MSW Survey & Investigation Division

Services: topographical survey, geotechnical investigation, geotechnical design, construction quality control, pavement audits.

Topographical Survey
The availability of a detailed topographical model is a fundamental requirement for architectural and engineering design.

Architects and engineers use topographical models to position buildings and roads both on plan and to level. MSW’s surveyors carry out topographical surveys for building projects which include the cadastral site boundary, location of utilities and adjacent roads, contours and all physical features on the site.

Civil engineers require topographical models of road and pipe line alignments to develop digital terrain models which they use to analyse pipe networks and develop road alignment models. The topographical models produced by MSW can be imported directly into design and analysis software such as civil designer, water cad and the like to speed up the design process.

Geotechnical Investigation
Geotechnical investigations which define the ground conditions on a project site are required by engineers to inform the design process.

MSW’s geotechnical engineers initiate their investigation of a site by carrying out desk top studies to investigate the geology of a site and the potential loads to be resisted by the ground. This process enables the design of fieldwork which may include test pits and bore holes to analyse subsurface conditions and collect material for laboratory testing. Site testing such as dynamic penetrometer tests i.e SPT and CPT’s to determine the in-situ physical properties of the soil.

Geotechnical Design
The performance of building foundations and road pavements is a complex process with the structure and the soil beneath it interacting and moving together.

MSW’s geotechnical engineers work with the civil and structural engineering designers to develop a foundation solutions taking into account the loads exerted by the structure, the insitu subsurface conditions, locally available imported materials and their behaviour over time with moisture regime changes. This enables MSW to develop the most cost effective design solution for foundations and pavement works.

Construction Control
In order to control the quality and cost of construction projects it is important that the materials incorporated into the works are checked for quality and quantity.

MSW’s surveyors carry out this verification process by checking the setting out of the works for accuracy verifying the quantities of materials incorporated into the works, measuring the thickness of layer works and the like against design requirements.

MSW’s geotechnical engineers test materials prior to incorporation into the works by carrying out various laboratory tests and in house experimental work and checking compliance with specifications through nuclear and other tests

Civil & Structural Audits
As engineering works are exposed to the environment they reach the limits of their design life (old age effect) and in some cases may be subjected to loads in excess of their original design.

MSW have considerable experience in the investigation of engineering elements and carry out both destructive and none destructive testing to assess their condition as follows:

These investigations enable MSW to design rehabilitation works to extend the life of the structure or road. These will include replacement of damaged structural elements, underpinning of foundations, pavement overlays, pavement reconstruction sometimes just improving drainage system around the site.