Recent Developments in In Situ Testing in Offshore Soil Investigations

This paper gives a review of developments in offshore in situ testing since about 1985. Deployment of the devices is now so well developed that it is difficult to imagine that more efficient operations can be achieved. Advances in methods of measurement and data acquisitions have facilitated multisensor devices. This has resulted in very useful tools like the triple element piezocone and the seismic piezocone which can now be carried out on a routine basis. Other useful tools like the dilatometer and BAT probe are also available.After a period of intense equipment development it is thought that the main emphasis should now be on consolidating present measurement techniques and concentrating on interpretation in terms of soil design parameters. A lot of research work has also been done in this field but there is still much room for further development.A recent trend has been to carry out large scale in situ model tests to check out the feasibility of new foundation concepts especially for complex and difficult soil conditions. Some examples are given.