Offshore Geotechnical Site Investigation

Offshore Geo-technical Site Investigation in Kenya & East Africa.

Disturbed & Undisturbed soil sampling.
Soil laboratory testing.
SCPTu.
DCP Testing.
Dynamic Penetration Tests (DPT).
Vane Shear Testing.
CPTu.

As the largest supplier of marine Geo-technical site investigation services in East Africa, SECO conducts tailored investigations in all offshore regions along the East African Coast. From shallow continental environments to the newer remote ultra-deepwater plays, we deploy our dedicated drillships and robotic drilling equipment to provide you with seabed soil investigations in water depths down to 3,000 metres.

Capabilities

Taking samples through borehole drilling and sampling, geophysical logging, and pressuremeter testing, our Geotechnical testing accurately quantifies ground conditions at your project site. Soil samples are analyzed at our soil and rock testing laboratories to determine design parameters.

Our field data acquisition and sampling services are underpinned by our Geotechnical expertise in executing complex and technically demanding projects. Other key services include:

Desktop studies
Advanced laboratory soils and rock testing
Numerical and physical modeling of foundations
Consultancy
Engineering analysis

Combining these services with SECO’s geology, geophysics and other related Geo-science expertise enables us to provide you with a comprehensive package of solutions: conceptual design, feasibility, development, installation, operation and field abandonment.

Geotechnical Investigations Include:

Disturbed soil sampling

Disturbed soil sample is the most common method of soil sampling. There are several techniques of soil sampling. The choice of the most appropriate way depends on the purpose of the sampling & the subsequent use of the samples.

Soil laboratory testing

Our soil testing programmes are crucial to projects with great sensitivity to soil behaviour - high-rise buildings, bridges, dams, power plants, mines, levees, offshore platforms and tunnels, for example.

Dynamic Cone Penetration (DCP) Testing

Used to measure the strength of in-situ soil and the thickness and location of subsurface soil layers. It is similar to CPT in that a metal cone is advanced into the ground to continuously characterize soil behavior.

Vane shear testing

Vane shear testing is one of the most common in-situ methods for the estimation of the undrained shear strength of the soil. Excellent for profiling shear strength when used in combination with the CPTu or full flow penetrometer.

Ground Water Investigations

The investigations consist of measuring of groundwater table level, hydraulic head at different depths and total rainfall. The results of these investigations are used for estimating the amount of rainwater infiltrating into the bedrock and the properties of flow paths inside the rock.

Undisturbed soil sampling

Undisturbed soil core samples are taken to determine many basic soil physical properties. The relative volumes of the solid, liquid and gaseous phases can be determined either by mass or by volume.

Seismic Cone Penetration Testing (SCPTu)

Used in the determination of low strain in-situ compression (P) and shear (S) wave velocities. The determination of P-wave and S-wave arrival times from the recorded time series is of importance to the evaluation of seismic wave velocities.

Dynamic Penetration Tests (DPT)

Provides a measure of a material’s in-situ resistance to penetration. The test is performed by driving a metal cone into the ground by repeated striking it with a 17.6 lb (8 Kg)weight dropped from a distance of 2.26 feet (575 mm).

Piezo-cone Penetration Testing (CPTu)

CPTu is a in situ testing method used to determine the Geo-technical engineering properties of soils & assessing subsurface stratigraphy, relative density, strength & equilibrium groundwater pressures.

Piezometers Installation & Monitoring

Piezometers are used for measuring pore pressures in ground.
Pore pressure has fundamental importance to understanding ground behaviour, before—during—and after construction.