Do a "Google" search on Hand Held Shear Vane and you will find a plethora of information.

Two good examples of this type of equipment are the Geonor SL840 inspection vane (comes with extension rods to allow deeper testing and is very robust) and the Pilcon vane T0174/B (good but not as robust, no extension rods etc).  

If by any small chance you are UK based I can give you contact details for some suppliers,

I'm familiar with the vane test.  What I'm talking about is similar to a ship auger for wood and you screw it into the ground.  It would save the time of preboring.  With foundation testing going for $65 a house, time is of the essence.   It's interesting engineer rates are nowhere near the other professions yet we assume liability, while a lawyer would not.  But I guess thats a whole other topic.

Perhaps you should think about other clients!  Like industrial/heavy civil.  For $65, the "lost time" on the jobs probably costs you money - unless the $65 is a loss leader! Why do geotechs keep getting pushed down the fee ladder?????????

Hello Pslem:

Your question has set me back to around 1965. At the time I conducted field work using the Bishop and Swedish shear vane testing machines. Someone from the US paid a visit and demonstrated the use of a torque wrench with a few light rods. The system could be carried in a shoulder bag. I am trying to remember if it was a vane or small auger attached.

Perhaps it was a vane at the end which could be used with torque wrenches instead of the standard equipment the time. I think this person was a University Professor and had developed the idea. It stuck to my memory as it was a quick method of determining the shear strength of soft soils without the heavy equipment. A paper was published on this equipment. Do not know the details.

Does this Prof have a calibration for same.? Then that is all that you would need plus specs for auger.

BigH is correct on pricing, but that seems to be the trend.
In 1981 one could get around $500 to do a couple hand auger holes to check soils below footing locations before deciding on depth, etc.

At least $65 could buy 5 to 6 jugs and some wings.

Most testers just do a run by with a probe, but I do DCP to whatever depth I feel is necessary, so yes, at $75 (I charge a little more than avg.) it doesn't cover expenses, but I do it as a service to the builders I install piling for as the counties are now requiring an engr. to look at footings.  I've tried to get a few more details from the prof. and even had Durham Geo call, but he's at a loss for specifics.

A.B. Chance had one a few years ago, you might try them.
Their model had about a 1" square shaft with a similar sized helix with extension rods and used a torque wrench to quantify existing soil conditions

PSlem,
Wait a second.  I don't get this quite yet.  You're saying you can do a little check on the foundations with hand auger borings, DCPs, site observation, and other means for as little as $65 to $75?  What does that fee typically include in terms of scope of work?  Is drive time and report prep included?  $65-$75 doesn't even cover my expenses in getting to most nearby sites.

I agree.  The risk/reward on that work is way out of whack!

Please see FAQ731-376  by VPL for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips Fora.

PSlem -

$65 to $75 a site - now that has gone below board.  You would have to do 300 houses a year to cover insurance deductibles if in a lawsuit for just one house.

Please do all consultants a favor and STOP THIS NONSENSE.  It's bad enough that architects, owners, even other engineering disciplines put geotech/materials firms in bidding wars with each other.  Now we have others giving it away.  What a way to make a living - if I didn't love it so much, it would really be getting to me by now.

To all who wince at such low fees -

Hi ChrisMcLean,
Could you please give me the name of your supplier. I am also looking for a Hand Held Shear Vane.
Thanks.

I buy my supplies from Durham Geo as they are in my town.
http://www.durhamgeo.com/testing/soils/field-testing-ha...
I have found one company in town using a helical vane without preboring, but they are modifying their own augers.  I have not had time to verify the readings of this device against known testing, so for now the straight vane is all I can offer.

$65.00 is just not enough. A single operator can only do about six sites in an 8-hour day with travel time. That is $390.00 per day. Reports, billing and record keeping has to be added on. Considering that many jurisdictions require additional regestration above the P.E., as well as professional liability insurance, there is no profit. I heard a saying from an old surveyor that I respected which went; "I may be tired or I may be hungry. I will not be tired and hungry at the same time!"

I think, we should carry this topic to another forum ( Forum765 ) "Professional Ethics in engineering" and not divert from the original topic here
(sorry guys I use dial up and it takes hell lot of time to load when the messages become longer, hence the frustration).  Hope you all will understand.

Mise - suppliers are Impact test equipment (01294 602626) for Geonor products or Controls Testing (01442 828311) for Pilcon

To further steer this back to the original ? I received an 8 pg. article on the helical vane written by Drs. Yokel and Mayne.  The only commercial model mentioned is the Chance, but they are easily made by grinding the flights of a 3/4" wood auger bit to an edge, welding it to a 3/8" rod with a nut on top and screwing it in with a 150 in-lb Snap On wrench.  (It has a large gauge.)  The torque reading divided by 5 gives you the N equivalent.

Hi,

   I am very curious as to where you guys are located that you are doing soil testing for $65.00.  In western WA it seem to me that geotechs are far mor pricey than civils or structurals.  A friend called yesterday saying a geotech wanted $680.00 to check bearing capacity for a footing under a shed.  He's hoping I can do it for $400 to $500.  A couple of years ago I got an estimate from a geotech lab  of $195.00 per hour.  

DPA

In Atlanta the eastern county had 9000 new houses last year, the northern county 16,000.  When attending county meetings the inspectors state to the county they do about 20 inspections a day. I still do one to five a day.

Engineering is the art of not constructing...of doing that well with one dollar what any bungler can do well with two after a fashion.

Paul Mayne is a good guy.  Although we have our friendly professional disagreements, I seriously doubt that he would approve of the use of "his" approach to perform $65 "geotechnical studies."

I'll certainly ask the next time I talk to him.  Probably at the Geo Institute meeting in Austin, Texas next January 24 & 25, 2005.  Geo Frontiers 2005  It's a good place for meeting your peers and sharing our experiences - hope to see all of you there.

(I'm not a part of the organizing committee, and receive nothing tangible for this "plug.")

Please see FAQ731-376 for great suggestions on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips Fora.  See FAQ158-922 for recommendations regarding the question, "How Do You Evaluate Fill Settlement Beneath Structures?"

dpa,

I'm in Victoria and for a bearing pressure test I would expect to pay between $400 and $600. This will ussually include 3 boreholes, sample assesment  and recommended bearing pressure.

Given the cost of insurance these days ($I've just paid A$10,000 and I only do site classifications to AS2870) I'm not surprised at the cost.

I generally charge a minimum of $300 for anything geotech. and on average do 150 sites a year.


regards
sc

I also work in the Metro Atlanta area and note that most of the counties allow "third party engineers" to perform inspections in lieu of the building inspector.  As it is hard to inspect for $65-75 per site, the counties allow the third party engineers to use technicians to perform the inspections and then stamp the technicians work.  The third party engineer must provide e&o coverage which provides the builder better coverage than using a county inspector who is not usually liable for his work.  Our firm also performs similar inspections, generally after the house foundations have failed.  Our fee structure  varies from $500 to $1000.00+, however, it entails hand auger/dcp testing up to mobilizing a drill rig and performing SPT borings.  We will note that a majority of our work is follow up testing on foundations that have failed and is for the purpose of determining remedial measures and quantitative data for legal action.  We have observed that letting a technician or even an engineer test the surface with a probe rod and assuming all deeper fill is good can be a very dangerous and not worth the $65 to $75 in fees.

THANK YOU for sharing your first hand observations of the pitfalls of this very dangerous approach.  Particularly since you probably deal mostly with clay soils -

Please see FAQ731-376 for great suggestions on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips Fora.  See FAQ158-922 for recommendations regarding the question, "How Do You Evaluate Fill Settlement Beneath Structures?"

That does it.  I'm quitting Geotech and becoming a rodeo clown.

I agree with LabSuper.  Doing a geotechnical site investigation for $65 let alone $300 is crazy.  I'm definitely putting in an application at McDonalds (flipping burgers) if this is the direction our profession is headed.

We are generally in the $1000 to $1200 (US) range here in the coastal plains area where I practice, and borings are done for each project.  Consequently we don't get a lot of residential work.  No problem.

To those firms who insist on providing loss leader services to contractors and make it up on other services, you have no concept of what you are doing to our profession.  Remember, when you give a contractor a price, that's what he thinks its worth.  If he thinks a site investigation is worth $65, the next guy that comes along has to spend $300 just re-educating him.  It is a disservice to your competition and to the profession in general.  Those are the people who should be going to work flipping burgers...not the ones who try to hold the ethics and stature of the profession.

I have read quite a bit about the probe test by Drs. Yokel and Mayne and am curious as to why the "modified" 3/4" auger bits have not been available commercially?  Is there a particular reason that anyone knows about?

Very few reputable engineers/firms see any real benefit in using it, I suppose.  There isn't much market for it.

Please see FAQ731-376 for great suggestions on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips Fora.  See FAQ158-922 for recommendations regarding the question, "How Do You Evaluate Fill Settlement Beneath Structures?"

I've showed it to Geo Durham and told them it's an untapped market. Admittedly it's for cohesive soils only. Maybe you can get some input other than sarcasm from the "reputable engineers/firms."  

The optimist sees the glass as half full.  The pessimist sees the glass as half empty.  The engineer see the glass as too big.