• ♦Manual Notice 2020-1
• ▼1. Manual Overview
  • ►1. About this Manual
    • ♦Purpose of the Manual
    • ♦Updates
    • ♦Organization
    • ♦Feedback
• ►2. Soil Surveys
  • ►1. Soil Surveys
    • ♦Overview
    • ♦Review of Existing Data
    • ♦Hole Location
    • ♦Bridges
    • ♦Retaining Walls
    • ♦Other Structures
    • ♦Slopes and Embankments
• ►3. Field Operations
  • ►1. Drilling
    • ♦Overview
    • ♦Access
    • ♦Utility Clearance
    • ♦Traffic Control
    • ♦Drill Hole Filling
  • ►2. Sampling Methods
    • ♦Overview
  • ►3. Field Testing
    • ♦Texas Cone Penetration (TCP) Test
    • ♦Standard Penetration Test (SPT)
    • ♦In-Place Vane Shear Test
    • ♦Torvane and Pocket Penetrometer
• ►4. Soil and Bedrock Logging
  • ►1. Logging
    • ♦Material Order of Description
    • ♦Material
    • ♦Density or Consistency, Hardness
    • ♦Moisture
    • ♦Color
    • ♦Cementation
    • ♦Descriptive Adjectives
    • ♦Unified Soil Classification System (ASTM D2487)
    • ♦Rock Quality Designation (RQD) and Percent Recovery
    • ♦Log Form
• ►5. Foundation Design
  • ►1. Foundation Type Selection
    • ♦Foundation Selection Factors
    • ♦Foundation Guidelines for Widening Structures
  • ►2. Interpretation of Soil Data
    • ♦Overview
    • ♦Disregard Depth
    • ♦Texas Cone Penetration Test
    • ♦Laboratory Test
  • ►3. Drilled Shafts
    • ♦Overview
    • ♦Belled Shafts
    • ♦Standing Water
    • ♦Wing Shafts
    • ♦Service Loads
    • ♦Drilled Shaft Reinforcement
    • ♦Drilled Shaft Integrity Testing
    • ♦Layout Notes
  • ►4. Piling
    • ♦Overview
    • ♦Wing Piling
    • ♦Steel Piling Special Considerations
    • ♦Difficult Driving
    • ♦Service Loads
    • ♦Dynamic Monitoring
  • ♦5. Foundation Load Testing
  • ►6. Scour
    • ♦Analysis
    • ♦New Bridges with Known Foundations
    • ♦Existing Bridges with Known Foundations
    • ♦Existing Bridges with Unknown Foundations
    • ♦Bridge Class Culverts
    • ♦Scour Critical Bridges
    • ♦Stone Protection at Bridges
• ►6. Retaining Walls
  • ►1. Retaining Wall Selection
    • ♦Overview
  • ►2. Retaining Wall Layouts
    • ♦General Content Layout
    • ♦Plans for Specific Wall Types
  • ►3. Design Considerations
    • ♦General Design
    • ♦Design Criteria for Specific Wall Types
  • ►4. Excavation Support
    • ♦Overview
    • ♦Trench Excavation Protection
    • ♦Temporary Special Shoring
• ►7. Slope Stability
  • ►1. Overview
    • ♦Overview
  • ►2. Analysis and Design
    • ♦Global Stability Analysis
• ♦Index

Chapter 1: Manual Overview

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Section 1: About this Manual

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Purpose of the Manual

The purpose of this manual is to guide districts in geotechnical investigation and design for project development. Recommendations, background information, and examples for geotechnical designs are available on the TxDOT website.

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Updates

Updates to this manual are summarized in the following table.

Anchor: #i1022965Table 1-1: Manual Revision History

Version	Publication Date	Summary of Changes
2000-1	August 2000	New Manual
2006-1	August 2006	Revision restructuring the manual to include policy and high-level procedures, with recommendations, examples, and background information now available on the Internet.
2012-1	December 2012	Clarification to policy previously established.
2018-1	March 2018	Clarification to policy previously established and updated material in Chapters 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7.
2020-1	March 2020	Clarification to policy previously established and updated material in Chapters 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7.

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Organization

Information in this manual is organized into the following chapters:

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1. Manual Overview. Introductory information on the purpose and organization of the manual.
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2. Soil Surveys. Requirements for conducting soil surveys for projects with bridges, retaining walls, slopes and embankments, sign structures, illumination, sound walls, and radio towers.
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3. Field Operations. Requirements for drilling, sampling, and field testing.
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4. Soil and Bedrock Logging. Description of material order, level of description, and classification.
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5. Foundation Design. Guidelines for selecting foundation types, drilled shafts, piling, and requirements for scour analysis.
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6. Retaining Walls. Requirements for retaining wall selection, layouts, design, and excavation support.
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7. Slope Stability. Requirements for slope stability design and analysis.

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Feedback

Direct any questions or comments on the content of this manual to the Director of the Bridge Division, Texas Department of Transportation.