Foundation Engineering - I

Chapter Two
Site Exploration
(Shallow Foundation)

Target Groups: KP – G4C & G3C (Evening)

Urban and Civil Engineering Dep’t, AMU (2012/13)

Instructor: Zeleke L.
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Topic out line

Chapter-2:- Site Exploration

1.1. Purpose of Soil Investigation
1.2. Factors affecting site Exploration program
1.3. Procedure of Exploration.
1.4. Boring program.
1.4.1. Depth of Boreholes.
1.4.2. Number of Boreholes and Spacing.
1.4.3. Reporting (Borehole Log).
1.5. Soil Sampling.
1.6. Types of Soil Testing.
1.6.1 Field Test.
1.6.2 Laboratory Test.
1.7. The Geotechnical Report.
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Topic out line
Chapter-2:- Site - Investigation.
1.1. Generalabout site Investigation.
1.2. Subsurface Exploration program
1.3. Method of Site Investigation and Evaluation of
Field Test Results.
1.4. Other Method of Site Investigation.
1.5. Soil Exploration Report.

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1.1. Purpose of site Exploration
 The purpose of site exploration is to assess the suitability
of a site for a particular project or to investigate the cause
of failure of an existing structure.
 The primary objectives of soil exploration are:
 Determination of the nature of the deposits of soil.
 Determination of the depth and thickness of the various soil
strata and their extent in their horizontal direction.
 The location of the ground water table and fluctuations in GWT.
 Obtaining soil rock samples from the various strata.
 The determination of the engineering properties of the soil and
rock strata that affect the performance of the structure, and
 Determination of the in-situ properties by performing field
tests.

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Cont…
 The information gathered will be used as bases:
 For foundation selection.
 To decide on the depth of foundation.
 For determine the bearing capacity of the selected
foundation.
 For estimate settlement of the existing foundation.

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Factors Affecting Site Exploration Program
 Soil exploration programme are influenced by:-
a) Size and type of the project;
b) General characteristics of the soils in the work
area.
c) Time available for exploration
d) Degree of risk or safety involved.

Example , Tall building, Heavy industrial structures, Dams,

bridges , Erratic soil mass needs extensive exploration
program.

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2.2 Subsurface Exploration Program.
 The following steps are involved in site exploration
program:
1) Desk study or collection of primary information.
2) Reconnaissance survey.
3) Site Investigation.

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2.2.1. Desk Study or Collection of Preliminary
Information.
 In this step try to get the following:
 Information regarding the type of structure to be built and
its general use. For example:
Building:
 Appropriate column loads.
 Spacing of columns.
 Code requirements.
Bridge:
 Span length.
 Loading on piers and abutments.
 A general idea of the topography and the type of soil to be
encountered. These can be obtained from soil maps and
geologic maps.
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2.2.2. Reconnaissance Survey.
 Visual inspection to the site by group of experts to obtain
information about:
 General topography of the site, possible existence of
drainage ditches.
 Soil stratification from deep cuts, such as those made for
construction of other structures.
 Type of vegetation, which may indicate the type of soil.
 Type of construction nearby and existence of any cracks in
walls or other problems.
 The nature of stratification and physical properties of the
soil nearby can also be obtained from any available soil
exploration report for existing structures, Geological
maps, Agronomy maps and Area photograph, etc.
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 1) Reconnaissance:- Visiting the site by groups of
experts.
I) To collect data about the project.
II) To study the geology of the site.
III) To determine the nature of the site and to estimate the
type of soils and rock likely to be encountered.
 The results of this phase of investigation are extremely
valuable in planning the sub-surface exploration
programme.
 These in formations can be collected from: Geological
maps, Agronomy maps and Area photograph etc.

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 2) Preliminary Exploration:
a) Depth, extent, and composition of critical soil strata,
b) Ground-water level and its fluctuations,
c) Depth of bed rock, when necessary,
d) Estimate of engineering properties of soil,
e) Initial selection of foundation possibilities.
Preliminary exploration can be of two types:
a) Shallow exploration:- usually used for light structures,
highways, railways, airfield etc.
b) Deep exploration:- used for dams, bridges, tall buildings,
heavy industrial structures etc.

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3) Detailed Exploration:
a. Additional test borings.
b. Undisturbed sampling if compressible soils are
encountered at critical depth.
c. Laboratory/Field tests if data on soil strength and
deformation characteristics are needed.
4) Analysis of results of exploration:
i. Evaluation of settlement characteristics of various
soil layers.
ii. Evaluation of bearing capacity of various soil
layers.

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 4. Economy Studies:
Tentative cost estimation of various possible foundation.
 During site investigation a decision has to be made on:
 The depth of the boreholes.
 The number and the location of boreholes.
 The sampling interval.
 Type of sample to be collected.
 Type of field tests to be conducted.
 Types of laboratory tests to be conducted.

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2.3. Method of Site Investigation and
Evaluation of Field Test Results
1) Test Pits:
 Test pits or trenches are open type or accessible exploratory
methods. Soils can be inspected in their natural condition. The
necessary soil samples may be obtained by sampling
techniques and used for ascertaining strength and other
engineering properties by appropriate laboratory tests.
 Test pits will also be useful for conducting field tests such as
the plate-loading test.
 Test pits are considered suitable only for small depths- up to
3m; the cost of these increases rapidly with depth.
 Hence, test pits are usually made only for supplementing other
methods or for minor structures.

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Method of Site Investigation …
b) Boring:
 Making or drilling boreholes into the ground with a view to
obtaining soil or rock samples from specified or known depth
is called “boring”.
Depth of boreholes:
 Investigation should be carried extend below the depth where
the stress increase from the foundation load is significant. This
value is often take as 10 %( or less) of the contact stress qo. For
square footing this is about 2B.
 For a two story warehouse or department store, boring depths
of 6 to 15m may be adequate.
 For high rise building it is common to extend one or more of
the borings to bedrock or competent layer.
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 According to American Society of Civil Engineers the
following procedure is used to establish the depth of
investigation.
1) Determine the net increase of stress, ∆σ, under a
foundation with depth.
2) Estimate the variation of the vertical effective stress, σ’v,
with depth.
3) Determine the depth, D=D1, at which the stress increase
∆σ is equal to (1/10) q where q=estimated net stress on
the foundation.

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4) Determine the depth, D=D2, at which ∆σ/ σ’v =0.05.
5) Unless the bedrock is encountered, the smaller of the
two depths, D1 and D2, just determined is the
approximate minimum depth of boring required.

Fig – 1, Depth
determination

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 Based on the ASC- engineers rule for different building
size depth of boring is depicted in the table 1.1.
Table 1.1 Bore hole depth based on ASC – engineers rule.
Number of Stories
Building 1 2 4 8 16
Width Building depth (m)
30.5 3.4 6.1 10.1 16.2 24.1
61.0 3.7 6.7 12.5 20.7 32.9
122.0 3.7 7.0 13.7 24.7 41.5

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 For hospitals and office buildings, the following rule
could be use to determine boring depth.

Db = 3S0.7 , For light steel or Narrow concrete building

Db = 6S0.7 , For heavy steel or wide concrete building
Where , Db = Depth of boring and S = Number of story.
Number of boreholes and spacing:
 There are no clear-cut criteria for determining directly the
number and depth of borings required on a project in
advance of some subsurface exploration.
 For buildings a minimum of three borings, where the
surface is level and the first two borings indicate regular
stratification, may be adequate.
 Five borings are generally preferable (at building corners
and center), especially if the site is not level.
 On the other hand, a single boring may sufficient for an
antenna or industrial process tower base in a fixed
location with the hole made at the point.

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 Five or Four borings are sufficient if the site soil is non
uniform (both to determine this and for the exploration
program). This number will be enough to delineate a
layer of soft clay) or silt) and to determine the properties
of the poorest material so that a design can be made that
adequately limits settlements for most other situations.
 Additional borings may be required in very uneven sites
or where fill areas have been made and the soil varies
horizontally rather than vertically.

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 Table 1.2 Bore hole spacing According to Das

Type of Structure Spacing (m)

Multistory building 10 - 30
One story industrial plants. 20 - 60
High ways (sub grade ) 250 - 500
Dams 40 - 80
Residential Sub division 250 - 500

Type of Structure No. of Boreholes

For building on level surface. Minimum of 3
For building on irregular surface. Minimum of 5
For the site whose soil is non uniform. 4 or 5 is sufficient.

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 Table 1.3 Spacing of Bore hole According to Teng (1983)

Project Spacing of boreholes in meter for Minimum

horizontal stratification of soil number of
boreholes
Uniform Moderate Erratic
Multistory building 45 30 15 4
1 or 2 story 60 30 15 3
Bridge piers, towers - 30 7.5 1 or 2 for
and abutments each
Highways and 300 150 30
Airports
Borrow pits (for 150 - 300 60 - 150 15 - 30
compacted fill)

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Borehole Log
 Information on the subsurface conditions obtained from the
boring-operation is typically presented in the form of a boring
record, commonly known as “borehole log”.
 The borehole log should provide the following:
 A continuous record of the various strata identified at various
depth of the boring is recorded.
 Description or classification of the various types of soil or rock
encountered.
 Data regarding ground water level.
 Size of hole.
 Method of excavation or boring.
 Dates work was carried out.
 The types and depths of samples taken.
 In-situ tests carried out and the depth at which they were
conducted. 25
 Problems or any special conditions encountered during boring.
Figure. Typical example of borehole log

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1.5. Soil sampling methods
 Two types of soil samples can be obtained during
sampling disturbed and undisturbed.
o Undisturbed samples:- Soil samples obtained by
minimum disturbance of natural conditions such as
structure, texture, density, natural moisture content and
stress conditions.
The sample was required to determine shear strength,
compressibility, and permeability of the soil.
o Disturbed samples :- A disturbed soil sample is one
whose natural conditions disturbed.
 The sample was used for grain size analysis, Attenberg
limits, specific gravity and compaction test as well as for
visual classification of soil.
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Area Ratio (AR)
o Experience has shown that the degree of sample
disturbance bears a direct relationship to the ratio of
sample area to sampler area.
[ Do 2  Di 2 ] Where :- Do = External diameter
AR   100 (%)
Di 2
Di = internal diameter of sample

 For sample to have good quality AR < 10% .

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1.6. Types of Soil Testing
1.6.1 Field/In-situ Tests:
I). Field classification tests:
1.Visual inspection:
a) Coarse grained soil :- grain size, grain shape, and
gradation of the soil mass.
b) Fine grained soil :- Texture and color of the soil.
c) Organic soils :- Fibrous texture and dark color.
d) Moisture content:- Dry, moist, or wet.
2. Feel Test.
3. Dry Strength Test.
4. Shine Test.
5. Dilatancy Test.
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II). Field strength Test:-
 The following are the major field tests for determining
the soil strength:
1) Vane shear test (VST).
2) Standard Penetration Test (SPT).
3) Cone Penetration Test (CPT).
4) The Flat Dilatometer Test (DMT).
5) The Pressure-meter Test (PMT).
6) The Plate Load Test (PLT).
III). Geophysical exploration methods:
1) Seismic Refraction Method.
2) Electrical Resistivity Method.
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FIELD STRENGTH TESTS
 Classification tests.
I) Atterberg limits:- II) Grain size analysis
a) Plastic limit Test, Test:-
a) Sieve analysis Test
b) Liquid limit Test.
b) Hydrometer analysis
c) Shrinkage limit test Test
 Laboratory shear tests:-  Other Tests
a) Direct Shear Test. A). Compaction
b) Triaxial Test. tests:
B). Permeability
d) Laboratory Vane Shear Test tests:
c) Unconfined Compression Test. C). Field density
e) Consolidation test: test;
D). CBR
N.B :- For All Tests Refer your geotechnical Engineering,- I & IItest:
course .
E). Sp. Gravity
test
 Field reports broadly fall into two categories:
1. The basic “Factual”, site investigation report
which simply records its findings of the site
investigation,
2. The “Engineering” report, which, in addition,
interprets those findings and makes specific
recommendations.

 Notes.
 A factual report typically contains the &
 Trial Pits
following items:- Borehole
 Introduction. Records.
 Topography and Geology. Sit Plan.
 Site Work.  Test Results.
 Laboratory Testing.
 Engineering reports usually contain all the
items given in the factual report, either as part
of the report itself or as an appendix, plus
additional items outlined below.
 Discussion of ground conditions.
 Results of the desk study.
 Description of project.
 Soil properties for Design.
 Foundation Design.
 Calculations.
 Site Plans.
 Brief for resident engineers,
 Warning that require special treatment
 Recommendation for further