Probabilistic real-time updating for geotechnical properties evaluation

Estimation of geotechnical properties is an essential but challenging task since they are major components governing the safety and reliability of the entire structural system. However, due to time and budget constraints, reliable geotechnical properties estimation using traditional site characterization approach is difficult. In view of this, an alternative efficient and cost effective approach to address the overall uncertainty is necessary to facilitate an economical, safe and reliable geotechnical design. In this paper a probabilistic approach is proposed for real-time updating by incorporating new geotechnical information from the underlying project site. The updated model obtained from the proposed method is advantageous because it incorporates information from both existing database and the site of concern. An application using real data from a site in Hong Kong will be presented to demonstrate the proposed method.