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Soil & Rock Mechanics

Our specialty laboratory staff are industry leaders in this commercial sector that provide cutting edge geomechanical and geoenvironmental testing services for design, mining, construction and research. Our laboratory uses the latest testing equipment and software to deliver confidence in results. Customised Soil & Rock Mechanics testing for specific project, design or research requirements is our specialty.

Services

  • Strength & Mechanical
  • Physio-Chemical Testing
  • Hydraulic

Earthworks & Compaction

Compaction testing compliance is vital to any civil project to ensure the construction materials and placement methods undertaken are meeting the design specification requirements. Our highly experienced field and laboratory staff provide a comprehensive range of earthworks related testing and inspections to Australian standards, TfNSW and RMS testing methods.

Services

  • AS3798 Level 1 – Testing & Certification
  • Sydney Water Approved Supplier – Field Tester
  • TfNSW L3 Accreditation
  • NATA Accreditation – 15100

Materials Conformance

Our Seven Hills laboratory is accredited for a wide range of testing by The National Association of Testing Authorities (NATA). This provides our clients with the reassurance that the technical competence provided by our laboratory is to the highest standard.
We provide conformance testing for concrete, soil, rock and aggregate to Australian Standards, TfNSW / RMS, ASTM and ISRM test methods and are fully supported by our specialty geomechanical testing section.

Services

  • Rocks
  • Soil
  • Aggregates
  • Concrete

Laboratory Testing

1. Strength & Mechanical

  • Triaxial (UCS) – Cohesive Soil
  • Triaxial (UU) – without pwp measurement
  • Triaxial (CU) – with pwp measurement
  • Triaxial (CD) – Consolidated Drained
  • Soil Direct Shear – Peak
  • Soil Direct Shear – Residual
  • Soil Direct Shear – Constant Volume
  • 1-D consolidation with optional loops/ unloads/reloads/rebounds
  • 1-D consolidation with creep
  • Free Swell
  • Collapse/Swell Strain
  • Magnitude of Swell
  • Stepped Consolidation after Free Swell or Collapse Strain
  • Swelling Pressure Index
  • Point Load Testing
  • UCS Testing (Rock/Concrete)

2. Geo-environmental Testing (Geosynthetic, Contaminated etc)

  • Internal and Interface Shear Strength of Geosynthetic Clay Liner by the Direct Shear
  • Shear Strength of Soil – Geosynthetic and Geosynthetic-Geosynthetic Interfaces by Direct Shear
  • Swell index of clay mineral component of Geosynthetic Clay Liners (GCL)
  • Triaxial Permeability Testing of Contaminated Specimens and/or Contaminated Permeants with Toxic Interfaces
  • Triaxial Permeability Testing of Geosynthetic Clay Liners Permeated with Potentially Incompatible Aqueous Solutions
  • Triaxial Strength Testing of Contaminated Specimens using Toxic Interfaces
  • Pore Water Extraction of Contaminated Specimens for chemical analysis
  • Consolidation Testing of Contaminated Specimens

3. Earthworks & Compaction

  • Earthworks Level 1 Conformance
  • Earthworks & Pavement Compaction Testing
  • Transport for NSW – Roads and Maritime L2 Registered Testing Laboratory
  • Soil Stabilisation
  • Plate Load Testing
  • Benkelman Beam Testing
  • Test Roll Inspections
  • Subgrade Inspections

4. Materials Conformance

  • Thermal Resistivity / Conductivity
  • CBR – California Bearing Ratio
  • Plastic Index & Linear Shrinkage
  • Grading – Particle Size Distribution
  • Shrink Swell
  • Emerson Class
  • Soil Pre-Treatment / Artificial Weathering
  • Soil Stabilisation
  • Concrete Compressive Strength
  • Aggregates
  • Organic Impurities
  • Flakiness – Proportional Calliper
  • Bulk Density

5. Rock Testing (Australian Standards, TfNSW, ASTM, ISRM methods)

  • Point Load Strength of Rock Core (axial, diametral)
  • UCS – Uniaxial Compressive Strength of Rock (AS, TfNSW, ASTM, ISRM methods)
  • UCS – Deformability of Rock in Uniaxial Compression (Modulus & Poisson’s Ratio)
  • ITS – Indirect Tensile Strength of Rock Drill Core (Brazil or splitting test)
  • Direct Shear on Intact Rock & Rock Discontinuities
  • Rock Porosity and Dry Density
  • Slake Durability Index
  • Swelling Pressure Index under conditions of Zero Volume Change

6. Hydraulic Tests

  • Triaxial Permeability – Constant Head
  • Triaxial Permeability – Constant Flow
  • Falling Head Permeability
  • Emerson Class
  • Pinhole Dispersion (Erodibility) Test

7. Unsaturated Testing

  • Soil Water Characteristic Curve (SWCC) tests by Axis Translation
  • Soil Water Characteristic Curve (SWCC) in both matric and total suction by Filter Paper Method
  • Unsaturated Compressibility by Axis Translation with Unsaturated Triaxial Consolidation
  • Unsaturated Strength by Axis Translation with Drained Triaxial (CD) tests

8. Physio-Chemical

  • Particle Density
  • Particle Size Distribution with Hydrometer
  • Soluble Salt Content of Soil
  • Slake Durability
  • Petrographic Examination & Quartz Content
  • Rock Clay Mineralogy
  • XRD (qualitative and SIROQUANT quantitative)
  • SPOCAS (Acid Sulphate Soils)
  • NAPP, NAG (Acid Mine Drainage)
  • Asbestos
  • Rock Porosity