Soil Tests: Soil Testing – Field Tests

Question 1

What are common field soil tests?

Answer 1

Visual Inspection – Identifies vegetation, drainage, and soil conditions.
Plate Load Test – Measures static and dynamic bearing capacity.
Hand Drilling – Extracts soil samples manually for analysis.
Cone Penetration Test (CPT) – Measures soil strength by pushing a cone into the ground.
Groundwater Level Test – Determines the depth of the water table.

Question 2

What is the Plate Load Test (Ev1 & Ev2 values)?

Answer 2

Ev1: Elastic modulus from the first loading cycle.
Ev2: Elastic modulus from the second loading cycle after unloading.
Ev2/Ev1 ratio helps determine soil stiffness and compaction quality.

Question 3

What is the Triaxial Test?

Answer 3

A test to determine soil shear strength under different drainage and consolidation conditions.

Question 4

What is the Cyclic Triaxial Test?

Answer 4

A test to assess soil behavior under repeated dynamic loads, simulating traffic or seismic forces.

Question 5

What is Pulse Drilling used for?

Answer 5

A method for deep soil sampling (up to 80m), often used in contaminated sites.