Geotechnical & Geophysical Investigations For
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GEOTECHNICAL & GEOPHYSICAL INVESTIGATIONS FOR OFFSHORE AND NEARSHORE DEVELOPMENTS International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering GEOTECHNICAL & GEOPHYSICAL INVESTIGATIONS FOR OFFSHORE AND NEARSHORE DEVELOPMENTS Written and produced by Technical Committee 1, International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, September 2005. Compiled and edited by Edwin Danson, Swan Consultants Ltd [email protected] September 2005 Technical Committee 1 present their thanks and appreciation to Fugro for sponsoring the production of this handbook and also for allowing to use extracts and images from the Fugro booklet Geophysical and Geotechnical Techniques for the Investigation of Near-seabed Soils and Rocks (2001). ISSMGE TC1 CONTENTS Page ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THE TEXT ..............................................................................I PREFACE............................................................................................................................II 1. INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................1 2. INVESTIGATION, PLANNING AND OVERVIEW OF TECHNIQUES ....................3 2.1 SITE INVESTIGATIONS.................................................................................3 2.2 PLANNING .....................................................................................................3 2.3 DESK STUDY.................................................................................................5 2.4 GEOPHYSICAL SURVEY ..............................................................................5 2.5 GEOTECHNICAL SURVEY AND LABORATORY TESTING .........................6 3. VESSELS, SURVEY PLATFORMS AND DEPLOYMENT SYSTEMS ...................8 3.1 SHIPS AND BARGES FOR GEOPHYSICAL AND GEOTECHNICAL SURVEYS .........................................................................8 3.2 GEOTECHNICAL DRILL SHIPS...................................................................11 3.3 GEOTECHNICAL JACK-UP PLATFORMS ..................................................11 3.4 OTHER PLATFORMS ..................................................................................12 3.5 HIGH-WHEELED VEHICLES AND OTHER TRUCKS .................................12 3.6 REMOTELY CONTROLLED SYSTEMS ......................................................12 3.7 POSITIONING ..............................................................................................12 3.8 COMMUNICATION AND ACCESSIBILITY ..................................................16 3.9 SAFETY REQUIREMENTS AND ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS................16 4. GEOPHYSICAL TECHNIQUES............................................................................18 4.1 HIGH-RESOLUTION REFLECTION SYSTEMS...........................................18 4.2 SEISMIC REFRACTION SYSTEMS.............................................................24 4.3 ELECTRICAL RESISTIVITY SYSTEMS.......................................................26 4.4 REMOTELY OPERATED GEOPHYSICAL PLATFORMS............................28 4.5 SEABED CLASSIFICATION SYSTEMS.......................................................30 4.6 UNDERWATER CAMERAS .........................................................................31 5. GEOTECHNICAL TECHNIQUES .........................................................................32 5.1 OVERVIEW OF GEOTECHNICAL TECHNIQUES.......................................32 5.2 SAMPLING SYSTEMS .................................................................................34 5.3 IN-SITU TESTING SYSTEMS ......................................................................44 5.4 LABORATORY TESTING.............................................................................52 5.5 SUITABILITY OF IN-SITU AND LABORATORY TESTS..............................53 ISSMGE TC1 Table of Contents Page 1 of 2 CONTENTS (CONTINUED) 6. EVALUATION OF DATA AND REPORTING.......................................................55 6.1 GEOTECHNICAL QUALITY .........................................................................55 6.2 PROJECT SPECIFIC INFORMATION .........................................................55 6.3 DATA ACQUISITION AND EVALUATION....................................................56 6.4 REPORTING ................................................................................................56 7. OFFSHORE PLATFORMS...................................................................................57 7.1 FOUNDATION DESIGN ISSUES .................................................................57 7.2 PARAMETERS REQUIRED .........................................................................59 7.3 TYPICAL SCOPE FOR SITE INVESTIGATION ...........................................60 8. ANCHORED STRUCTURES................................................................................64 8.1 DESIGN ISSUES AND INSTALLATION CONSTRAINTS ............................64 8.2 PARAMETERS REQUIRED .........................................................................65 8.3 TYPICAL SCOPE FOR SITE INVESTIGATION ...........................................66 9. OFFSHORE PIPELINES.......................................................................................68 9.1 FOUNDATION DESIGN ISSUES AND INSTALLATION CONSTRAINTS....68 9.2 SOIL PARAMETERS....................................................................................70 9.3 SITE INVESTIGATION .................................................................................71 10. NEARSHORE STRUCTURES..............................................................................75 10.1 FOUNDATION DESIGN ISSUES .................................................................75 10.2 INFORMATION REQUIRED.........................................................................76 10.3 TYPICAL SCOPE FOR SITE INVESTIGATION ...........................................78 11. DREDGING WORKS ............................................................................................80 11.1 CHARACTERISTICS OF DREDGING WORKS ...........................................80 11.2 GEOTECHNICAL DESIGN ISSUES.............................................................81 11.3 REQUIRED INFORMATION.........................................................................81 11.4 TYPICAL SCOPE FOR SITE INVESTIGATIONS.........................................83 12. GOOD PRACTICE................................................................................................85 12.1 PRACTICAL SUPERVISION ........................................................................85 12.2 EXAMPLES OF GOOD PRACTICE .............................................................86 12.3 PITFALLS TO AVOID...................................................................................87 13. REFERENCES......................................................................................................90 ISSMGE TC1 Table of Contents Page 2 of 2 ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THE TEXT AUV Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (D)GPS (Differential) Global Positioning System BH Borehole BPT Ball Penetration Test CID Consolidated Isotropically, Drained triaxial compression CIU Consolidated Isotropically, Undrained triaxial compression CPT Cone Penetration Test DMT Dilatometer test DP Dynamic Positioning GBS Gravity Based Structure GPS Global Positioning System HSE Health, Safety and Environmental LBL Long Baseline PCPT or CPTU Piezo-cone Penetration Test PMT Pressuremeter Test PROD Portable Remotely Operated Drill ROV Remotely Operated Vehicles ROTV Remotely Operated Towed Vehicles RQD Rock Quality Designation SBL Short Baseline SPS Standard Positioning Service SPT Standard Penetration Test SWL Safe Working Load TBT T-bar Penetration Test USBL Ultra Short Baseline UTM Universal Transverse Mercator UU Unconsolidated, Undrained triaxial compression UUV Untethered Underwater Vehicle VST Vane Shear Test ISSMGE TC1 Abbreviations Page i of iii PREFACE Two of the objectives of 2001-2005 Technical Committee 1 “Offshore and Nearshore Geotechnical Engineering” of the International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE) were: − Provide support to ISSMGE member countries requesting dissemination of offshore/nearshore geotechnical expertise from other countries. − Prepare documentation that gives practical information on executing nearshore and/or offshore geotechnical projects. In view of these objectives, Technical Committee 1 (TC1) members agreed that industry would be served with a handbook giving an inventory of geotechnical and geophysical data acquisition techniques for characterising offshore and nearshore soil conditions. This should include recommended planning schedules for offshore and nearshore projects. Thus, TC1 members supported by numerous other colleagues prepared this handbook and made this available to attendees of the two September 2005 Geotechnical Conferences: − 16th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ICSMGE) in Osaka, Japan. − International Symposium on Frontiers in Offshore Geotechnics (ISFOG) in Perth, Australia. This handbook was also published on the web site of the ISSMGE at about the same time. Members of TC1 during the 2001-2005 term were: H.J. Kolk (Netherlands), chair M.B. de Groot (Netherlands), secretary A.R. Koelewijn (Netherlands), co-secretary K.H. Andersen (Norway) core member J.P. Iorio (France) core member A. Amr Darrag (Egypt) core member T. Tsuchida (Japan) core member M. VandenBroeck (Belgium)