2.

Soil Exploration

1
Purpose of exploration
The primary objective is to analyze the nature
of the soil in all aspects, basically is to find out
strength characteristics of the sub-soil over
which the structure has to be built.
Soil exploration includes:
 Selection of alternative construction sites or
the choice of the most economical sites,
 Selection of alternative types or depth of
foundation,
 Selection of alternative methods of
construction,
 Evaluation of the safety of existing structure,
 Location and selection of construction
materials. 2
The soil exploration should provide the
following data:
 Soil parameters and properties of different
layers (e.g. for classification, bearing
capacity or settlement calculation),
 Thickness of soil layers and depth to
bedrock (stratification of soil),
 Location of ground water level and
important groundwater related issues,
 Special problems and concerns.

3
 Planning an exploration program
• The planning of a program for soil
exploration depends upon:
– The nature of sub-soil
– The type of structure
– The importance of structure
• The actual planning of a subsurface
exploration program includes some
or all of the following steps:
i. Desk-study:
Assembly of all available information on
type and use of the structure, and also of
the general topographic and geological
character of the site.

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ii. Reconnaissance of the area:
Consists of walking the site and
visually assessing the local condition,
inspection of behavior of adjacent
structures, rock outcrops, cuts, etc.
Reconnaissance includes the assessment
of;
 Any previous development on site,
 Any previous grading on site,
 Any potential landslide or other
stability problems,
 Condition of nearby structure

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iii. A preliminary site investigation:
This is usually in the form of a few borings or
a test pit to establish the types of materials,
Stratification (vertical profile) of the soil, and
possibly the location of the ground water
level.
 For small projects this step may be
sufficient to establish foundation criteria,
in which case the exploration program is
finished.
iv. A detailed site investigation:
For complex projects or where the soil is of
poor quality and/or erratic, a more detailed
investigation may be undertaken. This may
involve sinking several boreholes, taking
soil samples for laboratory investigations,
conducting sounding and other field tests.
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Methods of exploration
It is important to investigate the surface
condition, but we basically rely on subsurface
exploration soil and rock samples obtained by
drilling vertical holes known as Borings or by
digging exploratory trenches or test pits.
Methods of determining the stratification and
engineering characteristics of sub-surface are
 Test pits
 Boring and sampling
 Field tests
 Geophysical methods
 Laboratory tests
Test Pits
• The simplest and cheapest method of shallow soil
exploration is to sink test pit to depths of 3 to 4 m.
• Test pits enable the in-situ soil conditions to be examined
visually.
• It is relatively easy to obtain disturbed or undisturbed soil
samples:
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Soil Boring and Sampling
Soil Boring:
• This is the most widely used method.
• It provides samples from shallow to deeper
depths for visual inspection as well as
laboratory tests.
• The most commonly used methods of
boring are:
» Auger boring
» Wash boring
» Percussion drilling
» Rotary drilling

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Auger boring:
Operated by hand or by power.
• Hand operated augers, = 15 to 20cm, are of
two types.
• Post-hole and helical augers
• This boring method provides highly
disturbed soil samples.
• Power operated augers (helical) can be used
to great depths, even to 30m, and used in
almost all types of soils above water table.

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Hand Augers a) helical and b) post
hole
10
This image
compares solid-
stem (left) and
hollow-stem (right)
auger flights. 11
Wash boring:
Power operated.
Hole is advanced by chopping, twisting action
of a light chopping bit and jetting action of
drilling fluid, usually water, under
pressure.
 Loosened soil particles rise as suspended
particles through the annular space between
casing and drill rod.
This method best suits in sandy and clayey soils
and not in very hard soil strata (i.e. boulders)
and rocks.
 Depth of boring could be up to 60m or more.
Changes in soil strata are indicated by changes
in the rate of progress of boring, examination of
out coming slurry and cutting in the slurry.
Undisturbed samples whenever needed can be12
Wash boring 13
Different drill
bits

14
Percussion drilling:
• Power operated.
• Hole is advanced by repeated blows of a
heavy chisel into the bottom of the hole.
• The resulting slurry formed at bottom of
borehole is removed by bailer or sand
pump.
• Because of the deep disturbance of the soil
this method of boring is not favored.
Casing is generally required.
• Maximum depth of boring is 60m.

15
 Percussion Drilling
at Site

16
Rotary drilling:
• Power operated.
• Hole is advanced by a rapidly rotating
bit.
• This is the most rapid method for
penetrating highly resistant materials
(e.g. bed rock).
• In this method undisturbed samples
can be obtained at desired depths by
using suitable samplers.
• Maximum depth of drilling is 80 to
150m.

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Rotary Drilling & Drill bits

18
Drilling in soils prone to caving or
squeezing
• Open hole methods encounter problems in
soils prone to caving (i.e., the sides of the
boring fall in) or squeezing (the soil moves
inwards, reducing the boring diameter).
• Caving is most likely in loose sands and
gravels, especially below the groundwater
table, while squeezing is likely in soft
saturated silts and clays.
• In such cases, it becomes necessary to
provide some type of lateral support inside
the hole during drilling.

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Drilling in soils prone to caving or
squeezing
• One method of supporting the hole is to install
casing (see Figure ), which is temporary lining
made of steel pipe. This method is especially
useful if only the upper soil are prone to
caving, because the casing does not need to
extend for the entire depth of the boring.
• The other method is to fill the boring with
drilling mud or slurry, which is a mixture of
bentonite or attapulgite clay and water. This
material provides a hydrostatic pressure on
the walls of the boring, thus preventing caving
or squeezing.

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21
Soil Sampling
• Laboratory test results are mainly
dependent on the quality of soil samples.
• There are two main types of soil samples
which can be recovered from bore holes
or trial pits.
Disturbed and
Undisturbed samples

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Disturbed Samples
• These are samples where the structure of
the natural soil has been disturbed to a
considerable degree by the action of the
boring tolls or excavation equipment.
• However, these samples represent the
composition and the mineral content of
the soil.
• Disturbed samples are satisfactory for
performing classification tests such as,
sieve analysis, Atterberg limits etc.

23
Undisturbed Samples
• These are samples, which represent as
closely as is practicable, the true in-situ
structure and water content of the soil.
• Undisturbed samples are required for
determining reliable information on the
shearing resistance and stress-deformation
characteristics of a deposit.
• It is virtually impossible to obtain totally
undisturbed samples.
This is due to that:
The process of boring, driving the
coring tool, raising and withdrawing
the coring tool and extruding the
sample from the coring tool, all
conspire to cause some disturbance.
In addition, samples taken from holes
may tend to swell as a result of stress
relief.
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• Samples should be taken only from a newly-
drilled or newly extended hole, with care
being taken to avoid contact with water.
• As soon as they are brought to the surface:
Core tubes ends should be sealed with
wax and capped to preserve the loss of
moisture content.
Core tubes should properly be labeled
to indicate the number of bore holes
and the depth at which they are taken
and then stored away from extremes
of heat or cold and vibration.

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Types of tube samplers
 Split Spoon Sample
 Thin-Walled Tube Sampler
 Piston Samplers

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Field [in-situ] tests
• These tests are valuable means of
determining the relative densities; shear
strengths and bearing capacities of soils
directly without disturbing effects of
boring and sampling.
• The most commonly used field tests are:
» Penetration or sounding tests
» Vane shear test
» Plate loading test
» Pile loading test

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Penetration Tests
• They are conducted mainly to get
information on the relative density of
soils with little or no cohesion.
• The tests are based on the fact that the
relative density of a soil stratum is
directly proportional to the resistance of
the soil against the penetration of the
drive point.
• From this, correlations between values of
penetration resistance versus angle of
internal friction (Φ), bearing pressure,
density and modulus of compressibility
have been developed.
• Penetration tests are classified as: Static
and dynamic penetration tests.

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Static Penetration Tests
1) Swedish Weight Sounding Test:
• This method of testing is widely used in
Scandinavia and here in Ethiopia.
• The depth of penetration is measured for
each loading after which the number of half-
turns is counted by 100kg load; the
penetration depth is then measured after 25
half-turns.
• If the penetration after 25 half-turns is less
than 5cm the rod is unloaded and driven
down by a 5 to 6kg hammer.

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 50 25
HT/20cm
100 75 penetration

Depth

Swedish weight sounding equipment,

penetration diagram
30
2. Static Cone Penetration Test (Dutch
Cone Penetrometer Test):
• This method is widely used in Europe.
• The test consists of a cone (apex angle 600,
overall diameter 35.7mm, end area 10cm2,
rods (⅝” ), casing pipe ( ¾”).
• The rod is pushed hydraulically into the
ground at a rate of 10mm/sec.
• The pressure exerted on the rod is measured
with a proving ring, manometer or a strain
gauge.
• The cone is 1st pushed into the ground.
The force required to push the cone 20cm
into the soil is recorded.
• The casing pipe is then advanced to join
the cone. The force required to push the
pipe is also recorded.
• The readings thus taken are plotted
against depth.
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32
Dynamic Penetration Tests
1) Standard Penetration Test (SPT):
• This is the most common of the field tests and
measures the resistance of the soil to dynamic
penetration by a 50mm diameter split spoon
sampler which is driven into the soil at the
bottom of a borehole (sometimes cased).
• The sampler is attached to drill rods and the
dynamic driving force is a 63.5kg mass falling
through a height of 76cm onto the top of the rods.
• The sampler is initially driven 15cm below the
bottom of the borehole. It is then further driven
30cm. The number of blows required to drive the
last 30cm is termed as the standard penetration
value denoted by N.

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34
35
2) Dynamic Cone Penetration Test:

• This is another useful test, which is

normally used to determine the relative
resistance offered by the different soil
layers.
• The cone is fixed to the bottom of a rod and
driven into the ground in the same way as
a SPT is performed. The number of blows
required to penetrate 30cms depth is
called as Nc value.
• In the case of dynamic cone penetration
test no borehole is used.

36
• Experiments carried out indicate that
beyond about 6m depth, frictional resistance
on the rod increases which gives erroneous
results for Nc value. The maximum depth
suggested for this test is about 6 m.
• If the test has to be conducted beyond 6 m
depth, one has to use drilling mud (bentonite
slurry) under pressure forced through the
pipe and the cone.
• The mud solution coming out of the cone
rises above along the drill rod eliminating
thereby the frictional resistance offered by
the soil for penetration. The former method
is called as dry method and the latter wet
method.

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Vane Shear Test
• It is used to determine the undrained
shear strength of soft clays soils.

• The apparatus consists of a vertical steel

rod having four thin stainless steel blades
(vanes) fixed at its bottom ends.

• Vane head (torsion head), complete with

pointer, stop pin, circumferential
graduated scale, calibrated torsion spring.

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39
40
• In most cases a hole is drilled to the
desired depth, where the vane shear test
is planned to be performed and the vane is
carefully pushed into the soil.
• A torque necessary to shear the cylinder
of soil defined by the blades of the vane is
applied by rotating the arm of the
apparatus with a constant speed of 0.5
degree/sec.
• The maximum torque is then measured
from which the shearing strength is
determined.
• From the measured maximum torque one
may estimate the shearing resistance of
the tested clay from the following
formula.
41
 T
Cu
=  2H D  3
D  
 2 12 

where : T = Torque

D = Diameter of Vane
H = Height

42
Plate Loading Test
• In this test a gradually increasing static
load is applied to the soil through a steel
plate, and readings of the settlement and
applied load are recorded, from which a
relationship between bearing pressure and
settlement for the soil can be obtained.

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44
Limitation of Plate Loading Test:
• Plate loading test is of short duration. Hence
consolidation settlement does not fully occur
during the test.
• For settlement consideration, its use is
restricted to sandy soils, and to partially
saturated or rather unsaturated clayey soils.
• Plate loading test can give very misleading
information of the soil is not homogeneous
within the effective depth (depth of stress
influence) of the prototype foundation.
• Plate loading test should not be recommended
in soils which are not homogeneous at least to
depth of 1½ to 2 times the width of the
prototype foundation.

45
Pile Loading Test:
• This is the most reliable means for
determining the load carrying capacity of
a pile.
• The load arrangement and testing
procedure are more or less similar to the
plate-loading test.
• From the results of this test, the allowable
bearing capacity and load- settlement
relationship of a group of friction piles can
be estimated.

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47
Geophysical methods:
• These comprise the seismic and resistivity
methods.
Seismic Refraction Method:
• In this method shock or seismic are created
by detonating small charges or by striking a
rod or a plate near the surface. The radiating
waves are picked up and time of travel from
source recorded by detectors known as
geophones or seismometers.
• Seismic method is based on the fact that
sound waves travel faster through rocks than
through soils.

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49
Electrical Resistivity:

• In this method four metallic spikes to serve

as electrodes are driven in to the ground at
equal intervals along a line. A known
potential is then applied between the
outermost electrodes and potential drop is
measured between the innermost
electrodes.
• The resistivity method makes use of the
fact some soils (e.g. soft clays) have low
electrical resistivity than others (e.g. sand
or gravel).
• Seismic and resistivity methods are
normally employed as preliminary or
supplementary to other methods of
exploration.
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Laboratory tests
The common laboratory tests that concern
the foundation engineers are
– Grain size analysis
– Atterberg limits
– Natural moisture content
– Unit weight
– Unconfined compression test
– Direct shear test
– Triaxial compression test
– Consolidation test
– Compaction test
– Chemical analysis
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Ground Water Measurement
• Ground water affects many elements of
foundation design and construction.
• Because of this its location should be
determined in each job with reasonable
accuracy.
• The depth of water table is measured by
lowering a chalk-coated steel tape in the
borehole.
• The depth can also be measured by lowering
the leads of an electrical circuit. As soon as
the open ends of the leads touch the water in
the borehole, the circuit is completed. It is
indicated by glow of the indicator lamp.

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Depth and number of borings
Depth of Boring
The depth to which boreholes should be
sunk is governed by the depth of soil
affected by foundation bearing pressures.
According to Tomlinson the following
depths of boreholes for various foundation
conditions may be used.

1. For widely spaced strip of pad foundations,

boring depth should be deeper than 1.5
times the width of the foundation.

2. For raft foundations, boring depth deeper

than 1.5 times width of raft should be
used.

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3. For closely spaced strip or pad
foundations where there is overlapping of
the zones of pressure, boring depth deeper
than 1.5 times width of building should be
used.
4. For group of piled foundation on soil,
boring depth should be deeper than 1.5
times width of pile group, the depth being
measured from a depth of two- thirds of
the length of the piles.
5. For piled foundation on rock, boring depth
should be deeper than 3.0m inside
bedrock.
6. According to Teng, for high ways and
airfields minimum depth of boring is 1.5m,
but should be extended below organic soil,
fill or compressible layers such as soft
clays and silts.

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Data presentation
• The results of borings, samplings, penetration
tests and laboratory tests of a site are usually
plotted graphically on a sheet of drawing paper.
• The graphical presentation should include.

1. A plot plan, showing the location of all boreholes,

test pits, etc and their identification number.
2. A separate plot, showing the soil profile as
established from the drillings or test pits records.
3. Soil profiles along given lines in the ground
surface, showing the boundaries between
identifiable soil layers, variation of thickness of
firm bottom layer, thickness of soft clay layers
etc.

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d. The penetration number, the unconfined
compression strength, Atterberg limits,
natural moisture content, and other
appropriate laboratory data may be shown
on each boring on the soil profile.
e. The location of ground water table should
also be shown on the soil profile.

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Soil Exploration Report
Most reports have the following contents:
1. Introduction: - Purpose of investigation,
type of investigation carried out.
2. General description of the site: - general
configuration and surface features of the
site.
3. General geology of the area.
4. Description of soil conditions found in bore
holes (and test pits)
5. Laboratory test results.
6. Discussion of results of investigation in
relation to foundation design and
constructions.
7. Conclusion: recommendations on the type
and depth of foundations, allowable bearing
pressure and methods of construction.

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