Soil Exploration

COSC 323: Soils in Construction

Steps of Soil Exploration
Reconnaissance
Map of aerial photographs
Site visit
Boring
Auger boring
Wash boring
Test pit
____________
Sampling
Testing
_____________
Core Borings
Drill into and through formations
Use a core barrel
Remained core Laboratory testing
Type of rock (granite? sandstone?)
Texture (Coarse-grained? Fine-grained?)
Degree of stratification (laminations)
Orientation of rock formation(vertical?, horizontal?)
Presence of weathering, fractures, faults
_______________ = the length of core
obtained / the distance drilled
Question
How many borings do we need?
How deep the borings should be?
How many borings do we need?
The more the better, but what about the
cost?
Rule of thumb
_______ (50ft~100ft) for multi-story buildings
_______ (100ft~200ft) for one-story building,
earth dams
__________ (500ft~1000ft) for highway
How deep the borings should be?
Until acceptable _______________ is
obtained
Need to extend to _______ for very heavy
structure (tall building)
More serious question
What would be the minimum depth of test boring
when
An 8ft square footing is subjected to a contact
pressure of 4000lb/ft
2
The wet unit weight of the soil supporting the footing
is estimated to be 120lb/ft
3
The water table is estimated to be 30ft beneath the
footing

We need more scientific ways
Core Boring
For Infinite Strip Loading
Submerged Unit Weight ?
Wet Unit Weight ?
Core Boring
For Square Loading
Core Boring
For Square Loading (Low Pressure)
Solution
Water table = 30ft < 8ft (=footings width) use wet unit
weight (=120lb/ft
3
)
22ft
Standard Penetration Test
Useful in determining
properties of cohesionless soil
Simple and inexpensive
Use a split-spoon sampler
Method
Use a ___________ falling
_____
Drive the split-spoon sampler
_____ into the soil
Standard penetration
resistance value (N-Value)
Number of blows required to
penetrate the last _____
Number of blows per foot.
Standard Penetration Test
Standard Penetration Test
SPT results are influenced by overburden
pressure
How to correct N-values





p
o
is effective overburden
pressure
2
2
10
/ 25 . 0
/
20
log 77 . 0
ft ton p
ft tons in p
p
C
o
o
o
N
>
=
Standard Penetration Test
) (kips/ft pressure overburden effective p
field in the determined value - N N'
value - N corrected N
) / 5 . 1 (
5 . 0 25 . 3
' 4
) / 5 . 1 (
2 1
' 4
2
o
2
2
=
=
=
>
+
=
s
+
=
ft kips p
p
N
N
ft kips p
p
N
N
o
o
o
o
) (kN/m pressure overburden effective p
100
'
2
o
2 / 1
=
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
o
p
N N
Example
An SPT was performed at a depth of 20ft in sand
of unit weight 135 lb/ft
3
. The blow count was 40.
What is the corrected N-value?
20ft
Example
36 ) 901 . 0 )( 40 (
901 . 0
/ 35 . 1
20
log 77 . 0
/ 35 . 1
/ 2000
) / 135 )( 20 (
20
log 77 . 0
2
10
2
3
0
0
10
= =
= =
= =
=
corrected
N
N
N
ft tons
C
ft tons
ton lb
ft lb ft
p
p
C
Example
35
) / 70 . 2 )( 5 . 0 ( 25 . 3
) 40 )( 4 (
) / 5 . 1 / 70 . 2 (
5 . 0 25 . 3
' 4
/ 70 . 2
/ 1000
) / 135 )( 20 (
2
2 2
0
0
2
3
0
=
+
=
> =
+
=
= =
corrected
N
ft kips
N
ft kips ft kips p
p
N
N
ft kips
kip lb
ft lb ft
p

Example
35
/ 3 . 129
100
) 40 (
/ 3 . 129
/ 1
/ 76 . 95
) / 35 . 1 (
100
'
2 / 1
2
2
2
2
2
0
2 / 1
0
=
|
.
|

\
|
=
=
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
corrected
N
m kN
N
m kN
ft ton
m kN
ft tons p
p
N N
Relative Density of Sand and
SPT
SPT N-Value Relative Density
0-4 Very loose
4-10 Loose
10-30 Medium
30-50 Dense
Over 50 Very dense
SPT for Clay
Consisten
cy
q
u
(kN/m
2
)
Very
Soft
Soft Medium Stiff Very
Stiff
Hard
SPT N-
value
<2 2-4 4-8 8-15 15-30 >30
q
u
<25 25-50 50-100 100-200 200-400 >400
Relation of Consistency of Clay, and Unconfined Compressive (q
u
)
How to use SPT
Bearing capacity factors and |
| vs. SPT N-value
Cone Penetration Test
Popular in Europe, Gaining favor in US
Rapid subsurface exploration without taking soil
samples
Base area = 1000mm
2
Methods
Static cone test
when pushed
Dynamic cone test
when driven
Mechanical cone penetrometer
Cone Penetration Method
How to measure
Push rods to advance the penetrometers tip
Push the inner rods to extend the tip
Repeat these steps
What to measure
________________________
Depth of soil penetrated
Cone Penetration Method
Cone Resistance Friction Resistance Friction Ratio
Cone Penetration Test
Cone Penetration Test
Animation
Vane Test
Determine in-place shear strength for
soft clay soil
Good for ____________ that lose part of
their strength when disturbed
How to?
Push the vane tester into the soil and apply
a torque to the vertical shaft

(

|
|
.
|

\
|
+
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
6 2
3 2
d h d
T
c
t
c = cohesion of the clay
T = torque required to shear the soil
d = diameter of vane tester
h = height of vane tester
Vane Test
Correction factor for vane shear test
Report Format
Scope and purpose
Introduction
Geologic setting
Field studies
Laboratory tests
Analysis
Conclusions and recommendations
Appendix
Record of Soil Exploration
Boring log network
SB1
SB2
SB3
SB4
SB5
SB6