SCREW DRIVING SOUNDING TEST FOR GROUND INVESTIGATION AT “SEKOLAH AGAMA UTM” CONSTRUCTION SITE

Siti Norafida Jusoh

Photo of team members before commencing the ground investigation work; from left, Rosmawati Ahmad, Tuan Noor Hani Tuan Yunus, Dr. Nor Zurairahetty Md. Yunus (Director of Department of Geotechnics and Transportation), Prof. Dr. Aminaton Marto (SDS Research & Program Leader), Dr. Siti Norafida Jusoh, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kamaruddin Ahmad, Jafar Ahmad and Mohd Iqbal Mohd Noh. (Not in picture: Razale Mohamad and Mohammad Hatta Satar).

KUALA LUMPUR, 12 Sept. – A team led by Prof. Dr. Aminaton Marto from the Department of Environmental Engineering and Green Technology, Malaysian-Japan International Institute Technology (MJIIT), UTM Kuala Lumpur together with the staff from the Department of Geotechnics and Transportation (JGP), School of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, UTM Johor Bahru had performed a ground investigation at “Sekolah Agama UTM” construction site.

This ground investigation, as part of a Corporate Social responsibility (CSR) and community engagement supported by Japan Home Shield Corporation (JHS), was carried out aiming at transferring a new technology in ground investigation work by verifying the results obtained earlier through the deep boring method that incorporated the Standard Penetration Test (SPT).

Through this activity, a new method of ground investigation via Screw Driving Sounding (SDS) test was introduced and the results will be used by the team from the Center for Tropical Geoengineering (GEOTROPIK), UTM to do the foundation design for the “Sekolah Agama UTM”.

Four (4) SDS tests were carried out to obtain the soil profile and respective soil properties up to 15 m depth.

SDS, which was recently developed by JHS, is an improved version of Swedish Weight Sounding machine. With this SDS test, more parameters can be measured, including torque, load, speed of penetration and rod friction, and thereby provides a robust way of characterising soil stratigraphy.

It uses machine-driven and portable device, making it suitable for testing in confined areas. Moreover, with a testing depth of 10–15 m, it is ideal for characterising shallow deposits. SDS test is not just fast, cost efficient and does not require highly skilled workers but SDS test could provide quality results from the usage of Industrial Revolution 4.0 technology through automation in testing and making use of the cloud computing to manage the data.

SDS machine is currently being leased by JHS to UTM to undertake the Joint R&D on Screw Driving Sounding Test in Malaysian soils.