Geo-Congress 2020
Life Cycle Assessment of Site Characterization Methods
Publication: Geo-Congress 2020: Geo-Systems, Sustainability, Geoenvironmental Engineering, and Unsaturated Soil Mechanics (GSP 319)
ABSTRACT
Little attention has been paid to the environmental impacts of site characterization even though it is a necessary part of every geotechnical project. A life cycle assessment (LCA) was performed to evaluate the impacts of two commonly implemented site characterization methods: cone penetration testing (CPT) and mud rotary drilling. For each testing type, indicators of total energy consumption, climate change, acidification, eutrophication, respiratory inorganics, and smog formation were evaluated. The potential impacts were computed to provide normalized results for mobilization (per mile traveled), testing operations (per meter borehole depth), sampling (per hour sampling), and borehole sealing (per meter borehole depth). The life cycle impacts of site characterization are also exemplified through scenario modeling of three different testing programs (i.e., a single sounding, a single sounding with sampling, and an industry-representative site investigation program for a medium sized project). Furthermore, the results obtained provide a baseline for comparison against other site investigation methods, including sonic drilling, hollow stem auger drilling, and others.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This material is based upon work supported by the Engineering Research Center Program of the National Science Foundation (NSF) under NSF Cooperative Agreement EEC-1449501. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the NSF.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Geo-Congress 2020: Geo-Systems, Sustainability, Geoenvironmental Engineering, and Unsaturated Soil Mechanics (GSP 319)
Pages: 80 - 89
Editors: James P. Hambleton, Ph.D., Northwestern University, Roman Makhnenko, Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Aaron S. Budge, Ph.D., Minnesota State University, Mankato
ISBN (Online): 978-0-7844-8282-7
Copyright
© 2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Published online: Feb 21, 2020
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Boring
- Business management
- Construction engineering
- Construction management
- Construction methods
- Drilling
- Engineering fundamentals
- Geotechnical engineering
- Geotechnical investigation
- Impact tests
- Laboratory tests
- Life cycles
- Penetration tests
- Practice and Profession
- Project management
- Site investigation
- Tests (by type)
Authors
Metrics & Citations
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