Geology Reference
In-Depth Information
geologist. The bias here is towards UK practice.
1 CODES FOR SITE INVESTIGATION AND TESTING
1.1 INVESTIGATION
1.1.1 UK: BS 5930:1999 Code of practice for site investigations
BS 5930 (BSI, 1999) deals with the investigation of sites for civil engineering and building works in
the UK; parts have been superseded by documents linked to Eurocode 7 (BSI, 2002, 2003, 2004,
2007). It encourages good practice and gives sources of information and references to original literature.
In-depth guidance is given on a wide range of techniques in ground investigation, including drilling,
boring,
in situ
testing and geophysical works. The code is almost a textbook in its own right and
provides excellent advice on designing and managing site investigations. The engineering geologist in the
UK needs to be very familiar with this code of practice. There is no equivalent advisory-style European
document.
The term site investigation is used in the code in its broad sense, including desk study; the narrower subject of
sub-surface exploration is termed ground investigation. Whilst common practice in the UK is covered in detail,
some techniques that are used in ground investigation in other countries are dealt with only brie
y or not
mentioned.
BS 5930 gives guidance on standard rock and soil description for civil engineering purposes, and the
terminology in the BS is used routinely in the ground investigation industry in the UK. As discussed in
Chapters 3
an
d 4,
different schemes are used in other countries, and important subjects such as rock mass classi
cation are
not covered. Amendment 1 to BS 5930 has been revised to comply with BS EN ISO 14688-1 (BSI, 2002), BS EN
ISO 14688-2 (BSI, 2004) and BS EN ISO 14689-1 (BSI, 2003), which apply in Europe generally. Changes in
terminology are not universally accepted as improvements (see discussions in Hencher (2008),
Chapter 4
and
Appendix C).
1.1.2 Other codes and standards for site investigation
There are several other codes and standards used internationally, and this applies particularly to soil and
rock description, as discussed in
Chapter 4
and Appendix C. Often the differences are just a matter of
de
for example, because of the local
prevalence of weathered rock or swelling soils. It is very important that the applicable codes are used in
whichever country the engineering geologist is working.
nition and terminology but there may also be local emphasis
-
1.2 TESTING
Standard UK methods for some laboratory and
in situ
soil and rock testing are given in BS 1377 (BSI, 1990),
which has been partly superseded by Eurocode 7 Part 2 (Ground Investigation and Testing) (BSI, 2007).
Internationally, reference is often made to American Standards (ASTM) or to methods recommended by
International Society for Rock Mechanics (ISRM) (Ulusay & Hudson, 2006) and others. The recommended
methods sometimes differ in detail (such as dimensions of samples) and care must be taken to ensure that
appropriate guidelines are being adopted according to the nature of the project and location. Modern,
sophisticated and relatively uncommon testing practice is generally not dealt with in country standards and
codes of practice, and reference must be made to the scientific literature (see also
Chapter 5).
2 CODES FOR GEOTECHNICAL DESIGN
The British codes of practice discussed below are now generally withdrawn and replaced by Eurocode 7
(BSI, 2004, 2007) for geotechnical design purposes. Nevertheless, they provide general advice and
guidance and therefore remain useful references on good practice based on
'
well-winnowed experience
'
(Burland, 2007).
