I.R. Fleming & D.

Elwood Site Investigations CE 330 1 / 13

3.7 Correlation of SPT N-values

• SPT provides several useful (approximate) correlations with other soil properties
• Consistency and undrained shear strength (su) of clays (Stroud, 1974)
SPT N-value Consistency su (kPa)
0–2
2–4
4 – 15
15 – 30
> 30
• There is a correlation of SPT N-value
with shear strength of uncemented
sands (deMello, 1971)
• The overconsolidation ratio, OCR of
natural clay deposits can also be
correlated to SPT N-value (Mayne and
Kemper, 1988) as

_________________________________
and s’ is in MPa
• Schmertmann (1970) indicated that the
modulus of elasticity of sand may be
given by: ________________________
• Schmertmann (1975) provided a
correlation between SPT N-value, σ 'v
and f’ is given as

_________________________________
where pa is the ambient air pressure (101.3 kPa)
• More recently, Hatanka and Uchida (1996) provided a simple correlation between f’
and (N1)60 where (N1)60 is the raw N index
_________________________________
corrected for both SPT test conditions and for effective stress f
I.R. Fleming & D. Elwood Site Investigations CE 330 2 / 13

55

50
φ’ = [15.4(N1)60]0.5 + 20
Friction Angle, φ’ (deg) 45

40

35

30 Sand (SP and SP - SM)

Sand Fill (SP - SM)
SM (Piedmont)
25 Hatanka and Uchida (1996)

20
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Normalized (N1 )60
• The drained modulus of the soil (stiffness) can be roughly estimated using the (N1)60
and the degree of overconsolidation using the following:

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________
where, pa is the atmospheric pressure (101.3 kPa)
§ Alternatively, the modulus can also be calculated using the equation below:

_________________________________
where,
ES = equivalent Modulus of Elasticity
b0 & b1 are correction factors for soil type
b0 =2,500 kPa (SM, SC) to 5,000 kPa (SW, SP)
b1 = 600 kPa (SM, SC) to 1,200 kPa (SW, SP)

• When the standard penetration resistance values are used in the preceding
correlations to estimate soil parameters, the following qualifications should be noted:
1. The equations are approximate.
2. Because the soil is not homogeneous, the (N1)60 values obtained from a given
borehole vary widely.
3. In soil deposits that contain boulders and gravel, standard penetration numbers
may be erratic and unreliable.
• Although approximate, with correct interpretation the standard penetration test
I.R. Fleming & D. Elwood Site Investigations CE 330 3 / 13

provides a good evaluation of soil properties. The primary sources of errors in

standard penetration tests are inadequate cleaning of the borehole, careless
measurement of the blow count, eccentric hammer strikes on the drill rod, and
inadequate maintenance of water head in the borehole.
3.8 Corrections to raw SPT data
• In granular soils, the N value is affected by the effective overburden pressure. For σ 'v
that reason, the N value obtained from field exploration under different effective
overburden pressures should be changed to correspond to a standard value of σ 'v .
• The N-values should be corrected to N60 values or to (N1)60 values depending upon
the purpose for which these values are to be used.
• Measured SPT data (raw index value ‘N’) requires correction to account for
variations in testing procedures; This is known as the N60
• The correction is based upon the following:
• Variation of actual energy delivered to the drill rod. The actual energy delivered to
the rods during an SPT can be expressed as a ratio of the theoretical free-fall
potential energy and can vary from 30% to 90%. 60% has been chosen as the
standard
• Influence of overburden stress (The SPT- N values vary with the confining stress,
therefore normalization w.r.t a constant reference vertical effective normal stress – 1
kg/cm2 or 96 kPa) is often used.
• Variation in length of the drill rod (theoretical energy ratio decreases with rod
lengths less than about 10 m).
• Absence or presence of a liner inside the split-spoon sampler (removing the liner
from an SPT sampler reduces the measured blow counts by approx. 20%).
• Influence of the diameter of the borehole (the effect of a large diameter is negligible
for clays but significant with sands).
• While the corrected N values may be required for design purposes, the original field
N values should always be given on the borehole logs.
I.R. Fleming & D. Elwood Site Investigations CE 330 4 / 13

3.8.1 Correction for SPT test conditions

• The N-values should always be corrected to N60 values. The CFEM expresses the
correction as:
where, ERr ranges from:
_________________________________
§ 45-55 for a donut or safety hammer with release by 2 turns of rope on a
spinning “cathead wheel” apparatus.
§ For a donut or safety hammer with a trip release, ERr can be taken to be 60-75
and
§ For a fully automatic hammer, ERr is typically taken to be 60-75
• This is often expressed somewhat differently (for example in D.P. Codutto
“Foundation Design” 2nd Ed, 2001) as laid out below
Em ⋅C B ⋅CS ⋅C R
N is corrected to N60 using: N 60 = ⋅ N where Em, CB, CS and CR are
0.6
correction factors applied to the blow-count to account for non-standard test
conditions such as hammer energy, to correct for the borehole diameter, sampler type
and the length of rod. Codutto summarizes the following recommendations:
§ Em can be taken to be 0.73 for an automatic trip hammer;
§ Em =0.57 for a “safety hammer”; and
§ Em =0.45 for a donut hammer with cathead release mechanism.

CB can be taken to be 1.0 for borehole diameter 65-115mm, CB=1.05 for diam
150mm and
CB=1.15 for diameter 200mm.
CS can be taken to be 1.0 for a standard sampler.
CR can be taken to be 0.75 for rod length 3-4 m, CR =0.85 for length 4-6 m,
CR =0.95 for rod length 6-10m and CR =1.0 for rod length > 10m.
I.R. Fleming & D. Elwood Site Investigations CE 330 5 / 13

3.8.2 Correction for effective stress - Recommendations as per CFEM 2006

• Because deeper tests in a uniform soil deposit will have higher blow counts (N
values) than shallow tests in the same soil), a correction for effective stress MAY be
appropriate. For example, soil with constant relative density and constant f´ will
exhibit an increase in N (and N60) with depth.
• CN = overburden stress correction and:

__________________________________________________________________
where (N1)60 = N value corrected and normalized for energy ratio of 60% and
normalized for effective overburden pressure of 96 kPa
N60 = corrected blow count at depth at which vertical effective stress is σ 'v and
σ 'v > 24kPa
• This has the effect of INCREASING the blow counts in the upper few metres of soil
• Warning: the correction factor should never be > 1.5
3.9 Cone Penetration Test (CPT)
• The Cone Penetrometer is a cone with a standard base area of 10 cm2 and cone angle
60° that is attached to a rod. A standard outer friction sleeve with an area of 150 cm2
is located immediately above the cone point. A Piezocone is a cone penetrometer that
has provision for pore pressure measurement
§ The use of standard indicates that there are actually a number of different cone
areas and diameters used for differing soils. It is in fact very flexible and
applicable for a wide range of soils
I.R. Fleming & D. Elwood Site Investigations CE 330 6 / 13

Gregg, 2012
• Use different cone sizes based on the type of material expected and whether or not
you are to be conducting PPD tests.
§ Smaller diameters work best for PPDs in clay (much smaller area affected)
§ Larger cones work best for softer soils

• The thrust required to drive the cone and sleeve into the ground @ 2cm/s are
measured independently and cone resistance and side friction estimated
I.R. Fleming & D. Elwood Site Investigations CE 330 7 / 13

Conetec, 2012
• Two types: Mechanical cone penetrometer & Electrical cone penetrometer
• Measured quantities: (a) Cone resistance (qC) (OR penetration resistance) and (b)
Sleeve resistance (fsc) (OR side friction)
• Electrical piezocones are extremely strong at indicating very minute changes in
stratigraphy with depth
• Because they can measure the pwp with advancement, they are also very good at
indicating the development of excess pwp and how they dissipate with time
qt (bar) fs (bar) Rf (%) u (m) SBT
0 400 800 0 5 10 15 20 0.0 2.0 4.0 6.0 8.0 0 250 500 0 6 12
0 Silty Clay
Clayey Silt
Clay
Silty Clay
Clay
Silty Clay
Clayey Silt
Sandy Silt
Silty Sand/Sand
Sand
Sandy Silt
Sand
Sandy Silt
Silty Sand/Sand
5
Sandy Silt

Silt
Sandy Silt
Sand
Sandy Silt
Sand
Sandy Silt
Silt
Sand
10 Sand
Stiff Fine Grained
Depth (meters)

Stiff Fine Grained

Silty Sand/Sand
Sand
Sandy Silt
Silt
Sandy Silt

Silt

Sand
Sandy Silt
Sand
15 Sandy Silt
Clayey Silt
Stiff Fine Grained
Clayey Silt
Stiff Fine Grained
Silty Sand/Sand
Sand
Sand
Sand
Sand
Sand
Sand
20 Silty Sand/Sand
Sand
Silty Sand/Sand
Sand
Silty Sand/Sand
Stiff Fine Grained
Sandy Silt

Target Depth Target Depth Target Depth Target Depth

25
Max Depth: 23.000 m / 75.46 ft File: 111SP08.COR SBT: Lunne, Robertson and Powell, 1997
Depth Inc: 0.050 m / 0.164 ft Unit Wt: SBT Chart Soil Zones Coords: UTM 12U N: 5936059 E: 335004
Avg Int: 0.200 m Sounding: SCPT10-08
Cone: 280:T1500F15U500

Typical CPT output

• Mainly uses correlations to determine typical parameters like friction angle,
undrained shear strength, modulus etc.
• Highly versatile and can incorporate a number of different “modules” to measure
different aspects depending on the site requirements
3.10 Field Vane Test (FVT)
• Specially suited for soft, sensitive clays (not suitable for cohesionless soils)
• Quick test, used to determine undrained shear strength
• Equipment: Vane blade, set of rods, and a torque measuring apparatus
• Method: (a) Drill test hole, (b) Insert vane, (c) Rotate head at 6° per minute, (d)
I.R. Fleming & D. Elwood Site Investigations CE 330 8 / 13

Record maximum torque when soil goes perfectly plastic

• The vane shear strength is usually plotted against depth to provide a strength profile.

http://geotechpedia.com/Equipment/Show/421/H-10-Field-Shear-Vane-Borer
3.10.1 Application / Measurement of Torque
• Torque wrench - torque wrench may bend rods with very poor control on rate of
rotation.
• Fish scales / T-bar measured in moment in kg.m/2 (two sides) - user error and uneven
loading rates placed next to the resultant shear stress
• Geared drive – ideal case, may allow for measurement of torque versus rotation.
• For higher accuracy measurements may be taken of torque resulting from friction
between spacers and casing (if used)
• Ideally the test is conducted with a constant rate of rotation of 0.1° /s. (0.05 to 0.2 ° /s).
§ This generally requires a time to failure of 2 to 5 min.
I.R. Fleming & D. Elwood Site Investigations CE 330 9 / 13

§ Very soft clays where the time to failure may be as much as 10 to 20 min.
§ In stiffer materials, which reach failure at small deformations, it may be desirable
to reduce the rate of angular displacement so that a reasonable determination of
the stress- strain properties can be obtained.

Bjerrum, 1972
• The test interpretation is based on the simplified assumption of a cylindrical failure
surface corresponding to the periphery of the vane blade.
• Measurement of undrained shear strength (su) is based on the assumption that the
shear strength on the horizontal and vertical planes are equal

_________________________________
Where su = undrained shear strength
T = maximum applied torque
H = vane height
D = vane diameter
a = factor which is a function of the assumed shear distribution along the top and
I.R. Fleming & D. Elwood Site Investigations CE 330 10 / 13

bottom of the failure cylinder ( a= 0.66, usual assumption)

• Assuming a= 0.66 and vane height-diameter ratio of 2, the equation becomes

_________________________________
3.11 Borehole log and symbols

Typical Borehole log format

I.R. Fleming & D. Elwood Site Investigations CE 330 11 / 13

3.11.1 Soil Descriptive Terms

• A soil description for geotechnical applications includes a descrioption of the
following properties:
§ Texture
§ Colour and oxidation
§ Consistency or relative density
§ Primary and secondary structure
• The texture refers to the size of the particles that comprise the majority of the soil;
the shape of the particles (if cohesionless).
§ In this case the USGS classification system is used to determine the description of
the soil
§ These descriptions conform with ASTM D2487-11 and are given as the
gradations on the tables below
Particle Size (ASTM D2487-11) Relative Proportions
Boulder 300 mm (plus) Trace 0 – 5%
Cobble 75 – 300 mm Few 5 – 10%
Gravel 4.75 – 75 mm Little 10 – 25%
Coarse 19 – 75 mm Some 25 – 45%
Fine 4.75 – 19 mm Mostly 45 – 100%
Sand 0.075 – 4.75 mm - Note that this differs from the CFEM
Coarse 2 – 4.75 mm (2006), which consists of noun (gravel,
Medium 0.425 – 2 mm sand, silt, etc.)
Fine 0.075 – 0.425 mm “and” and gravel etc. or adjective (silty,
Silt and Clay < 0.075 mm sandy etc.), some and trace

Gradation Particle Shape

Well Having a wide range of Angular Sharp edges and relatively
Graded grain sizes and substantial plane sides with unpolished
amount of all intermediate surfaces
sizes Subangular Similar to ‘angular’ but have
rounded edges
Uniformly Particles of predominately Subrounded Well-rounded corners and
or Poorly only one size edge, nearly plane sides
Graded
Gap Particles of two distinct Rounded No edges and smoothly
Graded sizes curved sides

• Colour and Oxidation refers to the soil colour at its natural moisture content by
common colours and quantitatively in terms of the Munsell colour notation. The
I.R. Fleming & D. Elwood Site Investigations CE 330 12 / 13

notation combines three variable, hue, value and chroma to describe the soil colour.
The hue indicates its relation to red, yellow, green, blue and purple. The value
indicates its lightness and the chroma indicates its strength of departure from a
neutral of the same lightness.

3.11.2 Consistency and Condition

• The consistency of a cohesive soil is a qualitative description of its ability to resist
deformation and can be correlated with the undrained shear strength. The condition
of a coarse grained soil (or relative density) qualitatively describes the soils’
compactness and can be correlated with the Standard Penetration Test
Consistency Undrained Shear Field Identification
Strength (kPa) (ASTM D2488 – 09a)
Very Soft 0 – 12 Thumb will penetrate soil more than 25 mm
Soft 12 – 25 Thumb will penetrate the soil about 25 mm
Firm 25 – 50 Thumb will indent the soil about 6 mm
Stiff 50 – 100 Thumb will indent, but will only penetrate the soil
with great effort
Very Stiff 100 – 200 Readily indented with a thumbnail
Hard > 200 Thumb will not indent the soil but it is readily
indented with a thumbnail
Very Hard N/A Thumbnail will not indent the soil

Compactness SPT ‘N’ Index

Condition (Blows / 300 mm)
Very Loose
Loose
Compact
Dense
Very Dense

• Each company has their own structure, however most tend to stick to the following
Silty CLAY, some sand, trace gravel…(descending gradation percentages), firm
(consistency / relative density), brown with grey mottling, moist, moderate
plasticity…etc.
I.R. Fleming & D. Elwood Site Investigations CE 330 13 / 13

3.12 Geotechnical Investigation Report

• At the end of the subsurface investigation program, the soil specimens collected in
the field are subject to visual observation and appropriate laboratory testing such as:
§ Moisture content
§ Unit weight
§ Sieve analysis
§ Atterberg limits
§ Compaction
§ Hydraulic conductivity
§ Consolidation
§ Direct shear
§ Triaxial shear
§ Unconfined compression
• After all the required information has been compiled, a Geotechnical Investigation
Report is prepared for the use of the design office and for reference during future
construction work.
• Often, a second report (or 2nd part of a 2-part report) will be a Geotechnical Design
Report, which should address both ULS and SLS considerations under both short-
term (undrained) and long-term (drained) loading.
• The Geotechnical Design Report should also address issues of constructability and
identify potential problems/hazards that may arise during construction as well as
identifying contingency / mitigative measures.