SBPs And Menard Pressuremeter Testing For A Power Station In The UK

In Situ Site Investigation carried out Self Boring Pressuremeter (SBP) and Menard Pressuremeter Testing (MPM) as part of a Power Station’s preliminary Site Investigation. The work formed part of the large ground investigation to provide design information for the proposed building extension of the existing site located in the UK.

The testing involved the successful completion of over 70 number MPM Pressuremeter tests and over 30 number SBP Pressuremeter testscarried out to a depth of below 80m in accordance with the ISO 22476-4 standard. The results provided essential ground strength information required for the design and build phase at the sensitive power site.

Our state of the art MPM equipment utilised on the contract is the first totally automatic and autonomous system on the market which independently managed all the different stages of the test. The small self-contained pressure pack operated via a digital wireless WIFI control box made the whole process easier to conduct and reduced the test preparation time on site. The new self-regulating technology significantly reduced any margin for error with consistently reliable results at test pressures up to 10MPa, providing derived parameters for Menard Pressuremeter Modulus (Em), Creep Pressure (Pf) and Limit Pressure (PL).

The works were carried out in a safe and professional manner without incident while operating under the strict health and safety site operating conditions demanded by the power industry.