ABSTRACT
From the testing point of view, one of the primary advantages of the preboring pressuremeter is that the test can be performed in most soils and rocks. Experimental data and common sense indicate that, short of a horizontal load test, the pressuremeter is the best tool for predicting the response of horizontally loaded piles. For the design of pavements, the small pavement pressuremeter provides an efficient and inexpensive means of properly evaluating the stiffness of the various pavement and subgrade layers individually. The quality of the borehole influences the quality of the test results. This induces variations in the results. The pressuremeter is of limited use in the problem of retaining structures; with proper research the pressuremeter can become quite useful for retaining structures. One pressuremeter test costs approximately the same as a consolidation test.
