Abstract :
[en] Information observed during construction can be used to optimise the remaining parts of the
construction or structure. In this article general conditions are indicated for the implementation of
the Observational Method in geotechnical engineering. The most important condition is that the
uncertain field condition (the observational data) must be clear to measure. For example in case of
a brittle soil behaviour, there is no clear indicator to show that the load is approaching the
maximum resistance. If a project fulfils all general conditions, a financial risk analysis is
necessary to find out whether the Observational Method is profitable. The success of
implementation varies strongly per geotechnical discipline. In this article a simplified approach
for a risk analysis is given and a number of geotechnical cases are discussed for which the
Observational Method can lead to a financial profit. Most of these cases are already informally
implemented in daily practice.
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