SITE INVESTIGATION FOR GEOTECHNICAL EARTHQUAKE ENGINEERING - Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering - page 133

FIGURE 5.13 Example of mechanical cone penetrometer tip (Dutch mantle cone). ( Reprinted with per-
mission from the American Society for Testing and Materials 2000. )
the standard penetration test, which obtains data at intervals in the soil deposit.
Disadvantages of the cone penetration test are that soil samples cannot be recovered and
special equipment is required to produce a steady and slow penetration of the cone. Unlike
the SPT, the ability to obtain a steady and slow penetration of the cone is not included as
part of conventional drilling rigs. Because of these factors, in the United States, the CPT is
used less frequently than the SPT.
5.5 LABORATORY TESTING
As discussed in Sec. 5.4.2, soil engineering properties that are used in earthquake analyses are
usually obtained from field tests (SPT and CPT) or from standard laboratory tests (see Day