Strength and deformation parameters of boulder clay to design of buildings at the margin of a moraine plateau in Warsaw

Abstract

Abstract The selection of soil parameters suitable to the geotechnical design calculations is regarded widely as one of the most important and simultaneously difficult engineering task, which according to the Eurocode 7 standards should be undertaken into distinct three steps. The second of these steps, namely obtaining the characteristic values requires a careful and a cautions estimation with application of the statistical methods even by using a Bayesian approach as shown in this paper. This paper presents the process of selecting a characteristic strength and deformation parameters from CPT and DMT investigation for boulder clays discovered at the margin of a moraine plateau in Warsaw. This layer was chosen for foundations of design academic buildings. In the selection of the characteristic parameters with application of the numerical program BAYANAL the spatial distribution of strength and deformation properties was taken into account. Particular attention was focused to the affect resulting from in situ test locations at different distances from the design facilities. Finally, the remark conclusions were presented including opinion on the role of aims and spacing of investigation points in geotechnical designing.