In situ and laboratory testing of soft clays

Current Australian practice for sampling, laboratory testing, and in situ testing of soft clays falls short of world’s best practices. Consequences include risks of increased cost and time during construction, as well as geotechnical solutions that are more elaborate than necessary. Some limitations in current practice are identified and alternative methods are proposed that provide higher data quality at similar cost to current methods and improved understanding of the geomaterials under study, thus optimizing the selection of geotechnical solutions.