Application of Electrical Resistivity in Buildings Foundation Investigation in Ibese Southwestern Nigeria
Application of geophysical investigation has been carried out using Vertical Electrical Sounding (VES) at the proposed building site in Ibese Southwest Nigeria to determine the geophysical parameters that can be used to evaluate the structural competence of the subsurface geological characteristics of the site for construction purposes and building development. The Schlumberger configuration was used for the data acquisition. One-dimensional numerical inversion of individual DC resistivity was used to enhance the processing of the results for better achievement of the aim of the study. Models obtained from the 2D inversion of each VES were used for construction of geo-electric sections which exhibit the main geo-electric characteristics of the geological units present in the area. The interpretation results showed that the geo-electric sections consist of three-four layers namely: topsoil, pebble clay, limestone and sand/limestone. The layer resistivities and thicknesses range from 11 - 404 Ohm-m/0.4 - 1.5 m, 2-210 Ohm-m/ 0.8 - 9.2m and 33 - 160Ohm-m respectively. The investigation revealed that the sand/limestone litho unit is to be the most competent for shallow foundation for small to medium engineering structures.