Ground Investigation: Gathering Data for Design

Whatever the size of your project, appropriate ground investigation minimises the risk of uncertainties and can significantly reduce your design and construction costs.

For both geotechnical and geoenvironmental investigations our best practice approach complies with current British Standards and European guidance, as appropriate to the contract.

The site investigation process comprises of preparation, fieldwork, laboratory testing and reporting. And efficient and effective project management support is provided to guide your investigation smoothly through the whole process. As your project scope is site specific, we supply a variety of services at each investigation stage to select from:

Preparation

• Site walkover
• Phase 1 Desk Study
• Obtain buried service information if not available
• Health and Safety Assessment
• Finalise investigation programme and scope

Fieldwork

• Trial pitting: hand and machine excavated
• Cable percussion and rotary drilling: a selection of rigs and drilling methods available
• Window sampling/ dynamic probing/hand held probing/hand augering
• In situ testing including standard penetration testing, hand shear vane, percolation, soakaways, CBR, plate load, in situ density, variable head permeability, borehole shear vane, packer testing, pump testing, water quality,  resistivity, high pressure dilatometer
• Further investigation techniques provided by specialist subcontractors e.g. static cone penetration testing, sonic drilling, crosshole and downhole geophysics including optical and acoustic televiewer
• Geotechnical sampling of soil and rock
• Environmental sampling of soil, water, leachate and gas
• Borehole installations including piezometers, gas monitoring wells, inclinometers, magnetic extensometers
• Setting out and surveying of exploratory hole locations, topographic surveying
• Post fieldwork installation monitoring including sampling of gas and groundwater

All field work supervised on site by an Insight GEO engineer and all recovered samples logged to current standards.

All drillers hold valid CSCS cards and are BDA accredited, or NVQ qualified in Land Drilling.

And when your project needs something extra, we can provide that too, for example, traffic management; clean drilling to avoid cross contamination; specialist plant and equipment to overcome difficult access.

Laboratory Testing

Using UKAS accredited subcontract laboratories from our approved suppliers list, a wide range of laboratory tests are available:

Geotechnical and Materials

• Soil testing (in accordance with BS1377)
• Rock testing (many to ISRM standards)
• Aggregate testing
• Concrete testing

Environmental

Specialist contamination testing of soil, water, leachate and gas, supported by MCERTS if required, chain of custody preparation and established protocols for sample handling and storage.

Reporting

Factual and Interpretative Ground Investigation Reports are available. Both present the information obtained from your investigation in a clear and logical format. Explanatory text, site location plan, exploratory hole location plan,  exploratory hole records, photographs, post fieldwork monitoring data, insitu and laboratory test results are included in the Factual Reports.

In addition to providing the factual data, our Interpretative Reports include geotechnical and/or geoenvironmental assessment, drawing conclusions and providing recommendations specific to your project. This technical capability also forms the basis of our Environmental Assessment and Specialist Consultancy services.

Reports are provided as hard copy and PDF versions. Data can be generated in the latest AGS format.

Contact us now for more information on our services or to discuss your next project.