
(N).
Terzaghi and Peck (1967) recommend the following correction in
the case of silty fine sands when the observed value of N exceeds 15.

The corrected penetration number,

Where NR is the recorded value, and NC is the corrected value.
If

•Overburden pressure Correction: - In granular soils, the

overburden pressure affects the penetration resistance. Gibbs
and Holtz (1957) recommend the use of the following equation
for dry or moist clean sand.
…….. (i)

where , NR = observed N-value, Nc =corrected N-

value,
= effective overburden pressure (kN/m2).

Equation (i) is applicable for

Overburden Correction Diagram.

Cone Penetration Test (CPT)
IN – SITU VANE SHEAR TEST
 GEOPHYSICAL METHODS
1. Seismic Method: - The seismic methods are based on the principle
that the elastic shock waves have different velocities in different
materials. Seismic methods of subsurface explorations generally
utilize the refracted waves.
•The shock wave is created by a hammer blow or by a small explosive
charge at a point P. The shock wave travels through the top layer of
the soil (or rock) with a velocity V1, depending upon the type of
material in layer – I. The observation of the first arrival of the waves is
recorded by geophones located at various points, such as A, B, C.
•The geophones convert the ground vibration into electrical impulses
and transmit them to a recording apparatus.
•It is assumed that V3 > V2 > V1 . At geophones located close to the
point of impact, such as point A, the direct waves with velocity V1
reach first.
Seismic method.
2. Electrical resistivity methods : -
 SUB – SOIL INVESTIGATION REPORT
A report is the final document of the whole exercise of soil
exploration.
A good report should normally comprise the following:
1. A general description of the nature of the project and its importance.
2. A general description of the topographical features and hydraulic
conditions of the site.
3. A brief description of the various field and laboratory tests carried
out.
4. Analysis and discussion of the test results
5. Recommendations
6. Calculations for determining safe bearing pressures, pile loads, etc.
7. Tables containing bore logs, and other field and laboratory test
results
8. Drawings which include an index plan, a site-plan, test results
plotted in the form of charts
and graphs, soil profiles, etc.