We analyse the causes of instability or damage and substantiate solutions for making safe, remediation or landslide stabilisation, as appropriate.

Expert assessments may cover:

• National, county and local road sections affected by landslides, erosion or water infiltration.
• Landslides and potentially unstable slopes, including rockfall.
• Buildings on slopes, existing or planned.
• Buildings with differential settlement: settlement and bearing capacity analyses, ground improvement.
• Historic monuments: causes of damage, foundation assessment, drainage and site grading.

Example assessments

We drill mechanised and semi-mechanised boreholes, including continuous coring and undisturbed sampling, and carry out CPT/CPTu/sCPTu, DPH/DPSH and SPT testing.

Where needed, we add geophysical surveys, concrete and asphalt coring, or inclinometer and piezometer installation. Our own logistics make it easier to mobilise equipment, including to hard-to-reach sites.

• Mechanised geotechnical boreholes with continuous coring and undisturbed sampling.
• Semi-mechanised boreholes for shallow investigation and disturbed sampling.
• Cone penetration tests CPT, CPTu and sCPTu.
• Dynamic probing DPH and DPSH, and SPT.
• Geophysical surveys.
• Concrete and asphalt coring.
• Inclinometer or piezometer installation in boreholes.

Equipment used

In our own laboratory (GTF and D profiles, about 120 m²), we determine the physical and mechanical properties of soil samples. We correlate the test results with the field investigation for the geotechnical interpretation.

Within the authorised scope, we carry out:

• Physical tests and particle size analysis.
• Direct shear tests with automatic devices and data acquisition.
• Triaxial shear tests with data acquisition.
• Oedometer compressibility tests, including a fully automatic oedometer.

We prepare geotechnical reports for civil, industrial and agricultural buildings, roads, bridges, overpasses, viaducts, tunnels, slopes and wind farms. We set the investigation programme and report content according to the project and site conditions, in line with the applicable regulations.

We correlate field data and laboratory results to characterise the ground and make the recommendations needed for design. Where a site requires a stability assessment, we carry out cross-section analyses for existing conditions and, where appropriate, for the proposed solutions.

We design foundation, retaining and stabilisation solutions suited to the ground and to neighbouring conditions: bored piles, barrettes, diaphragm walls, deep excavations, walls on piles and micropiles, reinforced soil, anchored systems and drainage.

We carry out analyses for ground improvement, wind turbine foundations and monitoring of geotechnical works. For deep excavations, we pay particular attention to the effect of the excavation on neighbouring buildings.

• Special foundations: diaphragm walls, piles and barrettes, analysed with suitable methods including the finite element method and limit equilibrium methods, as appropriate.
• Deep urban excavations, assessing the zone of influence on neighbouring buildings.
• Retaining and stabilisation works: walls on piles, micropiles, geogrid-reinforced soil, anchored mesh and deep drainage.
• Ground improvement: grouting with hydraulic binders, rigid inclusions and load transfer platforms.
• Wind turbine foundation systems.
• Bored pile test programmes and long-term behaviour monitoring designs.

We track displacement and groundwater conditions over time through inclinometer, piezometer and survey measurements. Periodic interpretation of the data supports the assessment of how the ground and geotechnical works behave.

Services may include preparing the monitoring design, installing instruments in boreholes, taking measurements and interpreting the results, as the job requires.

• Inclinometer monitoring.
• Piezometer monitoring.
• Survey monitoring.

We carry out technical checking for the Af and Ag requirements through certified specialists from our own team, each within their competence and according to the type of document. Through our collaborators, we also provide checking for the A4, B2, D and A1 requirements.

Talk to our engineers

We provide site support during construction and consulting on foundation ground and geotechnical works. We analyse specialist issues that arise on site and help clarify how the designed solutions are applied.