CEG 3011 C

Geotechnical Engineering I

Atterberg Limits Lab

Monday 4 February 2013

Jose Eguia, Ryan Speir, Dustin Spears

Abstract
The Atterberg Limits Lab is conducted to find basic index information about the soil used to estimate strength and settlement characteristics. This is the primary form of classification for soils. From the testing, the liquid limit and plastic limit can be found which are moisture contents between material consistency states. From the results, the soil can be identified and classified. The liquid limit and plastic limit define the water content boundaries between non-plastic, plastic, and viscous fluid states. The plasticity index is the difference between the two limits. Before starting the lab we observed the soil to be slight tan in color and powdery with no scent. The individual soil particles could not be seen by the naked eye, putting the soil below the standard of 0.075 mm in diameter, classifying them below sands as fines. After conducting the Atterberg Limits Lab, we found the liquid limit to be 18.76. The plastic limit is 17.10; from these two values a plasticity index of 1.66 was calculated. By using the Unified Soil Classification System (USCS) Plasticity Chart, the soil can be classified as ML, which is predominately silt of low plasticity. From our pre-lab observations of the soil being in the fines classification, our results are acceptable. Towards the end of the lab during the plastic limit portion, we began to rush the procedures and the blow count may have been miscounted. We may also misjudged when the gap closed during the plastic limit blow test, not sure if the gap was to meet only at the bottom or if in the middle was acceptable, resulting in an error for our plastic limit. No errors occurred during the liquid limit test.