Building Construction I

CHAPTER 2: SOIL EXPLORATION

PREPARED BY: AR. SABITA GURAGAIN
 Soil Exploration
The process of collection of soil data for the
assessment soil properties at a site through series of
laboratory and field investigation is collectively called
soil exploration.
Determination of surface and subsurface soil
conditions and features in an area of proposed
construction that may influence the design and
construction and address expected post construction
problems.
Enables the engineers to draw soil profile indicating
the sequence of soil strata and the properties of soil
involved.
 Soil Exploration
1. Topographic Survey
Topographic survey provides information regarding
ground surface feature of the site (i.e., surface
condition of the site)
2. Soil Exploration (Site Investigation)
It provides data regarding subsoil conditions (i.e.,
underground condition), groundwater position and its
fluctuations etc.
 Purpose and objectives of Soil Exploration
To determine the basic properties of soil which affect the design and safety of structure i.e.,
compressibility, strength and hydrological conditions.
To find out the depth of the underground water table and determine the ways to solve the
problem due to groundwater if needed.
To select the type and depth of foundation suitable for a given structure.
To determine the proper safe bearing capacity of the underlying soil.
To solve foundation problems.
To select suitable soil improvement techniques.
To predict suitable construction techniques.
To determine the extent and properties of the material to be used for construction.
To predict any construction problems along with their possible remedies.
 Phases of Soil Exploration
A. PHASE 1 : Collection of available information such as a site, plan, type, size and
importance of the structure, loading conditions, previous geotechnical reports,
topographic maps, geological maps, hydrological information and newspaper
clippings.
B. PHASE 2 : Preliminary reconnaissance. Visual inspection is done to gather information
on topography, soil stratification, vegetation, water marks, ground water level, and
type of construction nearby.
C. PHASE 3 : Detailed soil exploration in the form of trial pits or borings is carried out.
The details of the soils encountered, type of field tests adopted, type of sampling
done, presence of water table are recorded in the form of bore log. The soil samples
are probably labeled and sent to laboratory to determine engineering properties.
D. PHASE 4 : write a report containing a clear description of the soils at the site, methods
of exploration, soil profile, test methods and results, and the location of the
groundwater.
 Methods of Soil Exploration
The various methods of soil exploration are mentioned below:
a. Open test pit or Trial pit
b. Probing
c. Boring: Auger, Shell, Wash, Percussion and Rotary
a. Open test pit or Trial pit
It is the simplest method of soil exploration.
Open test pit or Trial pit are a simple and economical
method of soil exploration to shallow depths only 3-4m.
It can be used for all types of soils.
Do not require any specialized equipment.
In this method a pit is manually excavated to get an
indication of the soil classification & obtain undisturbed
& disturbed samples. Generally gravelly soil.
Trial pits allow visual inspection of any change of strata
& facilitate in-situ testing.
Uneconomical at greater depths.
Supports are required at greater depths especially in
case of weak strata.
b. Probing
In the probing method of soil exploration, a steel bar
of 25 to 40 mm. in diameter with a pointed end is
driven in the ground until a hard sub-stratum is
reached.
The bar is driven by allowing it to fall vertically under
its own self weight or by means of a drop hammer.
At intervals the bar is drawn out and some idea of
the nature of the soil is obtained by examining the
soil sticking to the sides of the bar.
Probing method is suitable to be performed
in places where the soil is soft like clay, gravel or sand.
Probing method is not always to be relied upon
completely. More definite analysis should be done to
ascertain the results arrived at by this method.
c. Boring
Boring refers to advancing a hole in the ground.
Boring is required for the following:
 To obtain representative soil and rock samples for laboratory tests.
 To identify the groundwater conditions.
 Performance of in-situ tests to assess appropriate soil characteristics.
Some of the common types of boring are as follows:
1. Auger boring
2. Shell boring
3. Wash boring
4. Percussion boring
5. Rotary boring
1. Auger Boring
Simplest method of exploration and sampling.
Drilling is made using a device called Soil Auger.
It is very suitable for soft to stiff cohesive soils and
also can be used to determine ground water table &
not suitable for very hard or cemented, very soft soils.
Two types of Auger boring
 Hand operated
 Mechanical auger
Method:
 Auger is held vertically on ground surface & is pressed
out by rotating.
 Turning action cuts the soil which fills the annular space.
 Auger is then withdrawn & cleaned. The process is again
repeated.
 Hand Operated
Hand auger (also called post-hole or iwan auger) is a
very simple hand operated tool used for drilling down to
maximum of 5-6m in small projects and diameter vary
from 10-20cm.
Casing pipes may be used to prevent the collapse of
sides of boreholes.
If stones are encountered, chisel bits are used to break
them.
The auger is rotated until it is full of soil, then it is
withdrawn to remove soil and the soil type present at
various depths is noted.
The soil samples collected in this manner are disturbed
but they can be for classification test in laboratory such
as grain-size determination and atterberg limits.
Auger boring may not be possible in very soft clay or
coarse sand because hole tends to collapse when auger
is removed.
 Mechanical Auger
Mechanical auger means power operated augers.
The power required to rotate the auger depends on
the type and size of auger and the type of soil.
Downward pressure can be applied hydraulically,
mechanically or by dead weight.
The diameter of the flight auger usually is between
75 to 300mm, although diameter up to 1m and
bucket augers up to 2m are available.
Borehole depths up to 50m are posessed with
continuous-flight augers.
Useful in all types of soil including sandy soil below
the water table.
The central stem of the auger may be hollow or solid. A hollow stem is sometimes
preferred since standard penetration tests or sampling may be done through the stem
without lifting the auger from its position in the hole. Besides, the flight of augers
serves the purpose of casing the hole.
The hollow stem can be plugged while advancing the bore and the plug can be
removed while taking samples or conducting standard penetration tests as in fig below:
2. Shell and Auger Boring
Shell and auger methods of soil
exploration are widely used in India in
different construction projects.
The sand bailer or shell is a heavy-duty
pipe with a cutting edge.
The soil is protected from sliding by using
a pipe described as a “shell” or “Casing”
when the hole’s sidewalls cannot be left
unsupported
The shell is raised and let fall into a hole.
The soil is cut and enters the tube, emptied
when full.
Augers are suitable for soft to stiff clays,
shells for very stiff and hard clays.
3. Wash Boring
Wash boring is another fast and simple method of
advancing a borehole.
Applicable only in medium soft-to firm clays and
dense sands for soil exploration.
Soil exploration below the ground water table is
usually very difficult to perform by means of pits or
auger holes. Wash boring in such cases is a very
convenient method provided the soil is sand, silt, or
clay.
 Method:
To start with, the hole is advanced to a short depth
of 1.5-3m by auger.
And then a casing pipe is pushed to prevent the
sides from caving in.
The hole is then continued by the use of a chopping bit fixed at the end of a string of
hollow drill rods.
A stream of water under pressure is forced through the rod and the bit into the hole
which loosens the soil and as the water flows up around the pipe, the loosened soil in
suspension in water is discharged into a tub.
The soil in suspension settles down in the tub and the clean water flows into a sump
which is reused for circulation.
The bit which is hollow is screwed to a string of hollow drill rods supported on a tripod
by a rope or steel cable passing over a pulley and operated by a winch fixed on one of
the legs of the tripod.
The purpose of wash boring is to drill holes only and not to make use of the disturbed
washed materials for analysis.
Whenever an undisturbed sample is required at a particular depth, the boring is
stopped, and the chopping bit is replaced by a sampler.
The sampler is pushed into the soil at the bottom of the hole and the sample is
withdrawn.
4. Percussion Boring/Drilling
Percussion drilling is an alternative method of
advancing a borehole, particularly through hard soil
and rock.
The boring rig consists of a derrick, a power unit
and a winch carrying a light steel cable which
passes through pulley on top of the derrick.
Here advancement of hole is done by alternatively
lifting and dropping a heavy drilling bit which is
attached to the lower end of the cable.
Addition of sand increases the cutting action of the
drilling bit in clays.
When coarse cohesion less soil is encountered,
clay might have to be added to increase the
carrying capacity of slurry.
After the carrying capacity of the soil is reached, drill bit is removed and the slurry is
removed using bailers and sand pumps.
Change in soil character is identified by the composition of the outgoing slurry. The
stroke of bit varies according to the ground condition.
Generally, it is 45-100cm in depth with rate of 35-60 drops/min. it is not economical for
hole of diameter less than 10cm. It can be used in most of the soils and rocks and can
drill any material.
One main disadvantage of this process is that the material at the bottom of the hole is
disturbed by heavy blows of the chisel and hence it is not possible to get good quality
undisturbed samples.
It cannot detect thin strata as well.
4. Rotary Boring or Drilling
Rotary boring or drilling is a very fast method of
advancing holes in rocks and soils.
It is used for soil exploration work only when
deep bore holes are required in difficult
formations with boulders and fractured rock or
water logged sand.
Rotary drilling is a procedure by which rapidly
rotating drilling bits attached to the bottom of
drilling rods cut and grind the soil and advance
the borehole down.
Water or drilling fluid is pumped down the
hollow rods and passes under pressure through
narrow holes in the bit or barrel: this is the same
principle as used in wash boring.
There are two forms of rotary drilling, open-hole
drilling and core drilling.
 Open hole drilling, which is generally used in soils
and weak rock, uses a cutting bit to break down all
the material within the diameter of the hole. Open
hole drilling can thus be used only as a means of
advancing the hole: the drilling rods can then be
removed to allow tube samples to be taken or in-
situ tests to be carried out.
 In core drilling, which is used in rocks and hard
clays, the diamond bit cuts an annular hole in the
material and an intact core enters the barrel, to be
removed as a sample. However, the natural water
content of the material is liable to be increased due
to contact with the drilling fluid.
 Types of samples
Disturbed sample:
 The soil samples whose natural structural
integrity gets changed, during the process
of collection, to a considerable amount is
called disturbed soil samples.
 Disturbed but representative samples can
be used for the following tests.
 Soil type
 Grain size analysis
 Gradation
 Density, consistency
 Stratification
 Organic content determination
Undisturbed sample:
 Undisturbed soil sample is one where the
condition of the soil in the sample is close
enough to the conditions of the soil in in-
situ to allow tests of structural properties
of the soil to be used to approximate the
properties of the soil in-situ.
 Collecting a perfectly undisturbed sample
is difficult and the samplers may contain a
small portion of undisturbed soil at the
top and bottom of the sample length.
 Soil
Soil is the topmost layer of the earth
crust.
Soil is formed by the process of
weathering.
Weathering is the process of breaking
down of rocks or other material into
smaller particles due to long exposure
to atmosphere.
Different types of soil will affect the
building’s foundation in different ways.
Determining the type of soil a building
will be built on affects the project’s
construction and future repairs.
 Features of good soil for construction
It must have stability during wet and dry seasons
It must have good structure and physical properties that can give room for stability
during the construction process
Good soil must have balanced chemistry to be able to withstand any type of building
that’s being constructed on it
The soil must be able to capture precipitation so that it can withstand erosion and
runoff
 Types of soil
Rock or Bedrock
Rock/Bedrock is a layer of rock underneath a surface layer of soil.
Unlike with clay, which can expand and shift, bedrock is more stable and resistant
towards water damage. This makes it a good choice for construction.
Rocks offer a limited risk of the formation of cracks or fissures in a building because
they have a high load bearing capacity.
It is the right choice to use for the construction of larger buildings like skyscrapers,
duplex, and multistory buildings
Rocks include granite, hard chalk, limestone, shale, and sandstone. They have great
stability and depth. You can place your structure on any rock of your choice but ensure
that they are well leveled before building the structure.
Cohesive and Non-Cohesive soil
Cohesive soil
 Cohesive soils are fine grained soils and are those whose particles aggregate or clump
together.
 These soils are characteristically soft and can hold a large moisture content. Upon drying
they obtain almost cement-like hardness.
 Cohesive soils (largely due to their ability to hold water) are also prone to both shrinkage and
expansion.
 Cohesive soils include silt, clay, peat, loam etc.

Clay
 Clay soil is usually found where streams and rivers once flowed or in an area where water
tends to sit after heavy rainfall. It is composed of fine mineral materials and little organic
materials.
 Clay is not ideal soil for buildings due to its tendency to shift around as it dries or moistens.
 When wet, it expands and pushes against the foundation's wall due to its tiny particles. And
when it dries out, it shrinks and causes the foundation to shift
  This can cause cracks or fissures in the building and
result in uneven floors.
 To build a foundation on clay soil, the ground has to
be dug deeper to increase its stability.

Peat soil
 Peat or organic soil is found in the wetlands and
consists of decaying vegetation and/or organic matter.
It is dark brown or black.
 It can hold a large amount of water and is considered
a very poor soil type for a foundation due to how
much it can shift around and its low bearing capacity.
 The unstable nature of peat soil makes it one of the
worst soil to build a structure or foundation on.
 This is because any building built on it is at risk of
developing cracks or other types of damage in the
future.
Silty Soil
 This type of soil can be found near the river, lake, and other water bodies. It is made up of rock
and other mineral materials.
 Silt soil is a very smooth and fine soil when felt with the hands. It also contains small particles
and can hold water for a long period.
 Like peat, silt is another poor soil option for building a foundation due to its prolonged ability
to retain water.
 This quality causes silt to shift and expand, which does not provide the building any support
and puts it under repeated, long-term stress.
 This can cause structural damage or failure. If possible, construction should be pursued with a
more suitable type of soil.
Loamy Soil
 Loam is the best soil type for construction due to its ideal
combination of silt, sand, and clay.
 It combines the best of all their qualities into the ideal
balance for supporting a foundation.
 Loam soil handles moisture appropriately as it absorbs
moisture and dries out at an even rate due to this property
it generally does not shift, expand, or shrink drastically.
 It should be filtered of undecomposed particles or materials
before placing a structure on it. This is to avoid future
disastrous consequences.
Non-Cohesive soil
 Unlike cohesive soils, purely non-cohesive soils do not clump
together in any way .
 Their grains, in other words, remain separate from one
another. Another way of looking at it is as a ‘free-running’ kind of
soil.
 Non-Cohesive soils include Sand, Gravel, Sandy Loam etc.
Sand and Gravel
 Sandy soil is formed from the breakdown of certain rocks like
granite, quartz, and limestone.
 As for building foundations, sand and gravel are suitable because
they have large particles, which aid the quick drainage of water.
 Stress in a building can lead to the formation of both structural
and non-structural fissures that could eventually lead to the
collapse of the building
 For better stability or support, sand and gravel can be
compacted with other good soil types like loam soil.
 Bearing capacity of soil
The bearing capacity of soil is defined as the
capacity of the soil to bear the loads coming from
the foundation.
In other words, The maximum load per unit area
which the soil or rock can carry without yielding or
displacement is termed as the bearing capacity of
soil
The bearing capacity of soil is the maximum
average contact pressure between the foundation
and the soil which should not produce shear failure
in the soil.
Soil properties like shear strength, density,
permeability etc., affect the bearing capacity of
soil.
If the bearing capacity of soil at shallow depth is
sufficient to safely take the load of the structure, a
shallow foundation is provided otherwise deep
foundations are provided.
Ultimate bearing capacity of soil
The ultimate bearing capacity of soil is the maximum vertical pressure that can be
applied to the ground surface, at which point a shear failure mechanism develops in the
supporting soil.
In essence, the ultimate soil bearing capacity test identifies the maximum amount of
load the soil can take before it fails, or gives way completely.
Safe bearing capacity of soil
It is the working pressure that would ensure a margin of safety against the collapse of
the structure from shear failure.
This is obtained by dividing the ultimate bearing capacity by a certain factor of safety,
and it is the value which is used in the design of foundation.
The factor of safety normally varies from 2 to 3.
SBC=UBC/FS
Methods of improving the Bearing Capacity of Soil
Increasing depth of foundation
It is the simplest method of increasing bearing capacity, this method is restricted to sites where the sub-
soil water level is much below and deep excavations do not increase the cost of foundations.

Draining the soil

 With increase in percentage of water content in soil, the bearing capacity decreases. In case of
sandy soil, the bearing capacity may reduce as much as 50% due to presence of water content.
Cohesionless soils (i.e. sandy & gravelly soils) can be drained by laying the porous pipes to a
gentle slope, over a bed of sand and filling the trenches above the pipes with loose boulders.
Compacting the soil
If we compact soil using appropriate method, then there will be increase in its density and shear
strength. As a result the bearing capacity of soil also increases.
Replacing the poor soil
In this method the poor soil is first removed and then the gap is filled up by superior material
such as sand, stone, gravel or any other hard material. In order to do this, first excavate a
foundation trench of about 1.5 m deep, and then fill the hard material is stages of 30 cm.

Using grouting material

This method is applicable for soils where there is presence of pores, fissures or cracks etc
underneath the foundation. In this method, poor soil bearing strata is hardened by injecting the
cement grout under pressure, because it scales off any cracks or pores or fissures etc. For proper
distribution of the cement grout, the ground is bored and perforated pipes are introduced to
force the grout.
Stabilizing the soil with chemicals
This method of improving bearing capacity of soil is costly and applied in exceptional cases. In
this method, chemical solutions, like silicates of soda and calcium chloride is injected with
pressure into the soil. These chemical along with the soil particles form a gel like structure and
develop a compact mass. This is called chemical stabilization of soil and used to give additional
strength to soft soils at deeper depths.
Thank You