Standardization News

A new ASTM International standard uses a portable, vertical water-jet probe to measure sand detachment and to evaluate erosion related to storms.

The standard describes the components and recommended testing scheme for the “in-situ erosion evaluation probe” (ISEEP), including how to monitor the rate of advancement of the jetting probe, according to Mohammed Gabr, a member of ASTM International’s committee on soil and rock (D18) and professor of Civil Engineering at North Carolina State University.

“The device is portable and does not require the mobilization or use of a power rig to deploy in the field,” says Gabr. “Because of its capability to provide data with depth, and doing so readily at multiple locations, the use of ISEEP addresses the challenge of defining and assessing spatial distribution of potential scour/erosion rates that might occur after storm events, or in the future with approaching storm events.”

The ISEEP device and data reduction procedures in the standard were funded by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate through the DHS Coastal Hazards Center of Excellence, led by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Geotechnical testing companies that perform field testing on geomaterials as well as transportation departments will likely find the standard (soon to be published as D8095) useful.