Vancouver sits on a complex geological puzzle—receding glaciers carved its landscape just 10,000 years ago, leaving behind a patchwork of dense tills, marine silts, and liquefiable sands. When a high-rise goes up in False Creek or a bridge abutment is planned near the Fraser River, the effective stress parameters of the ground become non-negotiable. A standard penetration test won’t give you that data. That’s where a properly instrumented triaxial test program makes the difference between a foundation that settles predictably and one that surprises everyone. Our lab runs consolidated-undrained and consolidated-drained triaxial tests on undisturbed Shelby tube samples retrieved from depths exceeding 30 meters. We’ve processed specimens from the glacial till that underlies the Oakridge redevelopment and the sensitive marine clay near the Burrard Inlet. For projects needing a wider picture of the soil profile, we often pair the triaxial campaign with CPT testing to correlate sleeve friction and pore pressure readings with lab-measured friction angles.
A CU triaxial test with pore pressure measurement reveals the soil’s true undrained shear strength—something no index test can deliver.
