Engineering and Construction

The first step in a foundation investigation is to obtain preliminary information, such as the following:

1. Project location. Basic information on the location of the project is required. The location of the project can be compared with known geologic hazards, such as active faults, landslides, or deposits of liquefaction prone sand.

2. Type of project. The geotechnical engineer could be involved with all types of foundation engineering construction projects, such as residential, commercial, or public works projects. It is important to obtain as much preliminary information about the project as possible. Such information could include the type of structure and use, size of the structure including the number of stories, type of construction and floor systems, preliminary foundation type (if known), and estimated structural loadings. Preliminary plans may even have been developed that show the proposed construction.

3. Scope of work. At the beginning of the foundation investigation, the scope of work must be determined. For example, the scope of work could include subsurface exploration and laboratory testing to determine the feasibility of the project, the preparation of foundation design parameters, and compaction testing during the grading of the site in order to prepare the building pad for foundation construction.

After the preliminary information is obtained, the next step is to plan the foundation investigation work. For a minor project, the planning effort may be minimal. But for large-scale projects, the plan can be quite extensive and could change as the design and construction progresses. The planning effort could include the following:

• Budget and scheduling considerations
• Selection of the interdisciplinary team (such as geotechnical engineer, engineering geologist, structural engineer, hydrogeologist and the like) that will work on the project
• Preliminary subsurface exploration plan, such as the number, location, and depth of borings
• Document collection
• Laboratory testing requirements
• Types of engineering analyses that will be required for the design of the foundation