Category: QA/QC
Posts
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Borehole Data Governance for Transportation Projects: Building Reliable Infrastructure with Trusted Geotechnical Data
Transportation infrastructure projects generate enormous volumes of subsurface information. Every highway expansion, bridge replacement, railway corridor, tunnel, airport, or transit project relies on borehole data collected over months—or even decades—to support engineering design, construction, maintenance, and future rehabilitation. This information includes borehole locations, geological logs, soil classifications, groundwater measurements, Standard Penetration Test (SPT) results, laboratory…
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Geotechnical QA/QC for Infrastructure Projects
Best Practices for Delivering Reliable Subsurface Data for Roads, Bridges, Dams, Tunnels, Railways, and Major Civil Engineering Projects Every major infrastructure project begins below the surface. Before the first foundation is poured, bridge pier constructed, tunnel excavated, or highway embankment built, engineers must understand the ground conditions on which the entire project will depend. That…
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SPT and N-Value QA/QC Procedures
Best Practices for Ensuring Accurate Standard Penetration Test Data in Geotechnical Investigations The Standard Penetration Test (SPT) remains one of the most widely performed in-situ tests in geotechnical engineering. For more than a century, engineers have relied on SPT N-values to estimate soil density, relative strength, bearing capacity, liquefaction potential, settlement characteristics, and numerous other…
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Geological Data Quality and Resource Estimation
Why High-Quality Geological Data Is the Foundation of Reliable Mineral Resource Models Every mineral resource estimate begins with geological data. Drill holes, core logs, assays, geotechnical measurements, structural observations, density determinations, and survey information collectively define the size, shape, grade, and confidence of a mineral deposit. Sophisticated geological modelling software and advanced geostatistical techniques can…
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Recovery, RQD, SCR, and TCR Validation
Best Practices for Validating Rock Core Quality Measurements in Geological and Geotechnical Investigations Rock core logging is one of the most important activities performed during geotechnical investigations and mineral exploration drilling. The measurements collected from drill core—including Core Recovery, Rock Quality Designation (RQD), Solid Core Recovery (SCR), and Total Core Recovery (TCR)—provide essential information about…
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Complete Guide to Borehole QA/QC
Borehole data supports engineering design, environmental assessment, groundwater management, mineral exploration, infrastructure development, and regulatory reporting. A complete QA/QC program ensures that this information is accurate, complete, consistent, traceable, and technically defensible throughout its lifecycle. Technical review: GAEA Technologies Technical TeamLast reviewed: September 8, 2026 How to Use This Guide Use the sections below as…
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The Evolution of Borehole Logging Software: From Paper Logs to AI-Powered Subsurface Intelligence
For more than a century, borehole logs have been one of the most important records produced during geological, geotechnical, hydrogeological, environmental, and mining investigations. They document the subsurface conditions encountered during drilling and provide the information engineers and geoscientists rely upon to design foundations, estimate mineral resources, assess environmental conditions, manage groundwater, and build critical…
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Building a Trusted Subsurface Intelligence Platform: The Future of Geological, Geotechnical, and Environmental Data Management
The subsurface is one of the least visible yet most critical components of every engineering project. Before a bridge can be designed, a mine developed, a contaminated site remediated, or a groundwater supply evaluated, engineers must understand what lies beneath the surface. That understanding depends on data—millions of individual observations collected from boreholes, samples, laboratory…
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Continuous Validation During Data Entry: Catching Borehole Data Errors Before They Become Engineering Problems
The quality of any geological, geotechnical, hydrogeological, or environmental investigation depends on the accuracy of the data collected in the field and entered into the project database. Every borehole interval, groundwater measurement, Standard Penetration Test (SPT), laboratory result, and geological observation contributes to engineering decisions that may affect public safety, project costs, regulatory compliance, and…
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Intelligent Borehole Databases and Knowledge Graphs: The Next Evolution of Subsurface Data Management
For decades, borehole databases have served as digital filing cabinets for geological, geotechnical, hydrogeological, and environmental information. They store borehole logs, laboratory results, groundwater measurements, sampling records, geological descriptions, and engineering observations in structured tables that can be searched and reported. While this represented a major advancement over paper records, today’s engineering projects demand far…