4 Types of Geotechnical Testing Services in Australia

This entry was posted in Geotechnical Engineering Services on Thu Dec 10, 2015

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Geotechnical tests are performed by geotechnical experts and geologists who can understand the properties of the soil before an entire structure is built. Most construction companies have these geotechnical site engineers on their payrolls. Some construction companies have geotechnical testing services that help dig up the earth and find out what exists underneath it. Geotechnical investigations are thus all about conducting a variety of tests such as:

1. The test pits are usually dug up either manually or by an excavator and are used to reveal the innermost and sub-surface areas at a certain depth.
2. The trenching test is the second most common kind of geotechnical test that needs to be carried out before a site is dug up for construction. In such cases, the pit is elongated and spread over a distance and a sub-surface condition is created. These conditions may change over the course of construction. The site engineers can use large quantities of soil samplers and extract the test samples with shovels and hand driven augers. Quite commonly, the split spoon sampler and the modified California sampler along with a Shelby tube sampler are also used to dig up earth before it is assessed.
3. The method of boring is the next most common way of extracting earth samples. The width of such borings have small diameters allowing for opportunities to physically remove these articles from the actual materials. For certain types of soils, boring can be disastrous and may disturb the soil conditions greatly. The solid extracted may not represent the conditions that are actually suitable for buildings and supporting structures. When the soil samples are taken to the lab to be evaluated, these can help provide a lot of information regarding what materials are needed to build structures.
4. In situ testing through the methods of the Standard Penetration Test (SPT) or the Cone Penetration Test (CPT) can both be used to determine the properties of the soil. In Situ tests have the ability to measure the physical properties of the sub soil without removing the constituents of the sample. An accurate reflection of the conditions underground can be adjudged through this form of soil testing.

You should be able to conduct the right test depending on the necessity of the building project. Each test contains its own advantages and disadvantages depending on the needs of the project. If you are adept at drilling out samples, you can better service your clients and their needs.