Some trends from recent geotechnical projects in Ireland

Abstract

Ground investigations are an essential part of risk management of building and infrastructure projects. This paper examines a large data set of ground investigations and geotechnical projects in Ireland and comments on some of the commercial aspects from the study. The paper compares tender and construction costs to investigate the degree of overspending on ground investigation contracts. The data suggest the presence of a conservative bias when geotechnical engineers design ground investigations and that a remeasurable bill of quantities is best suited for most ground investigations. The data suggest that many designers with limited geotechnical resources specify far fewer laboratory tests than specialist geotechnical consultancies. The paper also compares the intensity of ground investigation points against recommendations presented in Eurocode 7. A comparison between the ground investigation costs and the overall project capital costs are also presented for both building and road projects in Ireland and compared with published international correlations.