Technical paper
A review of advances in shallow seismic investigation for managing ground risk
Published
12 Sep 2019
Authors
R. Eddies, E. Cox, F. Moritz, T. Bailly, T. Chauveau, B. Barnwell, Y. Benboudiaf
DOI
Complementing traditional approaches to site characterisation, recent developments in near-surface seismic investigation techniques have led to better representation of ground structure and in-situ geotechnical properties, improving the likelihood of avoiding unforeseen ground conditions for infrastructure development.
The civil engineering sector has sometimes had a somewhat jaundiced view of geophysics, but a properly designed, executed and communicated (and critically, early) geophysical screening strategy can help not only to optimise subsequent intrusive campaigns but to populate what can represent large information gaps (uncertainty) in the Ground Model space between points of control such as boreholes and probings and their associated localised tests. For existing and future infrastructure developments, looking ahead, the evolution of legislation relating to seismic site assessment and site vulnerability for dense urban areas such as Hong Kong necessitates an awareness of the art of the possible for geophysical investigation. We review six seismic methods where recent advances in data acquisition technology and/or processing offers an opportunity for improved early screening for infrastructure development and / or seismic site assessment, and benefits in terms of better risk evaluation and timely decision-making.
Proceedings of the HKIE (The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers) Geotechnical Division, 39th Annual Seminar, April 2019