Geotechnical Engineering and Testing
Combining our experience and expertise with our field and in-house soils testing laboratory resources allows SME to provide a wide variety of geotechnical services.
Whether a project requires closing a landfill, stabilizing a highway embankment, or armoring a shoreline, our team can handle the process from beginning to end. SME provides subsurface investigation, geotechnical design, interaction with agencies for regulatory approvals, preparation of construction plans and specifications, inspection of work product, QA/QC testing of soil and geosynthetic materials, and construction documentation.
Services
- Subsurface investigations
- Slope stability analyses
- Bearing capacity evaluations for foundation designs
- Embankment and dam design
- Earthwork construction quality control
- Physical, mechanical, and hydraulic property testing of soil
- Designs for soil and groundwater cleanup
- Designs for mechanically stabilized earth berms
- Analysis of landfill configurations, storage systems, and material stability
- Landfill cover design and construction support for soft, high-water-content waste materials
- QA/QC construction testing for geotechnical projects
- Dam and levee safety inspections
- Levee certifications (44 CFR 65.10)
- Soil classification
- Moisture content tests
- Particle size distribution analyses
- Atterberg limits testing
- Specific gravity testing
- Consolidated undrained triaxial shear tests
- Unconsolidated undrained strength tests
- 1-D consolidation testing
- Confined and unconfined compression tests
- Compaction testing, (standard and modified Proctor)
- California Bearing Ratio (CBR) test
- Field density testing by nuclear and sand cone methods
- Permeability testing, including falling head or constant head with rigid or flexible wall
Markets
Commercial
Industrial
Governmental
Residential
Other
Contact Us
SME’s geotechnical engineers conduct subsurface investigations leading to practical solutions for even the most challenging projects. This includes services for support of above-ground structures; designs for control of subsurface water forces and drainage; design of soil and geosynthetic barrier systems for lining and covering waste disposal sites; and design of filtering media to resist internal erosion of soils subjected to subsurface seepage. We also evaluate slope stability and settlement for dams, waste deposits, and other earth and earth-supported structures.
SME conducts inspections of water storage dams, landfills, and liquid storage lagoons to evaluate hydraulic performance and structural integrity. The geotechnical staff designs and installs below ground instrumentation to monitor soil and groundwater behavior relative to potential adverse effects on surface and subsurface infrastructure.
We also provide engineering inspections and evaluations of levee flood control systems for accreditation by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
In-House Geotechnical Testing Lab
For over 35 years, SME has maintained an in-house geotechnical laboratory for physical and mechanical property evaluation for a wide range of material types, including soil, sludge, ash, and sediment. The lab gives our engineers fast access to a wide range of standard geotechnical tests for characterizing soil and soil-like materials for use in development and/or re-development of raw land and commercial or industrial sites.
The laboratory also provides outside consulting engineering firms and government agencies with reliable, high-quality, on-time test results.
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