A PROBABILISTIC SITE CHARACTERIZATION SYSTEM

SITE CHARACTERIZATION, THE PROCESS OF EVALUATING EXISITING SUBSURFACE SOIL AND ROCK CONDITIONS AND THEIR IMPACT ON PROJECT DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION, IS A COMMON ELEMENT IN EVERY GEOTECHNICAL DESIGN PROJECT. SINCE THE PROCESS IS COMPLICATED BY SPARSE DATA AND THE NEED TO QUANTIFY UNCERTAINTIES, IT IS A NATURAL AREA TO APPLY RISK ANALYSIS AND PROBABILITY THEORY. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH WILL INVOLVE AN ASSESSMENT OF BOTH THE PRESENT PRACTICE OF SITE CHARACTERIZATION AND THE APPLICATION OF PROBABILISTICS TO SITE CHARACTERIZATION, AND AN EVALUATION OF THE FEASABILTY OF MICROCOMPUTER APPLICATIONS. THE RESULT WILL BE: 1) A REAL TIME MICRCOMPUTER SYSTEM FOR PROBABILISTIC SITE CHARACTERIZATION; 2) AN IMPROVED UNDERSTANDING OF SITE CHARACTERIZATION; 3) DEVELOPMENT OF NEW PROCEDURES; AND 4) IMPROVED DESIGN AT LOWER COST. THE RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH WILL BE A MORE EFFICIENT PROCESS OF SITE CHARACTERIZATION WITH AN IMPROVED ALLOCATION OF RESOURCES AND A BETTER ABILITY TO EVALUATE THE COMPONENT VARIABLES. THESE IMPROVEMENTS WILL RESULT IN BETTER GEOTECHNICAL DESIGN OF TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES, BUILDINGS, AND OTHER STRUCTURES, FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE GENERAL PUBLIC.