Earth Excavation Checklist The following checklist should be used as a guide for better quality control over earth excavation. (1) Prior to the start of excavation operations, take photographs of the construction area, make sure that sufficient cross—sections are taken, and continue to take progress photographs during construction. (2) Review the log of borings to … Read more
Uses of Geotextiles Geotextiles are porous fabric manufactured from synthetic material such as polypropylene, polyester, polyethylene, nylon, polyvinyl chloride and various mixtures of these. They are available in thicknesses ranging from 10 to 300 mils (1 mil = 1/1000 inch) in widths upto 30 ft, in roll lengths upto 2000 ft. The permeability of geotextile … Read more
Root Pile Construction Root piles are very small diameter piles (generally 60 mm to 135 mm). Length of the root piles generally vary within 4 m to 30 m. The concept of root pile was first introduced by an Italian engineer named F. Lizzi. His primary concern behind root pile development was to do underpinning … Read more
What is A Gabion? A gabion is a netted (wire mesh) box (Fig-1) filled with aggregate material – compatible with the size of the net mesh – serving as gravity units forming retaining structures. It provides a means to contain such aggregates of small and diverse sizes which cannot be used to construct gravity retaining … Read more
Dynamic Compaction of Soil The method can be used to improve all types of non-cohesive soils, mixed soil or those with limited amounts of cohesive material, as well as landfill sites such as waste dumps or spoil tips. There are also many instances of refuse and industrial waste dumps which have been successfully treated by … Read more
Geosynthetics for Ground Improvement Long ago, when difficult sites for construction purposes were to be dealt, the conventional practice was limited to either the replacement of unsuitable soils or adopting suitable foundation which sometimes increases the cost of foundations. Innovative soil modification approaches are evolved to solve soil related problems. One among them is the … Read more
1. Backhoe Backhoe comprises a bucket on the end of an articulated boom, set on a pneumatic tyred or crawler tractor unit. The boom, bucket arm and bucket are usually controlled by hydraulic rams. Back-acters operate by digging towards the machine in an arc from a small distance above the surface on which the machine … Read more
Factors Affecting Field Compaction of Soil There are many factors which influence the degree of compaction in the field. Some are compactor dependent and some depend on the soil being compacted. The factors which affect the degree of compaction are given below. 1. Type of soil Type of soil has a great influence on its … Read more