Facts About Geotech Engineering And Testing You Need To Know

By Christine Meyer


The soil is one of the main components that is mainly studied today as humans use it for various purposes example farming. Geotech engineering and testing is a subtopic of engineering that deals with soil. It helps evaluate and identify the behavioral tendencies of the material. This type or study is also related to civil engineering that also studied the earth materials.

In this regard, geotechnical study skills and knowledge is applied in all disciplines of engineers such as mining, military, and construction just to mention a few. Geotechnical skills are thus very broad in practice and modern day use. In real life, many undertakings revolve around engineering activities that are done on the ground. In perspective, the laymans understanding may not directly translate a simple earthwork to engineering. Traditionally the activities were haphazardly done devoid of engineering skills and knowledge. As a practice, it began gaining momentum at the start of the eighteenth century.

As a branch of engineering, it mostly deals with the analyzing of the quality of the soil. The soil has many elements in it, and the nature of these elements change from time to time, due to the natural occurrences and human activities. Because of this, you will realize that how the components appear today, are not the same as they were some few years back, and they still keep changing. On this note, these properties of soil have to be studied so that their suitability is determined, depending on what it is needed for at the time. You should not use results that were found before in an activity that is in the present.

To identify the chemical and non-chemical properties of the soil, the experts will closely examine the surface of the soil and carry out experiments on it. The experiments can be used to identify the risk factor example of constructing on the soil, as well as identify the stability of the soil to withstand both natural and human activities that may damage it. This thus helps determine whether the project is worthwhile.

To determine engineering properties of any soil, certain procedures are followed. Geotechnical experts take up the activity as a whole project and undertake to carry out the investigative procedures progressively and in autonomous stages. The process starts from known to unknown and has to be guided by the particular qualities that need to be established in determining the suitability of a surface for construction.

The project is usually broken down into other smaller projects and carried out one at a time before the conclusion is reached. The first step is usually to visit the site and get the whole view of the area as it has been influenced by its surroundings. The main aim is usually to check the risk to humans that can be brought about by the human forces or natural forces so that they make the correct recommendation of the site.

The damages and risks involved in construction within an area example rock fall, mass wasting, mudslides and earthquakes can be easily avoided or the impact reduced by carrying out the soil evaluation. After the evaluation, the researcher may suggest the best kind of foundation for the area and necessary adjustments in construction that the soil will need so as to support the structure.

As a discipline, geotechnical study is wide. It also interrelates with other disciplines such as history and geology. This is because humans use soil for many purposes, and the use affects the properties it has at any given time.




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