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Seismic Piezocone Testing Service
American Engineering Testing has had a seismic piezocone rig since 2003. Seismic piezocone testing (PCPT) is an in-situ test that involves pushing an instrumented cylindrical cone into the ground with a static pressure. During penetration, continuous measurements of tip resistance, sleeve friction, and pore water pressure are made. Our equipment consists of 15cm2 electronic cones.
The piezocone sounding provides detailed stratigraphy and variations in soil parameters with depth. A typical log is pictured below. The plot shows tip resistance, sleeve friction, pore pressure, and friction ratio variations with depth.
In fine-grained soils, the probe penetration can be stopped and the pore pressure dissipation rate measured (to determine drainage properties of the soils). In free-draining soils, the in-situ pore pressures can be measured.
The test is much faster than traditional standard penetration testing (SPT) and sampling. Daily footage increases of three to five times over conventional SPT borings are common.