Guidelines for specification & testing of earth works

This document has been prepared by a subcommittee of the Sydney Group of Australian Geomechanics Society in response to a need for guidelines to specifying, testing and reporting on compacted earthfills.

If a compacted fill is to fulfil its design function, inputs are required from:

• The Designer who sets the specification requirements in accordance with the needs of the project.
• The project Superintendent, who oversees the contract execution.
• The Contractor, who controls the level of workmanship to meet the requirements of the specification.
• The Geotechnical Testing Authority (GTA) who carries out testing of the fill during construction.

This document provides technical guidelines for: specification writers (contractural issues are not addressed); appropriate forms of briefing the GT A; the frequency of testing; and forms of reporting by the GTA.

This document is not itself intended as a specification and should not be called up as such in contract documents nor does it remove the need for appropriate goetechnical input at the design stage.

The guidelines are intended for earthworks undertaken for residential and light industrial subdivisions and developments. They are not intended for specialised industrial applications or for earth dams, or major road or rail projects, though some of the basic principles may still apply.