Field investigation, laboratory testing and non destructive evaluation. The people who drill your boreholes work alongside the people who write your report.
01
Rotary and auger boreholes advanced to design depth with continuous strata logging, disturbed and undisturbed sampling, and standard penetration testing at set intervals.
Gives you: strata profile, SPT N values, groundwater level, samples for the laboratory.
Read more about borehole drilling
02
A rigid plate is loaded in increments against a kentledge or reaction frame while settlement is measured, giving bearing capacity directly rather than by correlation.
Gives you: load settlement curve, ultimate and safe bearing capacity, modulus of subgrade reaction.
Read more about plate load test
03
Shear and compression wave velocities measured down the borehole to derive small strain stiffness and the site class used in seismic design.
Gives you: Vs30, shear modulus, Poisson ratio, seismic site classification.
Read more about downhole seismic test
04
A Wenner or Schlumberger array maps lateral and vertical changes in soil type and moisture without drilling, and grades corrosivity for buried metalwork.
Gives you: resistivity profile, earthing design values, corrosion risk rating.
Read more about electrical resistivity test
05
Needle probe measurement of how readily the soil moves heat away, which controls the rating of buried power cables and ground source systems.
Gives you: thermal conductivity and resistivity, dry out risk assessment.
Read more about thermal conductivity test
06
Grading, Atterberg limits, moisture and density, direct shear, triaxial, consolidation, CBR and unconfined compression on samples preserved to represent true site conditions.
Gives you: classification, shear strength parameters, compressibility, CBR for pavement design.
Read more about soil and rock testing
07
Sulphate, chloride, pH and organic content on soil and groundwater, so the concrete specification matches how aggressive the ground actually is.
Gives you: exposure class, cement type recommendation, protection requirements.
Read more about chemical testing
08
Binder content and grading by extraction, Marshall stability and flow, density and air voids on cores taken from the finished surface.
Gives you: compliance against the job mix formula, compaction verification.
Read more about asphalt testing
09
Tensile testing of reinforcement and structural sections for yield point, ultimate strength and elongation, plus bend and rebend where specified.
Gives you: batch acceptance against the grade claimed on the delivery note.
Read more about steel testing
10
Slump and temperature on the fresh mix, cube and cylinder compressive strength at 7 and 28 days, plus water absorption and density on hardened concrete.
Gives you: characteristic strength, acceptance or rejection of a pour.
Read more about concrete testing
11
Low strain sonic echo testing on cast in place and driven piles, reading the reflected wave to find necking, bulging, voids or an unexpected toe level.
Gives you: effective pile length and a defect screening for every pile tested.
Read more about pile integrity test
12
Rebound hardness across a grid of readings to estimate in situ concrete strength and, more usefully, to map uniformity across an element.
Gives you: comparative strength mapping without breaking out concrete.
Read more about schmidt hammer test
13
Electromagnetic and ground penetrating radar scanning to locate bars, measure cover and estimate diameter and spacing before coring or for as built verification.
Gives you: cover survey, bar layout drawing, safe coring locations.
Read more about reinforcement bar scanning
14
Aggregate gradation blended to the specified envelope and optimum bitumen content established by Marshall design, issued as a formula the plant can run to.
Gives you: target gradation, optimum binder content, tolerance bands.
Read more about job mix formula
15
Cement, aggregate, water and admixture proportioned for the target strength, workability, exposure class and the aggregates actually available to your site.
Gives you: a trial mix, batch quantities per cubic metre, verified 28 day strength.
Read more about concrete mix designMaintained to manufacturer specification, calibrated on schedule, operated by trained crews.
Tell us the structure, the storeys and the site, and we will tell you the minimum scope that answers the question properly. Over specifying an investigation wastes money just as surely as under specifying one costs you later.
