• MENARD PRESSUREMETER TEST    The design and construction of foundations require an as-accurate-as-possible knowledge of the behavior of the soil under the foundation.    A complete quality control program is also necessary to follow-up the results of the soil improvement treatment in order to check the compliance with the specifications and requirements of the structure.    The Menard Pressuremeter Device ( PMT ) has been developed in the mid 50's by Mr Louis Menard and it is certainly the most adequate and accurate testing method available for all types of soils.    It permits to get both the deformation properties through a pressuremeter modulus ( that can be linked to the Young's modulus afterwards for deformation calculation ) and the resistance failure properties through a limit pressure ( for bearing capacity calculation ).　    The basic idea behind the PMT Test is the expansion of a cylindrical cavity in the ground in order to monitor the relationship between pressure and deformation for the soil.    In practice this is done by drilling a hole down to the level of the test. The PMT probe is inserted inside the cavity and inflated to expand the cavity while recording the resulting volume change versus pressure.    The typical result is a curve of shape illustrated below. A plot is made of the volume ( abscise ) for each increment of pressure.　    Analysis of this curve gives the pressuremeter limit pressure pl as well as the pressuremeter modulus Ep. Ep and pl are then used for designing foundations and for quality control purposes.     Interpretation and calculation for the PMT Test has been normalised in the DN60 Manual ( "Interpretation and Application of PMT Results to Foundation Design" ).