1. SITE ORGANIZATION
This is the preliminary work carried out to establish the suitability of proposed site for new
construction work to enable an adequate and economic design to be proposed for the building
proposed structure.
Function / Purpose
1.
2.
3.
4.
To locate and design suitable access to the site.
To study the topography of the site.
To determine the suitable security and protection measure to taken.
To inspect mining activities underneath the soil and prepared for their effect on the
structure.
5. To locate the position of buried services.
During site investigation some information should be accounted for and these include:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Access to the site.
Topography of the site.
Local town planning proposal.
Services required during construction.
The state of existing building near the site.
Security and protection measures.
Mining activities (Proposed present or past)
THE TOPOGRAPHY OF THE SITE
This is obtained by carrying out a land surveying which by mean of plan and section which show
the surface feature on and adjacent to the site. These features refer to hedges ponds, roads,
footpath, telegraph poles, and water courses, will also include the position of boundaries building
on and adjacent to the site and ground levels. This information gives the archited an exact record
of the surface configuration of the set.
SPECIAL RESTRICTIONS.
These restrictions may be in the form of
 Covenant relating to noise levels height of building, business restriction etc.
 Right of way across to the site land.
 Easement of way leaves which allow access to overhead or underground services.
GEOLOGICAL MAPS
By reference to geological maps, the main geological formation underlying the site can be seen
and assessed for possible problems which may be created as a result of heavy formation loading.
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2. LOCAL TOWN PLANNING PROPOSAL.
The offices of the local town planning in whose area the site lies are visited in order to known.
 The nature of development which will be permitted.
 The existence of any planning proposal which may affect the site.
SERVICE AUTHORITIES.
The authorities of service like water, gas, electricity, post office and service will be able to
indicate on copies of the site surveys plan,
Purpose ~ primarilyto obtain subsoilsamplesfor
identification, classification and ascertaining the
subsoil's characteristics and properties. Trialpits
a n d augeredh o l e s m a y alsobe
u s e d toestablishthepresenceofanygeologicalfaultsa
ndtheupperorlowerlimitsofthewatertable.
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3. Generaluse: drygroundwhichrequires
littleornotemporary supporttosidesof excavation.
Subsidiaryuse~toexposeand/orlocate
undergroundservices.
Advantages~subsoilcanbevisuallyexamined
In-situ†bothdisturbedand
undisturbed
samplescanbe obtained.
Generaluse~drygroundbutlinertubes
couldbeusedifrequiredto extractsubsoilsamplesat
adepthbeyondtheeconomic limitoftrialholes.
Advantages~generallyacheaperand
simplermethodofobtaining subsoilsamplesthanthe
trialpitmethod.
Trialpitsandholesshouldbesitedsothatthe
subsoilsampleswill
berepresentativebutnotinterferingwithworks.
SiteInvestigation: This isan all-embracingterm
coveringevery aspectofthesiteunderinvestigation.
SoilInvestigation~specificallyrelated
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4. tothesubsoilbeneath
thesiteunderinvestigationandcouldbepart
oforseparate fromthe siteinvestigation.
PurposeofSoilInvestigation
1.Determinethe suitabilityofthe siteforthe
proposedproject.
2. Determineanadequate
a n d economicfoundationdesign.
3.
Determinethedifficultieswhichmayariseduringthec
onstruction processandperiod.
4.Determine theoccurrence a n d /or cause of all
c h a n g e s i n subsoilconditions.
Theabove purposes can usually be assessed
byestablishingthe physical,chemicaland general
characteristics of the subsoilby
obtainingsubsoilsampleswhichshouldbetaken
frompositionson the site
whicharetrulyrepresentativeoftheareabutarenot
taken fromthe actual positionof the proposed
foundations.A
seriesofsamplesextractedattheintersectionpointso
fa20,000
squaregridpatternshouldbeadequateformostcases.
Soil Samples~ thesecan be obtained as
disturbedor as undisturbedsamples.
DisturbedSoilSamples~ these are soilsamples
obtained from boreholesandtrialpits.Themethod
ofextractiondisturbsthe
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5. naturalstructureofthesubsoilbutsuchsamplesaresuit
ablefor visual grading, meestablishingt h e moisture
content and some laboratory tests. Disturbedsoil
samples shouldbe stored
in labelledairtightjars.
Undisturbed SoilSamples~these are
soilsamplesobtainedusing
coringtoolswhichpreservethenaturalstructureandpr
opertiesof
thesubsoil.Theextractedundisturbedsoilsamplesare
labelledand
laidinwoodenboxesfordispatchtoalaboratoryfortesti
ng.This method of obtaining soil samples is
suitable for rock and clay subsoil’s but
difficultiescan be experiencedin trying to obtain
undisturbedsoilsamplesinother typesofsubsoil.
Thetest
resultsofsoilsamplesareusuallyshownonadrawing
whichgivesthelocationofeachsampleandthetestresu
ltsinthe formofahatchedlegendorsection.
DepthofSoilInvestigation~beforedeterminingtheact
ual method of obtaining the requiredsubsoilsamples
the depth to whichthe soilinvestigation
shouldbecarriedout mustbeestablished. Thisis
usuallybasedonthefollowingfactors
1.Proposedfoundationtype.
2. Pressure bulbofproposed
foundation.
3.
Relationship
otherfoundations.
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6. Pressurebulbsoflessthan20%oforiginalloadingat
foundationlevelcanbeignored†thisappliestoallfoun
dationtypes.
SoilInvestigation
Methods~methodchosenwilldependonseveral
factors†
1.Sizeofcontract.
2. Typeofproposed foundation.
3. Typeofsamplerequired.
4.Typeof subsoil’swhichmaybeencountered.
As a general g u i d e themost suitable methods
i n t e r m s of investigationdepthare†
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7. 1.Foundations u p to
3000 deep †trialpits.
2. Foundations upto 30000 deep †borings.
3. Foundations over3 0 000 d e e p †deep
and
borings
in-situ examinationsfromtunnelsand/or
d e e p pits.
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