Using pedological information in preliminary stage geotechnical investigations for strategic urban planning in South Africa

Urban development in South Africa should be preceded by a preliminary stage geotechnical investigation to facilitate decision-making regarding site selection and project feasibility, aid the Environmental Impact Assessment process. These desk studies generally rely on information obtained from published sources, including regional maps, typically only available for major urban centres. It is proposed that use made of pedological contained land type inventories most country, or resulting detailed soil mapping surveys. The refined Soils Effects Grouping (SEG) system provides relatively simple scientifically based tool allows conversion into relevant parlance accordance with industry-standard parameters suitable investigations. Application this over period more than decade has provided cost-effective reasonably accurate results support planning Assessments.