Service
The practical output of Horema's digital modernisation: field and laboratory records held as structured data from the start, and issued in AGS 4.1 format on request alongside conventional reporting.
Overview
AGS 4.1 is the international file format used to exchange geotechnical data between the organisations that create it and the organisations that use it. Instead of a report where every value sits inside a page of text, the data is organised into defined groups and fields — one for boreholes, one for samples, one for each family of test result — with agreed units and headings.
Because the structure is agreed in advance, the same file can be read by the geotechnical and modelling software consultants already use, without anyone rebuilding the data by hand. It is a data format, not a software product, and not a substitute for engineering judgement.
Horema treats the AGS file as a deliverable in its own right. Field logs and laboratory results are captured as structured records from the point of measurement, so what a client receives reflects the same source data that our own reporting is built from.
Methods & standards
Strata, depths, coordinates and levels
Borehole positions, ground and datum levels, drilling method, casing and strata descriptions logged by geologists to a consistent scheme, carried through as structured records rather than free text.
SPT blow counts by depth
Test depth, seating and main drive blow counts and recorded N-values, delivered so density and strength correlations can be applied directly in the client's own software.
Standpipe and piezometer monitoring records
Water strikes during drilling and repeat monitoring readings over time, with installation details, so seasonal and tidal variation is visible in the dataset itself.
Run-by-run core logging
Total core recovery, solid core recovery and rock quality designation recorded per core run, supporting rock mass assessment along the full cored length.
ASTM & BS methods
Classification, moisture content, Atterberg limits, grading, density, consolidation and shear strength results, each linked back to the sample and depth it came from.
Uniaxial and point-load results
Rock strength results reported against specimen reference, depth and lithology so they remain traceable within the wider ground model.
Soil and groundwater aggressivity
Sulphate, chloride, pH and related determinations on soil and groundwater samples, delivered in the same structured dataset used for durability and buried-concrete assessment.
Where it applies
What you receive
Common questions
It is a structured text file in which geotechnical data is arranged into defined groups and fields with agreed headings and units — boreholes, samples, in-situ tests, laboratory results. Because the layout is standardised, geotechnical software can read the data without anyone retyping it from a report.
No. Factual and interpretative reports remain the standard deliverable. AGS 4.1 export is provided in addition, on request, for clients and consultants who want the underlying data in their own systems as well.
Every AGS submission passes a structured validation and QC check before transmittal: format and group structure, required fields and units, depth and reference consistency between related groups, and reconciliation against the reported field and laboratory records.
No. AGS is a data exchange format and Horema produces deliverables in that format. We make no claim of certification, accreditation or partnership in relation to the AGS organisation.
Borehole and field logs, SPT data, groundwater and piezometer readings, core recovery including TCR, SCR and RQD, laboratory index tests, rock strength testing and chemical analysis — scoped to the investigation actually carried out.
Where we have done it
Related services
Send us the site location, the structures planned and your programme — our team will scope the investigation and testing required.
