Southern Testing Attend Keynetix Annual User Group Meeting

Southern Testing will again be attending and exhibiting at this year’s Keynetix Annual User Group Meeting in Oxford on Tuesday 29th November 2016.

This year’s theme is ‘Improving Your Geotechnical Data Journey’.

Each ground investigation project requires the collection of data from different sources and in a range of formats. The collected data may be processed and transferred throughout the supply chain and used by a variety of people and organisations.

BS5930:2015 Code of Practice for Ground Investigation, recommends that the data generated from the ground investigation should be put into a format which allows data communication between all parties and data manipulation at various stages throughout the life of the works. The AGS Data Format is noted as providing a suitable protocol for management and transfer of digital data.

The AGS Data Format has been used in UK ground investigation since 1992 and has become a common means to transfer geotechnical and geoenvironmental data. Typically, the data is generated by an  on-site drilling crew or ground investigation specialist as well as testing laboratories and then passed to project team members. The project team then uses the data for design without the time-consuming and expensive re-keying of data with the associated potential errors or incomplete data entry.

At Southern Testing are continuously looking at ways to improve our methods of geotechnical and geoenvironmental data capture, data management and reporting (in line with BS 8574 Code of practice for the Management of Geotechnical data for Ground Engineering Projects), through the use of commercial and in-house developed software systems, and thus allowing us to provide our Clients with AGS4 data, if requested, at any stage of the project.

We were one of the early beta partners during development of both Keynetix HoleBase SI and KeyLab software, both of which now form an important part of our daily ground investigation Data Management Procedures.

KeyLab has been implemented within our in-house laboratories and sample store. The system is very flexible and allowed us to integrate with our existing customised laboratory reports, streamline workflow and ensures laboratory efficiency from sample and storeroom management, electronic scheduling to testing and reporting.

Our in-house cable percussive, dynamic sampling and rotary drilling crews have also been using KeyLogBook for several years, which allows us to produce driller’s logs in the field with rapid transmission of AGS data back to the office.

Our Engineers use HoleBASE SI Professional to manage geotechnical and geoenvironmental data throughout a project, as well as to produce engineering logs, field test reports, site sections and location plans. The HoleBASE SI Extension for Microsoft Excel allows us to rapidly analysis and report data. HoleBase SI also provides us with the opportunity to integrate data within AutoCAD® Civil 3D to create a powerful infrastructure BIM system where required by our Clients.

With over 50,000 investigations completed in our 50 year history, we have amassed an extensive technical archive and in-house knowledge relating to the geological engineering, geotechnical and geoenvironmental characteristics of land throughout the UK. Such a wealth of data is instrumental in developing the initial ground model and tackling the opportunities and problems that new

projects may present. We have integrated our in-house databases with HoleBASE SI providing access to this historical information in graphical mapping environment, alongside our current project, and other freely available online GIS data sources, such as BGS geological mapping and borehole records.

Southern Testing are looking forward to exhibiting at the Keynetix User Group Meeting. Over 140 site investigation professionals from 64 companies are understood to have registered and the full agenda has now been released.

We look forward to seeing you there and would be very happy to discuss your geotechnical and geoenvironmental investigation requirements and see how we can help you on future projects.