Case study · Client testimony
A governed data path for a landmark coastal development.
Horema delivered geotechnical investigation and data management for the Modon Ras El Hekmah development, using G& to control the record from the rig to a validated AGS 4.1 submission package.
Project
Modon Ras El Hekmah
Delivery partner
Horema
Consultants
Dar · HILL International
Scope
Geotechnical & geophysical investigation, data management, AGS 4.1 delivery
01 / Project background
Investigation at the scale of a new coastal city.
Ras El Hekmah is a landmark coastal development on Egypt's north-west Mediterranean coast, delivered under Modon with Dar and HILL International in consultant and management roles. Investigation works of that scale generate data faster than a spreadsheet-based workflow can govern it: multiple rigs, parallel areas, continuous laboratory throughput, and submission windows that do not move.
Horema's requirement was not more storage. It was a single controlled environment in which every borehole, sample, in-situ test, and laboratory result could be captured once, validated continuously, and issued as a submission package the consultants could accept without rework.
02 / How G& managed the data
One controlled environment for field, laboratory, and quality control.
Captured once, at source
Daily drilling records, strata descriptions to BS 5930 and BS EN ISO 14688 / 14689, sampling, SPT increments to ASTM D1586, and groundwater readings were entered against location and depth interval — not re-typed at the office.
One governed schema
Project → area → location → strata → sample → test held in a strict parent–child structure, with referential integrity enforced at the database. No orphaned samples, no test results without a traceable parent record.
Laboratory lifecycle on the record
Request, scheduling, testing, calculation, checking, and approval progressed on a forward-only status ladder, with results autofilled back into logs and report tables rather than transcribed.
Derived values computed, never typed
Classification, N-values, recovery indices, and index properties were produced by the standards engine against the governing standard version, leaving raw measurement and engineering interpretation separately attributable.
Coordination-ready for the consultants
Dar and HILL International reviewed against a live readiness position per area — blockers, errors, and warnings visible before a package was issued rather than discovered after.
03 / How AGS 4.1 was generated
Mapped, validated, corrected, approved — then generated.
- 01
Mapping
Field, in-situ, and laboratory records mapped to AGS 4.1 groups and headings — LOCA, GEOL, SAMP, ISPT, CORE, and the relevant laboratory groups — with units and dictionary terms fixed at entry.
- 02
Validation
Four layers ran continuously: data integrity, engineering logic, AGS 4.1 compliance and dictionary checks, and plausibility screening against regional expectations.
- 03
Correction
Every finding entered an issue log with an owner and a resolution record. Corrections were made on the source record, so the log, the report table, and the AGS file moved together.
- 04
Approval
Nothing entered a package until a named signing engineer approved it — the approval, its timestamp, and the standard version stored with the value.
- 05
Generation
The AGS 4.1 file, borehole logs, factual report tables, and the accompanying validation report were generated from approved records in one operation, per area.
AGS 4.1 · BS 5930 · BS 1377 · BS EN ISO 14688 / 14689 · ASTM D1586 · Eurocode 7
04 / AGS 4.1 generation walkthrough
Step through the line, from captured record to submitted package.
The same seven steps that carried Ras El Hekmah data from the rig to an accepted AGS 4.1 package. Select a step to see what enters it, which AGS groups it touches, what is checked or computed, and what leaves.
Step 1 of 7 · Data management
14% of the line covered
Do this: Enter each measurement once, where it is made — never re-type it at the office.
Hover a step for a one-line summary · arrow keys move between steps
Capture
Drilling records, strata descriptions, sampling, SPT increments, groundwater readings, and laboratory determinations entered once against a location and depth interval.
What goes in
- Daily drilling record per rig
- Strata description by interval
- Sample register
- SPT / in-situ increments
- Groundwater readings
AGS 4.1 groups touched
What is checked or computed
- Location IDs unique and resolvable to the project register
- Depth intervals continuous, non-overlapping, within hole depth
- Descriptions written from the BS 5930 / ISO 14688 dictionary, not free text
What leaves this step
Raw records held in the central database, attributable to the person and time of capture.
05 / AGS 4.1 FAQ
The questions engineers and clients ask before the first package.
Answered as they were answered on Ras El Hekmah — inputs, validation, approvals, and the practical questions that follow.
Inputs & data management
What data has to be in place before an AGS 4.1 file can be generated?
A complete location register, strata descriptions by depth interval, the sample register, in-situ test increments, groundwater observations, and the laboratory determinations for each specimen. Every one of those records must resolve to a parent record — a project, an area, a location, a stratum, or a sample — before generation is possible.
Can legacy, Excel, or older AGS data be brought in?
Yes. Legacy records enter through the same import, mapping, and four-layer validation as current works. Digitised is not the same as verified, so a historical record earns its place in the corpus exactly as a new one does.
Do engineers ever type computed values?
No. Raw measurements, engine-derived values, and certified results each enter through one controlled path. Classification, N-values, recovery indices, gradation parameters, and index properties are produced by the standards engine and held read-only.
Which AGS groups were used on Ras El Hekmah?
PROJ, TRAN, ABBR, UNIT, LOCA, GEOL, SAMP, ISPT, CORE and WSTG for field and in-situ data, plus the relevant laboratory groups — GRAG, LLPL, SHBG, CONG and RUCS among them — with the FILE group carrying the accompanying deliverables.
Validation
When does validation run?
Continuously, against the live record set on every change — not at export time. That is why a package can be cut on the submission date without discovering findings on the submission date.
What do the four layers actually check?
L1 integrity covers IDs, depths, dates, units and precision. L2 engineering logic covers strata coherence, sample position within its interval, and groundwater readings against the drilling record. L3 covers AGS 4.1 group presence, headings, parent–child references and dictionary terms. L4 plausibility raises values that are structurally valid but factually improbable for the ground being described.
An AGS file can pass a checker and still be wrong. How is that handled?
That is precisely what layer four exists for. A file can satisfy every dictionary and reference rule while describing ground that does not exist. Plausibility screening against regional expectations raises those records for engineering review before approval.
How are findings corrected?
Every finding enters an issue log with an owner and a resolution record, and the correction is made on the source record — never on an exported file. Re-validation runs automatically on save, so the log sheet, the report table, and the AGS file move together.
Approvals & governance
Who can approve data for submission?
Only a named signing engineer with the role permission to do so. Approval is the single door to a deliverable: nothing enters an AGS file, a log, a report table, or a quantity statement before it.
What is stored with an approval?
The approving engineer, the timestamp, and the version of the governing standard in force. The status ladder — entered, calculated, checked, approved, reported, submitted — is forward-only, and every transition is logged.
How did the consultants review the data?
Dar and HILL International reviewed against a live readiness position per area, with blockers, errors, and warnings visible before a package was issued rather than discovered after it.
Is the audit trail sufficient for a tender or a claim?
Every import, validation run, correction, approval, and export is logged with user, timestamp, and standard version, and any value in a deliverable resolves back to its source record and governing clause.
Common customer questions
How long does a submission package take to produce?
Once records are approved, the AGS 4.1 file, borehole logs, factual report tables, Excel and GIS exports, and the validation report are generated together in one operation, per area. The elapsed time sits in validation and approval, not in export.
Does G& replace our design and modelling tools?
No. Open formats mean G& coexists with your existing design and modelling tools. It governs the data and controls the submission; your data remains portable.
What happens when a client has its own submission format?
Client-specific submission rules are applied per package, on top of AGS 4.1 compliance, so a package is assessed against the rules of the party actually receiving it.
Can we see the output before committing?
Yes — an anonymised AGS 4.1 file generated from approved records is downloadable in the walkthrough above, and fully redacted example deliverables are published on the outputs page.
AGS 4.1 · BS 5930 · BS 1377 · BS EN ISO 14688 / 14689 · ASTM D1586 · ASTM D4546 · Eurocode 7
“G& gave our team a single, controlled environment to manage the geotechnical data for the Modon Ras El Hekmah project and generate the AGS 4.1 submission package. It connected field, laboratory, and quality-control records in one traceable workflow, helping us coordinate effectively with Dar and HILL International while maintaining confidence in the quality and readiness of every deliverable.”
Single source
Field, laboratory, and QC records held in one traceable workflow instead of parallel spreadsheets.
Submission-ready
AGS 4.1 packages assembled from approved records, dictionary-checked before issue.
Auditable
Every import, validation, approval, and export logged with user, timestamp, and standard version.