Engineering Geology Property Parameters for the Tertiary in The Netherlands

Abstract

As engineering geologists we are measuring in the field and in the laboratory a large array of geological, geotechnical, geophysical and geomechanical parameters for an equally diverse amount of objectives for civil engineering structures, for mining, for assessing natural hazards, etc. As new geotechnical models are devised to investigate, for example the performance of underground spaces in deep soils both the availability of data for parameters become less and the few conventional tests on deep samples provide unexpected values. This paper compiles a record of the geotechnical parameters of the main clay formations found in the Netherlands Tertiary as well as briefly states the context in which these parameters are used to study the performance of the deeper sediments in relation to gravitational settlement and underground space studies. The clays are studied at unusually deep depths for geotechnical purposes, which require caution when using geotechnical values from similar formations at shallower depths in Belgium and the UK. The relatively sparse data and the strange properties appear to result in more questions than answers.