Geotechnical report 3

[zaqqaz]

I have just started to work as a geotechnical engineer. I realised that I need to boost up my report writing skills and improve it. I appreciate any comments or info that could help me to improve my skills. Is there any good reference that could assist me for a jump?

 

[jheidt2543]

One suggestion I would offer is to review past reports from your office. Make an outline of the topics covered that you can use for your reports. While each report should be specific to the project, they all can follow a standard outline to make sure all of the relavent topics are covered.

 

[zaqqaz]

Thanks jheidt2543 for the advise. Sure it is a good approach and I already started it. But, I faced with another problem and that is I have difficulty in finding the relation between the clauses and the significance of some paragraphs.
For example, I really don't realise that who uses the geological information and what for? Further, I have a background in structure, so when I saw a preliminary structural drawing I understand lots of things so why should I repeat them in the project desciption while the DWG is attached?

 

[jheidt2543]

There are a number of people that use the report and they each have a different perspective:

The structural engineer of course is wondering about bearing capacity and settlement potential.

The excavating contractor is wondering about water table elevation, depth of topsoil, type of soil below, rock elevation and soundness, base course recommendations for paving etc. Also, compaction requirements of the different soils and areas of the project.

The general contractor is also interested in the above, but from a little different perspective, if he doesn't do his own dirtwork. Water table is a big concern, because he will have to provide or subcontract the dewatering to allow the excavator's work.

The developer is wondering about enviornmental questions regarding the site and if special measures (added $$) are required to develop it.

So, there are a lot of people looking at the soils report, each with a different concern that has to be addressed within the report in some form.

 

[eric1037]

If your company is a member of ASFE, they have a wealth of information in case histories that really help out. Check out

http://www.asfe.org

Also, do a search on geotechnical report guidelines. It seems that there is some info out there on the web that can help.

Mostly it comes from experience. My approach is to visualize what will happen during construction and try to describe any issues that could result from the soil and groundwater conditions. This approach usually requires field work so you have a good idea how construction works. If this isn't part of your job description, I suggest asking your employer to observe some construction projects in process.

 

[BigH]

You can actually find some geotechnical reports on the web - I'ver found quite of few in my searches of certain topics. I was lucky in that the two geotech firms for which I worked were well known for good solid geotechnical reporting. Using their reports as basis for my own writing was a great help. jheidt was right on about the different perspectives of various readers of your report. Also, you need to be clear about other things. You might not have "run into" boulders in your stratum samples - but the geology and past experience tells you that they might be there - you better mention it. Why? - if the contractor runs into them and you did not mention them and hence they weren't put in the BOQ for the work, then, there will be a problem. Also - you might be on a site where a sand layer is stratified with very thin microscopic lenses of clay - but you don't mention them. A contractor may run into great difficulties when excavating, say for a deep sewer main, when the side walls of his excavation blow out due to lateral water seepage atop the thin lenses. Similarly, on sites that have been used in the past for other structures or may have had utilities pass through - you need to mention the possibility of such being encountered - cover yourself on this. I started doing this and it did help in a number of cases - a old foundation that wasn't discovered in the investigation - but as it was mentioned that it might occur . . . Writing is an art unto itself; keep on reading and writing - you will soon get the knack of it.

 

[breezeear]

BigH,
May I know the two companies you mentioned which write good geotechnical reports, if it is not against your privacy? THANKS.

 

[BigH]

One is listed on ENR's top 200 Intenational Design firms as #85 or so for 2004 (originally headed by H.Q. Golder, Vic Milligan, John Seychuk among others). The second was established in 1954 and had Fred Matich as long tim President and is now part of the organization that is listed by ENR as #1. Both are from Toronto. - Sorry, that's the best that I can do - don't really want to give names.

 

[cbosy]

If you are just starting on a new project, ask others if they have done something similar and get the report to use as a "go by" but don't plagerize anything. I have saved portions of several hundred of my old reports so if I have a similar job I have a starting point and don't have to "reinvent the wheel" each time.

 

[BigH]

cbosy - is it really plagarism if you are with the same company as the report you are using and you extract paras or even whole sections for another project for your company? Don't think that this is really plagarism - it is the company's report, not the individual's in these cases. Now if you are lifting from others and it is more than general knowledge, you have a point. I keep all my old reports and have many of the company's reports from earlier years - as a model and for use when conditions warrant the same approach.

 

[jakin]

There is an African saying that although new brooms can sweep clean, old brooms know the corners, because they've made several trips there and their tips have been appropriately shaped to fit those tight corners. There is nothing like hands-on experience of visually logging soils on drilling sites, followed by supervised reporting of observations. Zaggaz, to grow in the profession, you'll need to pick the brains of the more experienced engineers at your firm.

Also, those "clauses" and "paragraphs", that you've seen repeated ad nauseam in some of the reports in your office, that often don't seem to bear any meaningful relevance to the job at hand, are probably what have kept your firm still in business. Every geotech report must contain well thought out disclaimers that limit the responsibility of the firm to the job at hand and to the location under consideration, thereby protecting the organization from litigation, etc.