Geotechnical Engineering

With expertise in over 5,500 projects across Western Canada, RAM has ensured project and structure safety for close to 30 years.

RAM’s Geotechnical Engineering team brings forth a variety of engineering analysis capabilities, ranging from simple settlement and bearing capacity analyses to complicated numerical analysis for modelling soil-structure interaction.

We present a team of skilled engineers, technical staff, and specialist sub-consultants. Our Professional Engineers are registered with EGBC, APEGA, and Engineers Yukon, allowing us to support projects across British Columbia, Alberta, and the Yukon.

RAM’s team has helped clients in planning and carrying out subsurface investigations and soil characterization, site-specific seismic ground response assessment, liquefaction potential assessment, as well as foundation selection and design such as soft soils and pile foundation. These include projects in both highly urbanized settings as well as rural / remote areas.

By maintaining active field roles, our engineers bring firsthand construction experience to every project, ensuring practical and effective solutions. Our Geotechnical Engineering team possesses a strong sense of constructability, excelling in excavation and shoring designs, slope hazard assessment, and slope retention design.

RAM has experience with the following types of subsurface investigative equipment and will mobilize that which we believe will yield the most relevant information for design of a particular development in the context of its geologic setting:

Backhoe / excavator test pitting
Shovel / hand auger test pitting
Auger drilling and sampling
Mud-rotary drilling and sampling
Sonic drilling and sampling
Odex drilling and sampling
Becker / environmental hammer drilling and testing
Falling Head and Constant Head percolation testing
Standpipe piezometer / inclinometer installation
Wildcat penetrometer testing
DCPT and SPT testing
Down-hole seismic shear wave velocity measurements
Cone Penetration Testing (CPT); we own and operate a high quality AP Van Den Berg cone
Soil resistivity testing

Following a site investigation, a geotechnical report will typically be prepared which summarizes the site conditions, subsurface soil and groundwater conditions, and results of any engineering analyses. In addition, the geotechnical report will typically provide recommendations for the following, as required:

Foundation design (bearing capacity, site class for seismic design, settlement estimate, frost depth, etc.)
Earth pressures (static, seismic, compaction, and surcharge effects)
Slope retention, excavation slopes, and shoring requirements
Pavement design
Engineered Fill material specification and placement
Subgrade improvement and specialized foundations
Drainage, including groundwater control and stormwater management
Buried utilities
Construction considerations

The professional experience and skills of our engineers enable us to perform a variety of engineering analyses, from simple settlement and bearing capacity analyses to complicated numerical analysis for modelling soil-structure interaction. The following summarizes the types of engineering analyses offered in-house:

Design Analysis

Shallow and deep foundation (pile) design, such as timber piles, steel driven piles, drilled shafts, micropiles, and helical piles
Excavation shoring and underpinning design (temporary and permanent)
Pile lateral response analysis
Stormwater management system design
Slope hazard assessment, including slope stability and landslide runout analyses
Retaining wall design, including global, sliding, overturning and internal stability assessment of segmental (MSE), concrete wall, permanent tied back shoring, and geogrid-reinforced solutions
Erosion and sediment control (ESC) design
Groundwater seepage analysis
Rock slope stability analysis

Seismic Analysis

Preparation of site-specific ground response spectra
Soil liquefaction triggering analysis
Seismic anchor design
Post seismic ground stability

Ground Improvement

Soil-cement mixing and cutter soil mixing (CSM)
Stone columns
Pre-loading
Cut off walls / ground improvement for foundations and shoring
CIP caissons
Dewatering, designed as construction systems for projects
Instrumentation design for monitoring projects

Analyses of slope stability is a routine part of our work. Following field investigation and / or site reconnaissance, a 2-dimensional model of the slope representing subsurface soil layers and groundwater conditions is made to allow an assessment of the global stability of the site, typically manifested as “Factor of Safety”. When modelling the slope, surcharges such as buildings, roads and parking lots, as well as tension cracks or previous failures will be incorporated into the model.

We provide slope stability assessment and retention design services. Many jurisdictions enforce specific guidelines and regulations for assessment of slopes and design of retention systems in residential areas. RAM is familiar with these types of projects and we routinely conduct slope assessments and design retaining wall systems.

Excavation shoring is typically required to retain soils adjacent to deep excavations to either facilitate new construction or other earth retention applications and to provide a safe work environment for construction crews. RAM has significant experience in the design and construction field review of the following types of shoring systems which are the most common in the Lower Mainland:

Tie-back soil anchors with shotcrete panels (including underpinning, lift-off test, proof and performance testing)
Lock Block retaining walls
Shallow soil mixing (SSM) and Cutter Soil Mixing (CSM)
Jet grouting
CIP Caissons
Dewatering

Preparation of Erosion and Sediment Control (ESC) drawings is a part of most of our excavation projects. RAM has a Certified Erosion & Sediment Control Lead (BC-CESCL) technician who conducts construction field reviews concerning ESC.

RAM has been actively involved in design and construction of many stormwater management design projects specifically for residential properties. A typical design would include in-ground, infiltration or detention systems combined with control sumps, rain gardens, and other water dispersion facilities. RAM has designed more than 100 of such projects, ranging from single-family houses to multi-family residential developments.

RAM has combined geotechnical engineering expertise with innovative civil engineering design approaches to provide efficient, maintainable systems with reliable long-term performance.

Materials Testing

Wildcat Penetrometer
Compaction Field Density Testing
Cone Penetration Testing
Standard and Modified Proctor Tests
Atterberg Limits Testing
Sieve Analysis (gradation testing)
Moisture Content Testing
Soil Resistivity Testing
Unconfined Compressive Strength Testing
Percolation Testing
Total Suspended Solid Testing

This testing augments the geotechnical field review services provided during construction to satisfy the requirements of the BC Building Code Letters of Assurance Program. As of the proclamation of the 1992 Edition of the British Columbia Building Code, letters of assurance have been introduced to delineate areas of professional responsibility for design and Field Reviews for conformance with Building Code requirements or good engineering practice.

Monitoring

Vibration Monitoring (e.g. during pile installation or rock blasting)
Settlement Monitoring (e.g. preloading embankments or structures)
Monitoring Structure By Installation of Tell-Tale Monitors on Walls and Structural Elements
Horizontal & Vertical Inclinometer Systems

In accordance with the British Columbia Building Code 2018 Letters of Assurance program, the Geotechnical Engineer of Record is obligated to carry out field reviews in order to verify that construction is in general conformance with design and actual conditions encountered during construction are consistent with design assumptions. Field reviews are typically carried out by RAM, as required to confirm:

Geotechnical – Temporary

7.1 Excavation
7.2 Shoring
7.3 Underpinning
7.4 Temporary construction dewatering

Geotechnical – Permanent

8.1 Bearing capacity of the soil
8.2 Geotechnical aspects of deep foundations
8.3 Compaction of engineered fill (if required)
8.4 Structural considerations of soil, including slope stability and seismic loading
8.5 Backfill
8.6 Permanent dewatering

8.7 Permanent underpinning