Geotechnics Engineering Department
The Geotechnical Engineering Department is one of the five operational departments of the company. It is organized to provide a full range of expert services in two geotechnical work divisions i.e. Field Investigation & Pavement Design, and Material Testing Laboratory divisions.
In the course of our experience as geotechnical consultant, we have served a large variety of clients, i.e. public, private and international organizations including contractors, architects, developers, municipalities, private enterprises and religious institutions as well as individuals. The department has at its disposal a well integrated team of professionals consisting of geotechnical engineers, engineering geologists, pavement/material engineers and drillers who are well qualified in the state-of-the-art technique currently available for assessment of geotechnical investigations. Our engineers’ substantial field experience enables them to anticipate geotechnical related problems that may be encountered during project construction and to give solutions to the clients. The senior drillers have also many years of experience on a variety of projects and are supervised by professionally registered engineers and engineering geologists.

So far, SABA Engineering PLC has undertaken more than 150 geotechnical investigation works for different clients since its establishment in 1993. Our collective project experiences are mainly in subsurface investigations using core drilling and pavement design of gravel and asphalt roads. The foundation investigations were done for multi- storey buildings, dam sites, bridges, factory buildings, fuel depots, overpasses, highways, erection of telecommunication power transmission towers and related civil engineering projects.

The major professional services the Department provides to its Clients include:

• Field Investigation and Pavement Design Division
  In the foundation investigation part, general geological assessment of a site i.e. subsurface investigation via drilling boreholes and/or trial test pits, logging, conducting in-situ testing such as Standard Penetration Test (SPT), Dynamic Cone Penetration (DCP), Plate Load Test, and Pile Load Test, requesting laboratory testing of recovered foundation materials, and preparation of Geotechnical Recommendation Reports such foundation and slope stability are the main tasks. In the road geotechnical survey i.e alignment soil investigation using soil extension survey, test pit logging and sub grade sampling, construction material investigation using visual assessment survey, test pitting/drilling and sampling, existing pavement investigation using visual survey and in-situ testing such as Benkelman beam deflection, Dynamic Cone Penetrometer (DCP) and in-place density tests, requesting laboratory testing, correlation and interpretation of field and laboratory test results, traffic survey such as traffic count survey, axle load survey, origin destination (O/D) survey and its analysis, preparation of different reports such as soil and material report, pavement thickness design report, material specification report and engineering report are the main tasks.
  
  
•  Laboratory Testing Division:
  The above Geotechnical Investigation works are supported by a laboratory testing division which is certified and highly proficient materials laboratory located within the premises of the Head Office. The laboratory is well equipped with facilities necessary for conducting tests on a wide range of foundation materials, sub grade soil and construction materials including soils, aggregates, cement, water quality, bitumen and preparation of asphalt and cement concrete mix designs for various classes of strength. The materials testing laboratory is computerized, well-equipped with modern testing equipment and qualified manpower. Laboratory test results are issued in concise computer generated formats and graphics with supplemental data acquisition reports available upon request. Beside rendering testing services, the materials laboratory also offers training courses on materials testing and quality control for laboratory technicians, material inspectors and graduate civil engineers. In general, our soils laboratory, concrete and material testing capabilities are uncontested in Ethiopia. We maintain international test procedures for tests conducted by our firm, and stay abreast of changes in methods along with new procedures through regular and continuous quality improvement programs. Our laboratory equipment is modern, calibrated at regular intervals by the National Standards Authority and is in conformity with International Quality Standards.
  
  

  	Tests in Central Laboratory