New developments and applications for the Scarabée method

Understanding the mechanical characteristics of building foundations is a necessity for designing and building large structures. During the past 50 years, Coyne et Bellier (Tractebel Engineering, France) has developed a synthetic approach, which is simple, fast and relatively inexpensive. Founded on the principles of the seismic geophysical method, the objective of the Scarabée method, formerly known as Petite Sismique, is to monitor the rock mass through simple and standardized field measurements, with appropriate and portable equipment. This paper highlights the contribution of the Scarabée method in four recent dam projects and describes the steps taken to modernize measurement equipment, which have been made possible by recent electronic and computer science developments.