SELECTION OF CHARACTERISTIC VALUES FROM CONE PENETRATION TEST

Geotechnical investigation has always been characterized by strong variability and uncertainties at any extent. To overcome this barrier geotechnical professionals have traditionally used at a large scale conservative soil properties, a procedure which is not compatible with Eurocode7. The standard requires that uncertainties should be considered in a more consistent and objective manner using the concept of characteristic value. Selecting the characteristic value of geotechnical parameters has many difficulties and is still far from being clear. In this regard, statistics has proved to be a very useful tool in characterizing soil variability, especially if combined properly and carefully with geotechnical engineering judgment. Various approaches regarding the interpretation and selection of characteristic values of cone resistance are compared and discussed in this paper. The applicability and compatibility of each method is mainly affected from the trend and variability of the considered soil property with depth.