Geotechnical services from investigation to construction

Soil & Foundation Engineering

Soil and foundation engineering for industrial, commercial and residential construction, from residential and light industrial to high rise, towers, tanks, bridges, public works, roadways and other special structures. Services include subsurface exploration, laboratory testing and engineering analyses, then design data and recommendations such as:

• Bearing and pile capacities
• Excavation and shoring
• Retaining wall parameters
• Slab support
• Resistance to lateral and uplift loads
• Site preparation and grading, including static and seismic slope stability

Engineering Geology

Preliminary site evaluations, surface geologic mapping, aerial photograph analysis and interpretation, subsurface exploration, fault trenching, rock hardness evaluation, slope stability and evaluation of landslides.

Seismicity

Evaluation of potential fault activity and of ground accelerations and other characteristics of earthquake ground motion, including liquefaction. For detailed studies, such as high-rise construction, services include the site coefficient and ground motion response spectra.

Geophysical Applications

Evaluating rock hardness from an excavation standpoint using shallow seismic refraction techniques.

Material Testing & Engineering

Soil and construction material testing and special inspection services, performed in an AASHTO and City of Los Angeles accredited laboratory. Licensed deputy concrete inspectors cover all phases of concrete construction.

Construction Consultation & Monitoring

Monitoring and testing of all phases of earthwork: stripping, removals, subdrain installation, fill placement, backfill and rock disposal, fill slope keys, buttresses, and geologic mapping of cut slopes, buttress backcuts and landslide removals. Plus inspection of footings, driven and drilled piles, slab moisture penetration, post tension and shoring installation.

Environmental Impact Reports & Site Assessments

Geotechnical input to EIRs (soil engineering, engineering geology and seismology, including liquefaction, fault activity and landslide stability), plus preliminary site assessments, environmental audits, property transfer studies and soil and groundwater contamination studies.

Street Design

Asphalt and concrete structural sections based on CBR and R-Value methods, including special applications such as lime-treated subgrade soils and cement-treated aggregate base.