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Penetration testing in Federal Republic esopt

of Germany E. Habetha State-of-the-art report

The highly varied and, in the upland regions unfavourable, geologie conditions in the Federal Republic of Germany greatly affect the possibilities of applying sounding techniąues. Nevertheless, they are used for subsoil testing not only in the North German lowland but also in the plains and valleys of the hills and mountain6.

Primarily three types of dynamie and static penetration, vane, and isotope tests are applied in practice. Standards and recommen-dations of the "Baugrund/Sonden^{1 2} Work Committee aim towards a standardization of the eąuipment and procedures.

The knowledge that as yet no generally valid and secure relationship has been determined between sounding results and the usual soil-mechanical coefficients has led the Committee to initiate systematic research in this field.

or Holocene reworked materiał is present.

In this way the application of sounding methods was introduced in the Federal Republic. Naturally, special methods suited to the landscape have been practiced, both within and outside of DIN standards.

The following list is a condensed summary of the applications of sounding methods determined by geologie conditions in the Federal Republic.

Quaternary, Holocene:

Dune, beach, or marinę sand and/or gravel. Sandy and clayey river terrace deposits of the Coastal areas and river valleys, in part with organie intercala-tions.

(Marsh clay); redeposited older soils such as alluvial loess, floodplain loam, and slope detritus; peat, sapropel, gyttja, freshwater limestone.

Quaternary, Pleistocene:

Till, glacial basin clay, loess and loess loam (in part), slope detritus, terrace sand and gravel (glacial, fluvioglacial), periglacial solifluction soils, Pleistocene peat and lignite, gyttja.

Tertiary:

Sand and gravel (partly glauconitic, kaolinitic, etc.), clay and silt of various ages, Tertiary materiał weathered from bedrock, basaltic sand, lignite and lignitic sand.

Cretaceous:

Weathered sandstone (Hils Sandstone, for example), glauconitic green-sand, decom-posed Plfiner Limestone and chalk,

Lower and Upper Cretaceous clay, etc.

Jurassic:

Weathered Consolidated rocks (marł, sandstone, etc.), clay (Ornaten Clay, for example), etc.

Triassic:

Sand in the Upper Keuper, nodular marł (in part), Keuper clay and marł, clay in, for example, the Middle Muschelkalk, weathered Consolidated rocks.

Paleozoic:

Weathered Consolidated rocks (Rotliegend Sandstone, for example).

Geologie conditions

The Federal Republic of Germany is under-lain by strata and igneous bodies of various geologie ages and very different petrographic character. Broad areas are occupied by the Consolidated rocks (hard rocks) of the moun-tains and hills in the south, Southwest, and center of the country. Extending north of about the latitude of Hannover is the North German lowland. It is formed primarily of deposits (geest) from the Pleistocene nordic glaciers. Adjacent and in part above are younger post-gladal marinę and brackish water deposits (marsh) which resulted from the post-glacial sea-level rise or subsidence in the Coastal area.

Also in central, west, and south Germany are large areas which developed under glacial and periglacial conditions (for example, as the result of Pleistocene Alpine glaciers).

The often over 20 m thick, glacial and post-glacial terrace deposits (mostly sand and gravel) extending much beyond present river channels developed in this way.

Also within the mountainous landscapes are, aside from the weathering zones of Consolidated rocks, numerous Pleistocene strata consisting of unconsolidated sediments. Due to their lack of induration, they are suited for a sounding test. Examples are Tertiary clay and sand in Tertiary basins or weathering zones, Jurassic and Keuper Marł, and molasse and flysch in the Lower Alps. Fre-ąuently the main purpose of sounding or test drilling has been to determine if bedrock or very similar Pleistocene