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Site Investigation

Site investigation is the process of acquiring geological, geotechnical, and other relevant information about a site that could impact a construction project. Specialists in soil mechanics and engineering geology conduct site investigations to determine soil and groundwater conditions. The objectives of site investigations include selecting suitable sites, designing foundations and earthworks, assessing temporary construction impacts, evaluating effects on surrounding areas, investigating existing structures, designing remedial works, and ensuring safety. Site investigations aim to determine all site-relevant information, while ground investigations specifically focus on subsurface ground and groundwater conditions through methods like boring and drilling.

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332 views3 pages

Site Investigation

Site investigation is the process of acquiring geological, geotechnical, and other relevant information about a site that could impact a construction project. Specialists in soil mechanics and engineering geology conduct site investigations to determine soil and groundwater conditions. The objectives of site investigations include selecting suitable sites, designing foundations and earthworks, assessing temporary construction impacts, evaluating effects on surrounding areas, investigating existing structures, designing remedial works, and ensuring safety. Site investigations aim to determine all site-relevant information, while ground investigations specifically focus on subsurface ground and groundwater conditions through methods like boring and drilling.

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Geomanjeri
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SITE INVESTIGATION

INTRODUCTION
Site investigation is the process by which geological, geotechnical, and other relevant
information which might affect the construction or performance of a civil engineering or building
project is acquired.
Site investigation will often be carried out by specialists in the field of soil mechanics. Soil, in
the engineering sense, is the relatively soft and uncemented material which overlies the rock of
the outer part of the Earths crust. Specialists in the mechanical behavior of soil are normally
civil engineers: such people are termed soil engineers or geotechnical engineers. Geologists
with an interest in the relevance of geology to civil engineering of building construction are
called engineering geologists.
Objectives of Site Investigation
1. Site selection. The construction of certain major projects, such as earth dams, is
dependent on the availability of a suitable site. Clearly, if the plan is to build on the
cheapest, most readily available land, geotechnical problems due to the high permeability
of the sub-soil, or to slope instability may make the final cost of the construction
prohibitive. Since the safety of lives and properties are at stake, it is important to consider
the geotechnical merits or demerits of various sites before the site is chosen for a project
of such magnitude.
2. Foundation and earthworks design. Generally, factors such as the availability of land at
the right price, in a good location from the point of view of the eventual user, and with
the planning consent for its proposed use are of over-riding importance. For mediumsized engineering works, such as motorways and multistory structures, the geotechnical
problems must be solved once the site is available, in order to allow a safe and
economical design to be prepared.
3. Temporary works design. The actual process of construction may often impose greater
stress on the ground than the final structure. While excavating for foundations, steep side
slopes may be used, and the in-flow of groundwater may cause severe problems and even
collapse. These temporary difficulties, which may in extreme circumstances prevent the
completion of a construction project, will not affect the design of the finished works.
They must, however, be the object of serious investigation.
4. The effects of the proposed structure on its environment. The construction of an
excavation may cause structural distress to neighboring structures for a variety of reasons
such as loss of ground, and lowering of the groundwater table. This will result to prompt
legal action. On a wider scale, the extraction of water from the ground for drinking may
cause pollution of the aquifer in coastal regions due to saline intrusion, and the
construction of a major earth dam and lake may not only destroy agricultural land and
game, but may introduce new diseases into large populations. These effects must be the
subject of investigation.
5. Investigation of existing construction. The observation and recording of conditions
leading to failure of soils or structure are of primary importance to the advance of soil

mechanics, but the investigation of existing work can also be particularly valuable for
obtaining data for use in proposed works on similar soil conditions. The rate of
settlement, the necessity for special types of structural solution, and the bulk strength of
the sub-soil may all be obtained with more certainty from back-analysis of the records of
existing works than from small scale laboratory tests.
6. The design of remedial works. If structures are seen to have failed, or to be about to fail,
then remedial measures must be designed. Site investigation methods must be used to
obtain parameters for design.
7. Safety checks. Major civil engineering works, such as earth dams, have been constructed
over a sufficiently long period for the precise construction method and the present
stability of early examples to be in doubt. Site investigations are used to provide data to
allow their continued use.
Site investigation aims to determine all the information relevant to site usage, including
meteorological, hydrological and environmental information. Ground investigation aims only
to determine the ground and groundwater conditions at and around the site; this is normally
achieved by boring and drilling exploratory holes, and carrying out soil and rock testing. In
common engineering parlance, however, the terms site investigation and ground investigation
are used interchangeably.
Site investigation should be an integral part of the construction process. Unfortunately it is
often seen as a necessary evil a process which must be gone through by a designer if he or
she is too avoid being thought incompetent, but one who gives little of value and takes
precious time and money.
APPROACHES TO SITE INVSTIGATION
Approach 1: Desk study and geotechnical advice
The minimum requirement for a satisfactory investigation is that a desk study and walk-over
survey are carried out by a competent geotechnical specialist, who has been carefully briefed by
the lead technical construction professional (architect, engineer or quantity surveyor) as to the
forms and locations of construction anticipated at the site.
The approach will be satisfactory where routine construction is being carried out in well-known
and relatively uniform ground conditions.
EXAMPLE: PARAMETERS REQUIRED FOR THE DESIGN OF A FOUNDATION IN CLAY

Bulk unit weight of clay


Undrained strength of clay
Compressibility of clay
Variability of the above, both laterally and with depth
Groundwater level
Sulphate content of groundwater
Acidity of groundwater.

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