Electrical Resistivity - Valuable Exploration Tool

A team of Ardaman & Associates, Inc staff members from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, have been making good use of Electrical Resistivity surveys to aid their subsurface exploration process.

Casey Tsai, MSCE, Ching Tsai, Ph.D., P.E. and Nafi Haque, Ph.D., E.I. have recently published an article entitled Electrical Resistivity Survey for Subsurface Exploration in the February 2020 issue of The Louisiana Engineer (the Journal of the Louisiana Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers) describing the value of electrical resistivity surveys as part of a complete subsurface exploration program. Encouraged by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and its presentation on Advanced Geotechnical Methods in Exploration (A-GaME), the team points out some advantages of the method. These include, (1) a continuous image of subsurface conditions, (2) coverage of a large area within a short time, (3) low cost, (4) observations of site heterogeneity and zones of high moisture content, (5) quick and easy data processing, and (6) operator-independent. They describe an experience in a case study project completed for the LADOTD, pointing out the advantages and limitations of electrical resistivity. They conclude that the method can be especially beneficial in the preliminary stages of a subsurface exploration effort as it provides information that will help narrow and focus the soil boring program.

Ching Tsai, Ph.D., P.E., is the Principal Engineer for Ardaman and Associates at Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He received his Ph.D. from LSU and has 40 years of engineering experience.
Casey Tsai, MSCE, is the Assistant Project Engineer at Ardaman and Associates. She graduated from LSU. She is in charge of the geophysical testing using electrical resistivity imaging.
Nafi Haque, Ph.D., E.I., is the Assistant Project Engineer at Ardaman Baton Rouge branch. He graduated from LSU