Tunnel Soil Interpretative Report

The Tunnel Soil Interpretative Report online PDH course is a part of the Geotechnical Engineering category of courses.

This course provides guidelines on the common types of geotechnical reports required for planning, design and construction of road tunnels including: Geotechnical Data Report (GDR) which presents all the factual geotechnical data; Geotechnical Design Memorandum (GDM) which presents interpretations of the geotechnical data and other information used to develop the designs; and Geotechnical Baseline Report (GBR) which defines the baseline conditions on which contractors will base their bids upon.

The geotechnical report is only used to communicate the site conditions and design and construction recommendations to the roadway design, bridge design and construction personnel. It may or may not be made available to prospective contractors; and when provided, they are generally only included as a reference document and may typically include disclaimers stating that the report is not intended to be used for construction, and that there is no warranty regarding the accuracy of the data or the conclusions and recommendations of the report; contractors must make their own interpretation of the data to determine the means and associated costs for construction.

The online PDH course is based on Chapter 4 “Geotechnical Reports” of the US Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration publication tilted, “Technical Manual for Design and Construction of Road Tunnels – Civil Elements” (FHWA-NHI-10-034). This course is intended to be used by geotechnical, civil and structural engineers and others interested in learning about tunnel planning, design and construction.

Learning Objectives

At the end of the course, you will be able to:

• Explain different types of geotechnical reports prepared for a tunnel project
• Discuss the factual site investigation report
• List the topics to be included in the geotechnical design report or memorandum
• Explain the purpose of the geotechnical baseline report as an contractual document
• Prepare checklist of items to be included in the geotechnical baseline report