Geotechnical

 

Comprising highly skilled and experienced engineers and geologists our Geotechnical team and licensed surveyors provide a fast paced, ‘total solution’ focused service. 

 

Seeking to innovate in service provision has seen Intrax Geotechnical drive the industry standards for competency, efficiency and customer value in jobs. Utilising cutting edge technology in the field, backed by sophisticated software solutions in office, jobs can be managed electronically, increasing precision and achieving first-class turnaround times. 

 

Areas of Expertise

• Geotechnical Site Assessment
• Assessments of Fill Material
• Compaction Testing
• DCP Testing
• Deep Drilling
• Bushfire Attack Level Assessments
• Land Capability Assessments (LCA / Percolation Tests)
• Wind Rating Assessments
• Medium Density
• Property Services Information (PSI)
  • Title Bundle
  • Property Information 326 (1&2)
  • Sewer Details
  • Water Asset Information
  • Planning Information
  • Stormwater Legal Point of Discharge

 

End-to-end service offerings across our engineering disciplines means that clients can benefit from the time and cost savings as well as peace of mind of having a single engineer for all their needs. Intrax is able to partner with clients from project conception, applying for all relevant permits, performing soil testing and classification and site survey. Our huge database of previous investigations allows us to provide fast preliminary advice to structural engineers and enhance design certainty. Developing a complete offering has been a central priority at Intrax, facilitating excellent value, accuracy and time savings for clients.

 

Geotechnical Assessment:

Geotechnical assessments are carried out at each building site to assess the expected soil movement- and hence foundation movement- due to ground moisture changes. A basic geotechnical assessment, in accordance with AS 2870-1996 “Residential Slabs and Footings – Construction”, consists of three (3) boreholes drilled to a depth of 1.8m or alternatively, prior refusal for each site standard. Intrax has its own ‘on the road’ Geotechnical Engineering team who conduct Geotechnical Assessments daily across Victoria and NSW. We have field drilling equipment set up to facilitate the provision of accurate and reliable assessments. All Geotechnical Assessments issued by Intrax are accompanied by a written report summarising the assessment results.

 

Assessment of Fill Material:

This is a post fill placement test utilising either a Dynamic Cone Penetrometer (DCP) or Static Cone Penetrometer tests to assess the density of the fill material and whether it can be deemed as a suitable foundation material. The geotechnical assessment report will include a recommendation for a ‘soft spot’ slab on fill design if approved.

 

Percolation Test / Land Capability Assessment (LCA):

Intrax can provide Land Capability Assessment (Percolation Test) for Domestic Waste Water Disposal when required for septic tank design. This assessment provides:

 

Determination of the capability rating for on-site effluent treatment and attenuation in accordance with the EPA Land

Capability Assessment procedure for On Site Domestic Wastewater Management, March 2003, Publication 746.1.

Determination of the percolation rates of the soil. The tests are to be carried out in accordance with the EPA method outlined in Appendix B of the “Code of Practice - Septic Tanks”, March 1996”.

 

Comment on the suitability of the areas tested for effluent disposal by soil absorption.

 

If the area tested is found suitable, to give some guidance as to the dimension required for effluent disposal by soil absorption and / or evapo-transpiration and absorption and / or subsurface irrigation area required for effluent disposal.

A Land Capability Assessment Report.

 

Bushfire Attack Level (BAL) Assessment:

In compliance with the Australian Standard and Building Commission requirements, we offer site assessment to determine the Bushfire Attack Levels (BAL) required for building approvals. We note for your attention that BAL levels in excess of the “low” classification will require additional attention in relation to building materials and building form and will likely add to the cost of construction. This assessment in the initial stages of the residential project will provide you with the information you need to cost your project successfully.

 

Wind Rating Assessment

The sites surrounding topography and shielding is assessed to provide a wind rating for the site in accordance with AS 4055-2006 “Wind Loads for Housing”.

 

Feature / Contour Survey

A feature/contour survey is defined as a survey which records levels and surrounding site features of the vacant subject site, including preparation of a site plan depicting these contours and features in digital format. The Feature/Contour survey plan, depicting all features, is supplied in AutoCAD format. Where required, the survey will also include locating dwellings on adjacent sites indicating their front setbacks, eave and ridge heights, window locations and whether windows are habitable or non-habitable. Adjacent dwellings and features will be located automatically unless instructed otherwise.

 

Re-establishment Survey

Where site boundaries are unable to be determined i.e. the boundary pegs are missing or have been moved and the feature/contour survey is not able to be aligned accurately with the title boundary a re-establishment may be required. The re-establishment survey is conducted by a licensed surveyor including placement of title boundary marks and preparation of re-establishment sketch plan depicting the marks placed.

 

Property Services Information (PSI)

Property Services Information (PSI) is the gathering of individual site information such as:

Title and Covenant information;

Subdivision details;

Information in accordance with the Building Regulations; i.e. any permit or certificate of final inspection issued in the proceeding 10 years, details of any current notice or order issued by the relevant building surveyor;

Whether the land is liable to flooding, in an area in which buildings are likely to be subject to attack by termites, subject to significant snowfalls;

Asset information such as sewer (size, depth and offset), legal point of discharge (for water runoff) and other land information as available by the relevant authorities.

 

This information is collated into a summary prepared on a cover sheet which is issued to the client before any building works are started. This also assists the engineers and drafting personnel in the accurate preparation of working drawings for the client to build their construction to the building and planning design guidelines.

 

Our service also covers new subdivisions where titles are yet to be released; Intrax will keep track of the projects and maintain contact with all relevant authorities enabling us to provide the PSI report at the earliest time possible.
We consider this service to be extremely beneficial to our clients in that they will receive the property services information report at the very earliest opportunity rather than searching for this information once most of the planning has been completed and going back to their clients with pricing variations.