FACULTY : CIVIL & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING NO.

OF PAGES:
DEPARTMENT : GEOTECHNICAL & EDITION: SITE VISIT
TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING NO. OF CHECKING:
SITE VISIT : ENGINEERING GEOLOGY EFECTIVE DATE : 5/02/2010
TOPIC : BASIC APPLICATION OF GEOLOGY,
ENGINEERING GEOLOGY AND ROCK MECHANICS AMENDMENT DATE: 28/02/2016
IN CIVIL ENGINEERING

1.0 OBJECTIVE
i. To recognize, identified and observed distinguishing minerals/rocks and its features in fields.
ii. To record and plot the structural geology data.
iii. To identify the major and minor discontinuities set, plot the great circle of discontinuities and analyze the failure
modes.
iv. To identify which discontinuities that has some potential to fail in fields.
v. To identify the rock slope stabilization technique applied in the fields.
vi. To exposed students with geophysical site investigation.

2.0 LEARNING OUTCOMES

i. Students should able to identify mineral/rocks.
ii. Students should able to identify and performed weathering profiling at site.
iii. Students should able to identify geologic agents at site.
iv. Students should able to identify geology structure at site.
v. Students should able to relate related rock testing at site.
vi. Students should able to use the geological compass and Schmidts Hammer (L-Type).
vii. Students should able to measures the dip and dip direction of any planes.
viii. Students should able to plot poles and great circles of the structural geology data.
ix. Students should able to analyze the potential failures modes.
x. Students should able to recognize some types of the rock slope stabilization.
xi. Students should able to recognize geophysical method used in site investigation.

3.0 THEORY
Geological mapping of surface outcrops or existing cuts, in similar geological formations to that in which the excavation
will be made, usually furnishes the fundamental information on site conditions required for slope design. While mapping
is a vital part of the investigation program it is also an inexact process because a certain amount of judgment is usually
required to extrapolate the small amount of information available from surface outcrops to the overall cut slope. The
processes involved in geological mapping are identifying type of rock, measurement discontinuities orientation and
identify the characteristic of discontinuities.

4.0 EQUIPMENT AND MATERIALS

Geology hammer, geology compass (Brunton / Suunto), measurement tape, camera and marker pen.

5.0 PROCEDURE

TASK DETAILS WORK

1. Mineral & Rock Identification Lecturer/Instructor will give explanation on geological history at
this area. Every student should take samples of rocks by using
geology hammer.

Identify physical of mineral/rock surface such as:

i) Physical properties of mineral
ii) Structure
iii) Grain/texture
iv) Mineral composition
v) Parent Rock
vi) Color
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 Students should write down the physical identification of mineral
and rock and finally give the name of the rock. Snap photo of the
related mineral and rock outcrop which present at site.

2. Weathering profiling Lecturer/Instructor will give explanation to performed weathering

profiling of the rock outcrop. Record and sketch the weathering
profile of the outcrop based on guidelines at Table 1 and 2.
Snap photo of the related weathering outcrop which present at
site.

3. Geologic Agents Lecturer/Instructor will give explanation to identify agents of

erosion, types of sediment accumulate in related environment.
Record and snap photo of the related geologic agents which
present at site.

4. Identifying the geological structure &
measurement of strike, dip direction and dip angle
Lecturer/Instructor will give explanation regarding geology
structure within this area. Measure and record the discontinuity
data survey data (dip direction, strike and dip angle) using
geology compass and physical mapping. Record all the data
(use Figure 1 as a guidelines for discontinuity features) at Table
3 and snap photo of the related data which present at site.

5. Measure of the degree of hardness of rock Lecturer/Instructor will give explanation to measure degree of
surface hardness of rock surface. Used the Schmidt Rebound Hammer
(L Type) to measure the rebound number, R and used chart
(Figure 3) to determine the Joint compressive strength (JCS) of
the rock. Record all the data at Table 4 and snap photo of the
related data which present at site. Moreover, calculate JCS
based on equation and assumption given (unit weight, ).

6. Identification of mode of failure Lecturer/Instructor will give explanation to define each types of
failure mode in rock slope (Figure 2: Circular, plane, wedge and
toppling). Used the camera to capture the available photo of the
failure mode (if any).

7. Geophysical Site Investigation Lecturer/Instructor will give explanation to performed

geophysical method (seismic or resistivity). Record all
information during the demonstration and capture the photo of
geophysical field measurement.

6.0 QUESTION
1. Why civil engineer must have a basic knowledge/appreciation of engineering geology?
2. Explain related rock slope stabilization available in practice and propose the suitable rock slope stabilization
method for rock slope present at particular site visited.

7.0 CONCLUSION / REMARKS

***REFERENCES
1. Duncan C.W and Christopher W.M. Rock Slope Engineering, Civil and Mining, 4th edn, Spoon Press, Taylor &
Francis Group; 2003.

2. Noel Simons, Bruce Menzies and Marcus Matthews; Soil and Rock Slope Engineering. 1 st Ed. London. Thomas
Telford Publishing; 2001.

3. Fred G. B; Engineering Properties of Soils and Rock. 4th Ed. Great Britain; Blackwell Science; 2000.

4. Chernicoff and Whitney; An Introduction to Physical Geology. 4th Ed. New Jersey; Pearson; 2007.

5. James S. Monroe, Reed Wicander; Physical geology: exploring the earth; Belmont, CA: Thomson; 2005.

6. Robert B. H., Sheehan, A. F. and Jones, C. H. Applied Geophysics, W. W. Norton & Company, Inc; 2006.
Prepared by : Head of Panel / Lecturer
Name : Mohd Hazreek Bin Zainal Abidin
Signature :
Date : 28 February 2016
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Table 1: Weathering profiling of sub surface (Martin and Hencher, 1986)

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Table 2: Description of zone and weathering grade of rock (Attwell, 1993)

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 Table 3: Discontinuity Data Sheet

Dip Dip
strike, Persistance, Apature,
No Type direction, angle, Infilling Roughness Water
() (m) (mm)
() ()

6 Slope

Height of slope, H = _____ m

Figure 1: Diagram illustrating rock mass properties

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Figure 2: Common mode of slope failure (Hoek and Bray, 1981)

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 Table 4: Field Schmidts (Rebound) Hammer data

Sample
1
2
3

Rebound Number (R)

4
5
6
7
8
9
Total
Average Value, R
Compressive Strength (MPa)

Compressive strength, c (MPa) = __________________________

Figure 3: Schmidts (Rebound) Hammer Chart

Estimate the compressive strength of rock (JCS) using the following equation (Franklin, 1989):

Log10 JCS = 0.00088()(R) + 1.01

Assume, (kN/m3) = 26 29 (choose one value within this range)

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REPORTING FORMAT:

1. INTRODUCTION
Objectives
Description of projects

2. LITERATURE
Theory of related geological input at site present

3. METHODOLOGY
Procedure of all related site work performed

4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

All findings with photo captured
Discussed the results obtained related to civil engineering or construction industry
(significant or problems)

5. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

Note:
Report should use original photo captured at site visited
Submit the project report on week 15 (29-31 May 2015)