October 7, 2020 ITS Money: Rob van Dorp, MSc

Rob van Dorp | Allnamics

More CPT Testing Can Save A Lot

Most traditional foundation designs are based on soil investigation with relatively large spacing between test locations, resulting in uncertainty regarding the site variability. Rather than applying greater design safety factors, it is more effective to perform a more extensive soil investigation – in a denser grid – before beginning the actual design, and by applying a more suitable soil investigation method. This presentation will discuss a recent case where more extensive CPT in the design phase resulted in a more cost effective foundation design.

Findings

• A good foundation requires proper soil investigation data, design, construction and construction monitoring; lack in any of these areas may result in either foundation damage or failure, or in an overdesigned foundation.
• A good soil investigation means detecting variations of soil properties over the project site and thus requires a small spacing between investigation points.
• More extensive soil investigations helps to optimize the design, can save money and prevent all kinds of problems.