The Use of In-Situ Tests for Foundation Design

The first evidence of the use of in-situ tests to characterize the ground dates to over 2000 years ago when the Chinese measured the force required to push various types of penetrometers into the ground ( Broms & Flodin 1988 ). Developments since then have taken the form of the design of devices fulfilling one or a combination of the following functions: provisions of a repeatable and sensitive measure of the ground’s consistency facilitation of small-scale load tests of the ground direct measurement of a specific soil parameter.