PENETRATION TESTS OF SOILS

In the relatively new science of soil mechanics the soil penetrometer, introduced in Holland in 1932, has been shown to be a rapid and practical testing appliance and this book gives a very comprehensive review of the applications of this method of soil testing and discusses the mathematical implications and the interpretation of penetration diagrams derived from both static and dynamic tests. Descriptions are given of the apparatus used in France and several other countries and are followed by details of the theories derived from test results in this country, the Netherlands, Belgium, Canada and the United States. In the latter case the findings of Terzaghi and Peck are of much interest. Reports of penetration tests are also quoted from engineers in Western Germany, Belgium, Brazil, Mozambique and Great Britain and due recognition is given to the work of Professor Skempton, A.J. Yassib and R.E. Gibson, of the Imperial College, London and of I. K. Nixon and G. Meigh, of Soil Mechanics Ltd. A full bibliography, of wide international coverage, is included and this very comprehensive and important book, dealing so fully with a specialised branch of soil mechanics, forms a most valuable contribution to the literature of civil engineering science. An English translation would be welcomed in many parts of the world. /ART/