Background
The stability of the foundation of a building, a bridge, an embankment or any other structure
built on soil depends on the strength and compressibility characteristics of the subsoil. The field
and laboratory investigation to obtain the essential information on the subsoil is called soil
exploration or soil investigation (VNS Murthy, 2003).
Hosanna is a town in southern Ethiopia, located in the administrative. This town has a longitude
and latitude of Hossana town is 7°27′37′′longitude North and 37°41′22′′Latitude East. Its
elevation is estimated to be 2300meters above sea level.
Hossana is among one of the Ethiopian towns, which is develop quickly. Rapid urbanization in
the city area has led to an increased interest in the engineering behavior of the soils which are
present within the city area. A geotechnical engineer determines and designs the type of
foundation, earthwork, and/or pavement sub grades required for the intended man-made
structures to be built.
Based on the data from the central statistical agency in year 2003 Hossanahas an estimated total
population of 89,300. The distance between Addis Ababa and Hossana is about 234Kms and
during its founding the total extent of the area today this extent is 34,140 hectors.
The successes or failure of a foundation depends essentially on the reliability of the various soil
parameters obtained from the field investigation and laboratory testing, and used as an input in to
the design of a foundation (VNS Murthy, 2003).
In Civil engineering works like, preliminary design and in designing foundation, pavement,
retaining structures, etc., geotechnical investigation on the engineering property of soil is very
essential. Many researches were conducted and there are ongoing researches in most big towns
of the country like Addis Ababa, Bahirdar, Mekele, Hawassa, Adama, etc.
Therefore, in a country like Ethiopia which is developing at a high growth rate, geological
investigation on engineering properties of soil is very essential. These data are very important for geotechnical engineers for while designing foundation, pavement, retaining structures, etc. and
used for preparation of soil map in future construction works in the town.