Towards reliable and effective site investigations

Abstract

It is widely appreciated that, in civil engineering and building projects, the largest element of financial and technical risk usually lies in the ground. Almost exclusively, the scope of geotechnical investigations is governed not by what is needed to characterise the subsurface conditions appropriately but, rather, by how much the client and project manager are willing to spend. There is often little correlation between the variability of the ground and the scope of the investigation. This paper presents the results of a Monte Carlo simulation incorporating many 3D single-layer soil profiles with different statistical characteristics. A three-storey building founded on nine pad footings is used to assess the reliability of various site investigation scopes and test methods. The pad footings are designed on the basis of settlement, and are examined using 3D finite element analysis and Schmertmann’s method. It is observed, as expected, that the likelihood of underdesigning or overdesigning a footing decreases as the scope of the investigation increases. The relationship between these likelihoods and the variability of the ground is presented.