INCIDENCE DE LA QUALITE DES ESSAIS PRESSIOMETRIQUES SUR LE COUT ET LE PLANNING D’UN OUVRAGE. PRESSUREMETER TESTS QUALITY INCIDENCE UPON COST AND PLANNING OF PROJECTS.

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4. INCIDENCE DE LA QUALITE DES ESSAIS PRESSIOMETRIQUES SUR LE COUT ET LE PLANNING D’UN OUVRAGE. PRESSUREMETER TESTS QUALITY INCIDENCE UPON COST AND PLANNING OF PROJECTS.

The pressuremeter is the most comprehensive in-situ test available to geotechnicians for the design of foundations. The representativeness of the data depends directly on the know-how of the operator. The example of a few projects whose foundations were designed from soil studies mainly comprising pressuremeter tests will be discussed. In all cases, poor quality of the pressuremeter tests carried out during the initial investigation campaign led to an oversizing of the planned foundations. The soil studies were repeated, ensuring that pressuremeter tests were carried out in accordance with the rules of the art, thanks to the assistance of experienced personnel. The values obtained from the new pressuremeter tests made it possible to redesign the foundations of the structures and significantly reduce their importance. The consequences in terms of cost and program induced by the poor quality of the initial pressuremeter tests will be analysed. The causes of the lack of representativeness of the initial tests are similar from one project to another: pressuremeter boreholes drilled too quickly, without a good drilling fluid, passes that are too long, always lead to a lowering of the pressuremeter characteristics. The projects presented are diverse: an oil reservoir based on a network of rigid inclusions, a diaphragm wall for a metro station, a footbridge over railway tracks, were all carried out under attractive cost and schedule conditions for the project owners. The conclusions emphasize the fundamental need to ensure good quality pressuremeter tests from the initial soil study.

8th International Symposium on Pressuremeters (ISP2025)

Case Studies and Field Applications