Technical Report Documentation Page1. Report No.3. Recipient-s Catalog No.2.GovermmentAccessionNoFHWA-IF-02-0344. Title and Subtitle4. Report DateGEOTECHNICALENGINEERINGCIRCULARNO.5April2002EvaluationofSoilandRockProperties6. Performing Organization Code:7. Author(s)8. Performing Organization Report No.P.J. Sabatini, R.C. Bachus, P.W. Mayne, J.A. Schneider, T.E. Zettler9. Performing Organization Name and Address10. Work Unit No.(TRAIS)GeoSyntecConsultants11. Contract or Grant No.1100 Lake Hearn Drive, NEDTFH61-94-C-00099Atlanta,Georgia30342-152312. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address13 Type of Report and Period CoveredU.S.DepartmentofTransportationTechnical ManualOfficeofBridgeTechnologyFederal Highway Administration14. Sponsoring Agency Code400 Seventh Street, SWWashington,DC 2059015.Supplementary NotesFHWACOTR:Chien-Tan ChangFHWATechnical Consultant:JerryA.DiMaggio16.Abstract This document presents state-of-the-practice information on theevaluation ofsoil androck propertiesfor geotechnicaldesign applications.This documentaddressestheentirerangeofmaterialspotentiallyencountered inhighwayengineeringpractice, from soft clayto intactrock and variations of materials thatfall between these two extremes.Information ispresentedonparametersmeasured,evaluationofdataquality,and interpretationofpropertiesforconventional soiland rock laboratory testing, as well as in situ devices such as field vane testing, cone penetration testing, dilatometer,pressuremeter, and borehole jack.This document provides the design engineer with information that can be used to develop arationaleforacceptingorrejectingdata and forresolving inconsistencies betweendataprovidedbydifferentlaboratories andfieldtests.This document also includes information on: (I) the use ofGeographical Information Systems(GIS) and Personal Data Assistancedevicesforthecollectionandinterpretationofsubsurfaceinformation,(2)quantitativemeasuresforevaluatingdisturbanceoflaboratorysoilsamples,and(3)theuseofmeasurementsfromgeophysicaltestingtechniquestoobtaininformationonthemodulusofsoil.Alsoincludedarechaptersonevaluatingpropertiesofspecialsoilmaterials(e.g.,loess,cementedsands,peatsandorganicsoils, etc.)and theuseof statistical information in evaluating anomalous data and obtaining designvalues for soil and rockproperties. An appendix ofthree detailed soil and rock property selection examples is provided which illustrate the application ofthemethods described inthedocument17. Key Words18. Distribution StatementSoil properties, rock properties, laboratory testing,Norestrictions.ThisdocumentisavailabletothepublicfromtheNationalTechnicalInformationService,Springfield,Virginiain-situtesting,subsurfaceinvestigation,dataqualitydata interpretation,shear strength,consolidation22161.hydraulic conductivity,modulus21. No. of Pages22.Price19. Security Classif. (of this report)20. Security Classif. (ofthis page)385UnclassifiedUnclassifiedReproduction of completed page authorizedFormDOTF1700.7(8-72)
Technical Report Documentation Page 1. Report No. FHWA-IF-02-034 2. Government Accession No. 3. Recipient=s Catalog No. 4. Report Date April 2002 4. Title and Subtitle GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING CIRCULAR NO. 5 Evaluation of Soil and Rock Properties 6. Performing Organization Code: 7. Author(s) P.J. Sabatini, R.C. Bachus, P.W. Mayne, J.A. Schneider, T.E. Zettler 8. Performing Organization Report No. 9. Performing Organization Name and Address 10. Work Unit No.(TRAIS) GeoSyntec Consultants 1100 Lake Hearn Drive, NE Atlanta, Georgia 30342-1523 11. Contract or Grant No. DTFH61-94-C-00099 13 Type of Report and Period Covered Technical Manual 12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Bridge Technology Federal Highway Administration 400 Seventh Street, SW Washington, DC 20590 14. Sponsoring Agency Code 15. Supplementary Notes FHWA COTR: Chien-Tan Chang FHWA Technical Consultant: Jerry A. DiMaggio 16. Abstract This document presents state-of-the-practice information on the evaluation of soil and rock properties for geotechnical design applications. This document addresses the entire range of materials potentially encountered in highway engineering practice, from soft clay to intact rock and variations of materials that fall between these two extremes. Information is presented on parameters measured, evaluation of data quality, and interpretation of properties for conventional soil and rock laboratory testing, as well as in situ devices such as field vane testing, cone penetration testing, dilatometer, pressuremeter, and borehole jack. This document provides the design engineer with information that can be used to develop a rationale for accepting or rejecting data and for resolving inconsistencies between data provided by different laboratories and field tests. This document also includes information on: (1) the use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and Personal Data Assistance devices for the collection and interpretation of subsurface information; (2) quantitative measures for evaluating disturbance of laboratory soil samples; and (3) the use of measurements from geophysical testing techniques to obtain information on the modulus of soil. Also included are chapters on evaluating properties of special soil materials (e.g., loess, cemented sands, peats and organic soils, etc.) and the use of statistical information in evaluating anomalous data and obtaining design values for soil and rock properties. An appendix of three detailed soil and rock property selection examples is provided which illustrate the application of the methods described in the document. 17. Key Words Soil properties, rock properties, laboratory testing, in-situ testing, subsurface investigation, data quality, data interpretation, shear strength, consolidation, hydraulic conductivity, modulus 18. Distribution Statement No restrictions. This document is available to the public from the National Technical Information Service, Springfield, Virginia 22161. 19. Security Classif. (of this report) Unclassified 20. Security Classif. (of this page) Unclassified 21. No. of Pages 385 22. Price Form DOT F 1700.7 (8-72) Reproduction of completed page authorized
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSThe authors would like to express their appreciation to Mr. Jerry A. DiMaggio, P.E. of the U.S.Department of TransportationFederal HighwayAdministration(FHWA)for providing significanttechnical assistance and review during preparation of the document.The authors would also like tothank Messer'sNorman Norrish,P.Eng.and DuncanWyllie, P.Eng.of Wyllie& Norrish RockEngineers for providing technical assistance on rock property evaluation. The authors would alsolike to thank the following individuals who reviewed the document and served on the TechnicalWorking Group for this project:·RichardCheney,P.E.-FHWA (retired);.NariAbar-GeostructuralEngineering,Inc·DavidShiells,P.E.-VirginiaDOT;·LawrencePierson-OregonDOTSamMansukhani-FHWAMidwesternResourceCenter,andMichelleCribbs-FHWATheauthors would also liketoacknowledgeGeotesting Express Inc.forprovidingphotographsFinally, the authors would like to thank Mrs. Ann Taylor and Mr. Michael Harris of GeoSyntecConsultantswhodraftedthefiguresandassistedinthelayoutofthedocument-
i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors would like to express their appreciation to Mr. Jerry A. DiMaggio, P.E. of the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) for providing significant technical assistance and review during preparation of the document. The authors would also like to thank Messer’s Norman Norrish, P.Eng. and Duncan Wyllie, P.Eng. of Wyllie & Norrish Rock Engineers for providing technical assistance on rock property evaluation. The authors would also like to thank the following individuals who reviewed the document and served on the Technical Working Group for this project: • Richard Cheney, P.E. – FHWA (retired); • Nari Abar – Geostructural Engineering, Inc. • David Shiells, P.E. – Virginia DOT; • Lawrence Pierson – Oregon DOT; • Sam Mansukhani – FHWA Midwestern Resource Center; and • Michelle Cribbs – FHWA The authors would also like to acknowledge Geotesting Express Inc. for providing photographs. Finally, the authors would like to thank Mrs. Ann Taylor and Mr. Michael Harris of GeoSyntec Consultants who drafted the figures and assisted in the layout of the document
PREFACEThis document presents state-of-the-practice information on the evaluation of soil and rockproperties for geotechnical design applications.This document was prepared to providegeotechnical engineers with tools to assist in the rational development of subsurface investigationprograms, as well as in the execution of laboratory and field testing programs involving soil androck, and interpretation of data from these programs. The document will be equally useful forstructural engineers, engineering geologists, or geologists who may be responsible for field andlaboratory testing programs.This document addresses the entire range of materials potentiallyencountered in highway engineering practice, from soft clay to intact rock and variations ofmaterials that fall between these two extremes.In reviewing texts and course materials that are currently available to the practicing engineer, it isrecognized that two important areas have not been sufficiently addressed. These are: (1) the use androle of in-situ testing,and (2)the interpretation of conflicting, contradicting,and inconsistent data.Regarding the first point, it is recognized that over the past 20 years, several in situ testingtechniques have moved from the arena ofuniversityresearch to routine engineering practice.In2002, in situ testing plays a critical role in assessing soil properties and, to a lesser extent, rockproperties.particularly by complementing laboratory-derived data.In this document detailedinformation on parameters measured, evaluation of data quality,and interpretation of properties areprovided for conventional soil and rock laboratory testing,as well as in situ devices such as fieldvane testing, cone penetration testing, dilatometer, pressuremeter, and borehole jack. Regarding thesecond point, data resulting from the range of laboratory and in situ tests are often not completelyconsistent with other data obtained for the project and/or soil deposit. This document provides thedesign engineer with information that can be used to develop a rationale for accepting or rejectingdata and for resolving inconsistencies between data provided by different laboratories and field tests.This document relies on previous good practice in the evaluation of soil and rock properties.Thisgood practice is extended by more recent developments in the areas of engineering propertyevaluation methods by including: (1) use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and PersonalData Assistance (i.e., handheld computer)devices for the collection and interpretation of subsurfaceinformation, (2)quantitative measures for evaluating disturbance of laboratory soil samples; and (3)useofmeasurementsfromseismicandgeophysicaltestingtechniquestoobtaininformationonthemodulus of soils for static deformation analyses. Other features of this document include a chapteron evaluating properties of special soil materials (e.g., loess, cemented sands, peats and organicsoils),a chapteron the use of statistical information in evaluating anomalous data and obtainingdesign values for soil and rock properties, and an appendix of three detailed soil and rock propertyselection examples which illustrate the application of the methods described in the document forpropertyevaluationi
ii PREFACE This document presents state-of-the-practice information on the evaluation of soil and rock properties for geotechnical design applications. This document was prepared to provide geotechnical engineers with tools to assist in the rational development of subsurface investigation programs, as well as in the execution of laboratory and field testing programs involving soil and rock, and interpretation of data from these programs. The document will be equally useful for structural engineers, engineering geologists, or geologists who may be responsible for field and laboratory testing programs. This document addresses the entire range of materials potentially encountered in highway engineering practice, from soft clay to intact rock and variations of materials that fall between these two extremes. In reviewing texts and course materials that are currently available to the practicing engineer, it is recognized that two important areas have not been sufficiently addressed. These are: (1) the use and role of in-situ testing; and (2) the interpretation of conflicting, contradicting, and inconsistent data. Regarding the first point, it is recognized that over the past 20 years, several in situ testing techniques have moved from the arena of university research to routine engineering practice. In 2002, in situ testing plays a critical role in assessing soil properties and, to a lesser extent, rock properties, particularly by complementing laboratory-derived data. In this document detailed information on parameters measured, evaluation of data quality, and interpretation of properties are provided for conventional soil and rock laboratory testing, as well as in situ devices such as field vane testing, cone penetration testing, dilatometer, pressuremeter, and borehole jack. Regarding the second point, data resulting from the range of laboratory and in situ tests are often not completely consistent with other data obtained for the project and/or soil deposit. This document provides the design engineer with information that can be used to develop a rationale for accepting or rejecting data and for resolving inconsistencies between data provided by different laboratories and field tests. This document relies on previous good practice in the evaluation of soil and rock properties. This good practice is extended by more recent developments in the areas of engineering property evaluation methods by including: (1) use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and Personal Data Assistance (i.e., handheld computer) devices for the collection and interpretation of subsurface information; (2) quantitative measures for evaluating disturbance of laboratory soil samples; and (3) use of measurements from seismic and geophysical testing techniques to obtain information on the modulus of soils for static deformation analyses. Other features of this document include a chapter on evaluating properties of special soil materials (e.g., loess, cemented sands, peats and organic soils), a chapter on the use of statistical information in evaluating anomalous data and obtaining design values for soil and rock properties, and an appendix of three detailed soil and rock property selection examples which illustrate the application of the methods described in the document for property evaluation
TABLEOFCONTENTSCHAPTER 11.1INTRODUCTION.1.2BACKGROUND1.3DOCUMENTORGANIZATION4CHAPTER 22.1INTRODUCTION2.2PROCESSOFSOILANDROCKPROPERTYSELECTION42.3USEOFCORRELATIONSTOASSISTPROPERTYSELECTION2.4USEOFOBSERVATIONALMETHODCHAPTER 3..103.1INTRODUCTION.103.2PLANNINGTHESUBSURFACEINVESTIGATIONANDLABORATORYTESTINGPROGRAM..103.2.1General.103.2.2IdentifyData Needs..103.2.3.11GatherandAnalyzeExistingInformation3.2.4.17Conduct Site Visit..3.2.5Develop Preliminary Site Model.183.2.6..20Developing a Site Investigation Program3.2.722DevelopingaLaboratoryTestingProgramCHAPTER 4.264.1INTRODUCTION..264.2.27BORINGMETHODS4.3SAMPLINGMETHODS..324.3.1.32Disturbed Sampling of Soil....4.3.2.34Undisturbed Sampling of Soil.ili
iii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 . 1 1.1 INTRODUCTION. 1 1.2 BACKGROUND . 1 1.3 DOCUMENT ORGANIZATION. 2 CHAPTER 2 . 4 2.1 INTRODUCTION. 4 2.2 PROCESS OF SOIL AND ROCK PROPERTY SELECTION . 4 2.3 USE OF CORRELATIONS TO ASSIST PROPERTY SELECTION . 7 2.4 USE OF OBSERVATIONAL METHOD . 9 CHAPTER 3 . 10 3.1 INTRODUCTION. 10 3.2 PLANNING THE SUBSURFACE INVESTIGATION AND LABORATORY TESTING PROGRAM. 10 3.2.1 General.10 3.2.2 Identify Data Needs .10 3.2.3 Gather and Analyze Existing Information .11 3.2.4 Conduct Site Visit.17 3.2.5 Develop Preliminary Site Model .18 3.2.6 Developing a Site Investigation Program .20 3.2.7 Developing a Laboratory Testing Program.22 CHAPTER 4 . 26 4.1 INTRODUCTION. 26 4.2 BORING METHODS . 27 4.3 SAMPLING METHODS. 32 4.3.1 Disturbed Sampling of Soil.32 4.3.2 Undisturbed Sampling of Soil.34
TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued)4.3.2.134General4.3.2.2.39OverviewofThin-WalledTubeSampling4.3.3.42RockCoring4.4STANDARDPENETRATIONTEST (SPT)444.4.1General...444.4.2Procedures.454.4.3Parameters Measured...454.5CONEPENETRATIONTESTS(CPT/CPTU/SCPTU).484.5.1General..484.5.2..50Equipment..4.5.3.52Procedures4.5.4...54Parameters Measured4.6.56FLATDILATOMETERTEST(DMT)4.6.1General.564.6.2..56Equipment..4.6.3Procedures.564.6.4..58Parameters Measured4.7PRESSUREMETER TEST (PMT).584.7.1General.584.7.2..59Equipment..4.7.3.59Procedures4.7.4..60Parameters Measured4.8VANE SHEARTEST (VST).624.8.1General.624.8.2Equipment....624.8.3Procedures..634.8.4..64ParametersMeasured4.9USE OFDRILLRIGSTOPERFORMIN-SITUTESTS..654.10.IN-SITUTESTINGINROCK.65iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) iv 4.3.2.1 General.34 4.3.2.2 Overview of Thin-Walled Tube Sampling .39 4.3.3 Rock Coring.42 4.4 STANDARD PENETRATION TEST (SPT) . 44 4.4.1 General.44 4.4.2 Procedures.45 4.4.3 Parameters Measured.45 4.5 CONE PENETRATION TESTS (CPT / CPTU / SCPTU). 48 4.5.1 General.48 4.5.2 Equipment.50 4.5.3 Procedures.52 4.5.4 Parameters Measured.54 4.6 FLAT DILATOMETER TEST (DMT) . 56 4.6.1 General.56 4.6.2 Equipment.56 4.6.3 Procedures.56 4.6.4 Parameters Measured.58 4.7 PRESSUREMETER TEST (PMT) . 58 4.7.1 General.58 4.7.2 Equipment.59 4.7.3 Procedures.59 4.7.4 Parameters Measured.60 4.8 VANE SHEAR TEST (VST) . 62 4.8.1 General.62 4.8.2 Equipment.62 4.8.3 Procedures.63 4.8.4 Parameters Measured.64 4.9 USE OF DRILL RIGS TO PERFORM IN-SITU TESTS . 65 4.10. IN-SITU TESTING IN ROCK . 65