Short description:

This updated second edition is a comprehensive guide to collecting samples, performing laboratory analysis or in situ characterization, and formulating design criteria based on the results of the analysis. The author relies on his 40 years of professional experience, emphasizing identification and description of the elements of the geologic environment, the data required for analysis and design of the engineering works, the physical and engineering properties of geologic materials, and procuring the data. By using a practical approach to problem solving, the book helps engineers consider geological phenomena in terms of the degree of their hazard and the potential risk of their occurrence.

Long description:

The Geotechnical Engineering Investigation Handbook provides the tools necessary for fusing geological characterization and investigation with critical analysis for obtaining engineering design criteria. The second edition updates this pioneering reference for the 21^st century, including developments that have occurred in the twenty years since the first edition was published, such as:

?          Remotely sensed satellite imagery

?          Global positioning systems (GPS)

?          Geophysical exploration

?          Cone penetrometer testing

?          Earthquake studies

?          Digitizing of data recording and retrieval

?          Field and laboratory testing and instrumentation

?          Use of the Internet for data retrieval

The Geotechnical Engineering Investigation Handbook, Second Edition is a comprehensive guide to a complete investigation: study to predict geologic conditions; test-boring procedures; various geophysical methods and when each is appropriate; various methods to determine engineering properties of materials, both laboratory-based and in situ; and formulating design criteria based on the results of the analysis. The author relies on his 50+ years of professional experience, emphasizing identification and description of the elements of the geologic environment, the data required for analysis and design of the engineering works, and procuring the data.

By using a practical approach to problem solving, this book helps engineers consider geological phenomena in terms of the degree of their hazard and the potential risk of their occurrence.

??manages to touch upon almost all major areas of work encountered by today?s geotechnical engineer, covering investigation methods for both regional and site-specific assessments.?
?Stuart Mills, Materials World, Vol. 14, No. 9, September 2006
"Whoever reads this book will never approach geotechnical exploration in the same way again. Nowhere else has it been made so evident that all boundaries among engineering geology, geophysics, rock mechanics, soil mechanics, geohydrology, seismology, and a host of other disciplines are meaningless; that contributions to the solution of geotechnical problems may come from any or all of these sources; or that the practitioner who holds too narrowly to a specialty is likely to overlook knowledge that could be of the greatest benefit to him in reaching a proper judgment. If for no other reason than to appreciate the breadth of geotechnics and to escape from the trap of too narrow a perspective, this book should be read."
?Dr. Ralph B. Peck, from the Foreword to the First Edition
?This is pure gold in ?nuts and bolts? of the profession. Hunt?s title and prefatory materials proclaim that this is a book written primarily for geotechnical engineers, yet any astute engineering geologist will not only understand its content and impact, but will also be able to ?read between the line? and learn more of the perspective of each topic. ?The book content will be highly valuable throughout a project, from planning through conduct, during daily review of incoming field results, and during evaluation and interpretation. ?To paraphrase the American Express Company, ?Don?t leave home without Hunt?s book!?
?Allen W. Hatheway, Environmental & Engineering Geoscience, Vol. 12, No. 1, Feb. 2006

Table of Contents:

Foreword. Preface. Introduction. Investigation Methods and Procedures. Exploration. Measurement of Properties. Field Instrumentation. Characteristics of Geologic Materials and Formations. Rock and Soil: Identification and Classification. Rock-Mass Characteristics. Soil Formations: Geologic Classes and Characteristics. Water: Surface and Subsurface. The Geologic Hazards. Landslides and Other Slope Failures. Ground Subsidence, Collapse, and Heave. Earthquakes. Appendices. Appendix A: The Earth and Geologic History. Appendix B: USGS Quads and Aerial Photographs in Book. Appendix C: Conversion Tables. Appendix D: Symbols. Appendix E: Engineering Properties of Geologic Materials: Data and Correlations. Index. Color Plates Section.