BFC 21002

CONSTRUCTION ENGINEERING

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PURPOSE
To determine the site’s suitability for
building and the nature and the extent of
preliminary work that will be needed
Why it is important?
It will shows the detailed to many
physical aspect such as subsoil
composition, demolition and the legal
aspect such as planning permission, right
of access and preservation order
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 PRESERVATION ORDER

a legal obligation laid on an owner

to preserve a building of historic
interest, or to conserve trees and
natural habitat regarded as
contributing amenity value to the
environment.
OBJECTIVES
• To assess the general suitability of the site
with the proposed works
• To help produce a design which is adequate
and economic
• To help overcome possible difficulties &
delays that may arise during construction
period due to ground and other local
conditions
• To predict possible changes that may
occur/cause of all changes in site condition
• To maximize potential of the site

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DESCRIPTION
A combination process which range from
looking at published information such as
maps to arrange laboratory test on the
soil

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Information required from a site
investigation:
a. Information affecting the design of the
structure: shear strength and
compressibility of the soil
b. Information affecting the construction
of the works: the extent and properties
of material to be excavated, or to be
used for fill or for road bases or
concrete aggregates

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Information required from a site
investigation:
c. Information on ground water
conditions: the level and seasonal
variation of the water table, the
pressures in the soil water, and the
permeability of the soil.

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Planning an investigation:
• In the earlier stages of an investigation,
the information available is often
inadequate to allow a detailed plan to
be made.
• The investigation must therefore
1. proceed in 3 stages:
Desk study
2. Site reconnaissance
3. Detail Examination of Tests and
Programs
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INFORMATION/ISSUES TO CHECK
1. Site Location
 Nearest town and city
 Schools, emergency services,
entertainment, recreation, shops,
transport and employment
 Distance from head office (client &
builders) & traveling time
 Distance from nearest railway station to
the site
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INFORMATION/ISSUES TO
CHECK
2.Accessibility
 Approach and site access roads, width,
gradient, bends, sharp corners, condition
and construction relative to transport
heavy plant and equipment
 Bridges, strength, width and clearance
height
 Temporary roads, rolled metal tracts or
consider preparing sub base for new
roads as temporary access
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INFORMATION/ISSUES TO
CHECK
3.Availability of space
 Site offices, canteen, stores and
compound
 Material storage areas and handling
 Construction area and assembly areas
 Plant location

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INFORMATION/ISSUES TO
CHECK
4. Services
 Water, drainage, electricity, gas &
telephone
 Location will be determined from maps
by consultation with the appropriate local
authorities
 An estimate of buildings usage is also for
ascertaining the demand on sewers and
drains
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INFORMATION/ISSUES TO
CHECK
5. Ground composition
Boreholes are required to determine :
 Changes in strata
 Strength of subsoil
 Toxicity of subsoil
 Stability of excavation
 Water table (depth below surfaces)

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 STRATA

Strata are layers of rock, or

sometimes soil. In nature, strata
come in many layers. It is a term in
sedimentary and historical geology;
the singular is stratum. ... These
layers are laid down as sediment,
often in the sea, and are slowly
changed by pressure, heat and
chemical action into rocks.
INFORMATION/ISSUES TO
CHECK
6. Site clearance and demolition
A plan of the site should indicate trees,
shrubs and existing buildings and a site
survey will reveal the extent of necessary
leveling Demolition and excavation

 Method and cost

 Effect of trees and structural prevention
orders

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INFORMATION/ISSUES TO
CHECK
 Reuse of materials
 Protection of adjacent building
 Special insurance requirement
 Compensation payment and liability for
damage
 Distance to spoil tips and charge

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 SPOIL TIPS
A spoil tip (also called a spoil bank, boney pile,
gob pile, bing, batch, boney dump or pit heap is a
pile built of accumulated spoil
IN GENERAL…
• Dealt with local planning authority to
ascertain whether there are
special/significant restrictions which could
adversely affect the development of site
building line position
• Survey should include details of
neighboring development, future
development and the position with regard
to facilities in the area
• Should enquire the existence of any
restrictive covenants such as right of way,
light & drainage which may restrict the
development 19
THE PROCESS
• Desk Study
• Site Reconnaissance/ Walk over survey
• Preliminary report or feasibility study
• Preliminary Ground Investigation -
Planning of main Preliminary report
• Main Ground Investigation
• Laboratory testing
• Financial Report (Return of Investment)
• Final report
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DESK STUDIES
• It is important to collect all available
information about the site before starting
work.
• A desk study is the collation and review
of information already available about a
site, and is carried out at an early stage of
site appraisal to inform and guide the
remainder of the site investigation.

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DESK STUDIES
• Collect as much material as possible
about the site such as-
 Maps (geological, ordinance survey, etc)
 Air photograph
 Geological books & journal
 Mining records & reports of previous site
investigation
 Library, news paper, adjacent buildings,
etc.

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DESK STUDIES

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 SITE RECOINAISSANCE / WALK
OVER SURVEY
 The initial document search should
be followed by a walk-over survey of the site
and its surroundings.
 This should be a methodical examination of
the site, based on defined classes of
information, which complements the desk
study and typically provides valuable
information on matters such as:
 Topography: indications of slope
instability, spoil heaps or signs of ground
subsidence resulting from mining.
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 SPOIL HEAP
A heap formed of spoil (material discarded during
mining or excavation).
The place where spoil is dumped.

China Clay spoil heap

near St Austell,
Cornwall.
SITE RECOINAISSANCE / WALK OVER
SURVEY
 Geology: exposures of soils and rocks
which can be examined and sampled.
 Surface water and ground water:
signs of flooding; springs; water logging
 Vegetation: signs of vegetation die-back
or restricted vegetation as a result of
contamination of the ground; presence of
invasive species such as Japanese
Knotweed; trees which may cause
shrinkage and swelling of clay soils.
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Japanese Knotweed
SITE RECOINAISSANCE / WALK OVER
SURVEY
Fallopia japonica, commonly known as
Asian knotweed or Japanese knotweed

The invasive root system and

strong growth can damage
foundations, buildings, flood
defences, roads, paving,
retaining walls and architectural
sites. It can also reduce the
capacity of channels in flood
defenses to carry water
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SITE RECOINAISSANCE / WALK OVER
SURVEY
 Ecology: indicators of protected species,
newts, badgers, bats, nesting birds.
 Contamination: indications of spills,
disturbed ground, areas of fill or spoil
heaps, old fuel or oil tanks.
 Structures: settlement of existing
structures or the use of asbestos;
indicators of archaeological/historical
value.

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Newts & badger
SITE RECOINAISSANCE / WALK OVER
SURVEY
 Local Knowledge: anecdotal information
on past uses of the site or past problems
in the area.
 Access & services: information such as
access for site equipment and location of
buried or overhead services

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 TESTS AND PROGRAMS/
DETAILED EXPLORATION
The principal objectives of the detailed soil
test/investigation are as follows:
a. To determine in detail the geological
structure of the site, including the
thickness, sequence and extent of the
strata.
b. To determine the ground water
conditions

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DETAIL EXAMINATION OF TESTS AND
PROGRAMS/ DETAILED EXPLORATION

c. To obtain disturbed and undisturbed

samples for identification and
laboratory testing
d. To carry out tests to determine the
mechanical properties of the soil insitu

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DETAIL EXAMINATION OF TESTS AND
PROGRAMS/ DETAILED EXPLORATION

There are two principal methods of

investigating the ground conditions, trial
pits and boreholes

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GROUND INVESTIGATION
Trial Pits
Trial pits are shallow excavations going
down to a depth not greater 6m.
The trial pit as such is used extensively at
the surface for block sampling and detection
of services prior to borehole excavation.
Can be dug by hand or mechanical excavator

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GROUND INVESTIGATION
Trial Pits
Only suitable in dry area as they allow hand
cut samples to be taken which minimize the
disturbance of sample
Most suitable use in exploring back filled
area and sites overlain by variable natural
deposits

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GROUND INVESTIGATION

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GROUND INVESTIGATION
Boreholes
• A borehole is used to determine the nature
of the ground (usually below 6m depth) in a
qualitative manner
• Recover undisturbed samples for
quantitative examination.Where this is not
possible, for in gravelly soils below the
water table, in-situ testing methods are
used.

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GROUND INVESTIGATION
• Obviously the information gained from a
borehole is an extremely limited picture of
the subsurface structure. It is therefore
essential to compare the results obtained
with those that could have been expected
from the desk study. The greater the
number of boreholes the more certain it is
possible to be of the correlation and thus to
trust in the results.
• The two principal types of boring machine
used for Site Investigation which is light
percussive and drilling machines.

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LIGHT PERCUSSIVE

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DRILLING MACHINES