UNIVERSITY OF RWANDA

COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENVIRONMENTAL AND GEOMATIC
ENGINEERING
PROGRAM: CIVIL GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING
YEAR OF STUDY: THREE
GROUP 2

LABORATORY AND FIELD INVESTIGATION

MINING LAB VISIT REPORT

GROUP MEMBERS

SN NAMES REGISTRATION NUMBERS

1 NIYOMUGABO Stiven 221020717
2 KAYIRANGA Olivier 221020782
3 IMPANO Gloria 221001042
4 ZIRAJE SOLANGE Queen 221003689
5 IRADUKUNDA Divin 221009353
6 NKUNDIMANA Evaliste 221014884
7 UWUMUKIZA Olive 221000367
8 TUYISENGE Elina 221013920
9 DUKUMBUYIJU Nathanael 221009643

Submission date 08-April-2024

 MINING LAB VIST REPORT
As it was prepared by our Lecturer in collaboration with mining lab Technician, on 02 April 2024 we have
gone to mining lab to have sessions concerning with soil exploration as future geotechnical Engineers, we
have to know and understand what beneath the ground. In addition to the technics we have been studied
in the time before, we remained with one of them called Geophysical method used indirectly to know
what beneath the ground. So, we went there to learn how that method is performed.
We started our session in mining lab to have some theories about geophysical method.
Geophysical method is a method used in soil exploration to know what beneath the ground without
digging/destructing the soil.
As we have studied from there, they are two types of technics performed in geophysical method:
1. Seismic refraction
2. Electro-conductivity
On day one we focused on first technic.
1. SEISMIC REFRACTION
As we have seen, this technic use seismic waves to classify different soil strata or rock.
INSTALLATION AND WORKING PRINCIPLE OF SEISMOGRAPHY

Figure 1 & 2 showing installation of seismography

❖ Seismography is a machine
which has power of detecting
how seismic waves propagate
in different soil strata or rocks.
This machine needs other
accessories to work with. Main
accessories are;

• Seismic cable
• Sensors
• Trigger
• Metal plate and hammer
 • Laptop also needed to display and record the data
In fact, there 24 sensors to be connected together by seismic cables in same intervals on good alignment
(on straight line).
One cable connects sensors from 1 to 12 and then connected to machine. Another cable is connected to
the machine and connects sensor from 13 up to 24.
USB cable is used to connect laptop with Seismography machine and also cable from trigger is connected
to machine and then 25th sensor connected to the trigger. The computer used must have a software work
with seismography other wise Engineer must install it before practice. So, when installation finished, the
computer and software in computer is on, you start start shooting by clicking on Acquisition.
During shooting, among 24 sensors, sensor connected to the trigger must be displaced 5times in
approximately equal spacing. Two of them should be at certain distance beyond both ends as it is shown
in the figure 1. One shoot must be done at the center between 12 and 13 and the remaining two one should
be done between 6 and 7 ;18 and 19. On every shoot, a metal plate is put into position and sensor
connected to the trigger inserted into the soil besides metal plate and Manpower take hammer and
hammering 3times on metal plate. Immediately, seismography detects signals and display into the
computer then record data.
WHAT HAPPENS IN ORDER TO SEE SOMETHING DETECTED BY MACHINE?
The vibrations produced by hammering, propagates into the ground and start to be transferred into layers
of soil. When waves meet with another layer different to the previous, it sends signals. Some of signals
are refracted into the soil and other reflected and bouncing back to the machine to give information that
there is new thing (layer or rock) different to previous.
i.e: seismic waves, propagates quickly in hard soil or rock because they transferred grain to grain. Is it in
that case they move quickly in materials with very closer grains but move slowly in loose or poor
materials.
Another thing is that, the data given by seismography comes in terms of velocity because every material
has its unique velocity when seismic wave pass through it.
After shooting in those 5 positions, you save data and came into office to interpret those data and analyze
them and give recommendation.
After those theories, we went out of lab and do practices on what we have talked about.

As soon as we had finished practices, we disconnected all equipment and Lecturer close session with
some closing announcements. Then, we continued to transportation engineering session.
On the following day went back to the mining lab, in order so see other technic used in geophysical
method which is ELECTRO-CONDUCTIVITY
Electro-conductivity is a technic used in soil exploration by means of electricity.
INSTALLATION AND WORKING PRINCIPLE

Terrameter is a device which use electricity to sense what beneath the earth.
It has 4 pots. 2 for current and 2 for potential difference.
When installation is finished, terrameter is on then current flows.
During practice a long rope is used to ensure that all electrodes are positioned on a straight line.
The principle behind this, is that every material has its own resistivity to electricity.
They are 5 methods used to inject electricity into the ground. They include:
o Dipole-Dipole array
o Schlumberger array
o Conventional Wenner (wenner- alpha) array
o Pole-Pole array
o Pole-Dipole array
 For the Schlumberger method, the center muster be between potential nodes and for the first injections
must be placed at 0.5m from the center while for current nodes are 1m away from center.
The procedures are repeated by increasing the distance between center and nodes
When the terrameter is on current flows the ground from A to B but before arriving at electrode B it will
meet the resistance from the material and there will be drop in equipotential and drop in equipotential is
measured through those two potential electrodes. And this measured drop in equipotential is recorded as
apparent resistivity which is denoted by
∆𝑉
𝜌𝑎 = 2𝜋𝑎
𝐼
o Where 𝝆𝒂” is the apparent resistivity
o a is the distance between potential electrode to the current electrode
o ∆𝑽 is change on potential difference
o I is current
i.e: The depth of exploration depends on the distance AB which is between two current electrodes.
Db=AB/19
The Data recorded are processed by a software called “IP2win” by method
called sounding: Vertical Electrical Sounding (VES).
By this method, the graph is obtained and curves appear on the graph.
Finally, software provides table showing the depth of each layer of soil and
corresponding resistivity. After getting this table automatically. As engineer
you have to minimize errors then take screenshots of the results from software
and the paste it in the report with their analyses and recommendations.
Unfortunately, we didn’t go to the site because the battery doesn’t work. Our lecturer tried to find other
but he didn’t find it.
After studying those theories, session was closed and went to transportation Engineering session.

➢ COMPARISON BETWEEN THOSE TWO METHODS

Seismic refraction Electro-conductivity

• It is expensive • It is cheap compared to seismic refraction
• It uses seismic vibrations to explore the ground • It uses electricity to explore the ground
• It is mostly used to know how large is soil strata or • It mostly used in ground water monitoring
rock • Also, this method can be used for large area
• It is very important when exploration is to be done on
large area
Limitations of Geophysical methods
 • Most geophysical surveys rely on detecting physical
1) SUBSURFACE VARIATIONS properties such as electrical conductivity, magnetism,
and density. However, the subsurface of a given area is
rarely uniform, which means detected variations from
the “baseline” in geotechnical properties can
sometimes lead to inaccuracies in the results. The
variation can result in false anomalies or cause depth
estimation errors.
• Many geophysical methods provide depth estimates, but these
2) DEPTH ESTIMATION estimates can be imprecise, especially in complex geological
settings.
• Geophysical surveys can be sensitive to environmental factors
3) ENVIRONMENTAL INTERFERENCE such as temperature, humidity, and soil moisture. Changes in
these conditions can affect the measurements, leading to data
inaccuracies. Additionally, external sources of electromagnetic
interference, like power lines or radio waves, can contaminate
the collected data and hinder the interpretation process
• The resolution of geophysical surveys resolution is limited by
4) LIMITED RESOLUTION the wavelength of the signals used. This limitation means that
small or shallow subsurface features may go undetected.
• Interpreting geophysical data is often a complex and iterative
5) DATA INTERPRETATION process that relies on the expertise of the geophysicist. This
interpretation can be subjective and may vary from one expert
to another.
• Geophysical surveys in certain situations. Geophysical
6) COST AND TIME CONSTRAINTS surveys can be costly and time-consuming, depending on the
chosen method and the size of the survey area. Large-scale
projects may require significant financial resources and can be
time sensitive. This limitation can make it challenging to
perform comprehensive

CONCLUSION
Geophysical method is important to the mineral, rock and soil exploration process, helping to provide
high-level decision-making as well as detailed information for drilling targets and more. Understanding
the limits of geophysical s as well as picking the right partner in geophysical expertise can ensure a more
successful survey process.