This classic title deals presents all one needs to know about pressuremeter test, a soil and rock test used in civil engineering. It consists of placing a cylindrical probe in the ground and expanding the probe to pressurize the soil or the rock horizontally. The pressure on the soil and the relative increase in cavity radius are obtained and give an in situ stress strain curve. The pressuremeter test is repeated at various depths in order to obtain profiles of soil parameters.

The design applications of the preboring pressuremeter test include: shallow foundations under vertical loads, deep foundations under vertical and horizontal loads, ground anchors, cantilever drilled shaft walls and anchored bulkheads, pavements, stone columns, ground improvement and compaction control. The preboring pressuremeter is of little use in slope stability analysis and in conventional active and passive earth pressure problems, although there is potential for future developments in the earth pressure problem area.

Jean-Louis Briaud (1949, France) received his Civil Engineering education in France and Canada. He has been a Professor of Civil Engineering at Texas A&M University since 1978 and is currently the Head of the Geotechnical Engineering and Surveying Division at this institute. He has published well over 100 articles and reports mainly in the areas of in situ testing and soil-structure interaction. As owner-manager of Briaud Engineers, he has been a consultant for numerous large structures including high rises, bridges, tunnels, offshore platforms, and power plants. During his consulting work and during his research work over the last 17 years, Dr Briaud has performed and analyzed over 1000 pressuremeter tests. Among other awards, Dr Briaud is a recipient of the American Society of Civil Engineers Huber Prize and of the American Society for Testing and Materials Hogentogler Award.