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PERMEABILITY (CONSTAND HEAD TEST)

SIGNIFICANCE

Permeability or hydraulic conductivity refers to ease with which water can flow through
a soil. This property is necessary for the calculation of the seepage through earth dams or under
sheet piles walls, the calculation of the seepage rate from waste storage facilities and
calculation of the rate of settlement of clayey soil deposits.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this test is to determine the permeability or hydraulic conductivity of a


sandy soil by the constant head test method. The constant head test method is used for
permeable soils where k is more than 10¯⁴ cm/s.

APPARATUS

1) Scissor

2) Tissue

3) Rubber band

4) Bottle

5) Water

6) Phone Stop Watch.


METHODOLOGY

1) The apparatus is set up as shown in Appendix.

2) Soil sample is filled in the container.

3) 300 ml of water is poured inside container that filled with soil.

4) Time is recorded once the water is poured.

5) The volume of water is measured once the water stops dripping.

6) The data is calculated.

RESULT

𝑄𝑙
Permeability, k =𝐴ℎ𝑡

Vwater = 300 ml, h =8.5cm, t = 689s, D = 8.2cm L = 10.5 cm

𝜋(8.2)2
A=
4

A=52.81𝑐𝑚2

𝑄𝑙
k =𝐴ℎ𝑡

(300)(10.5)
k=(52.81)(8.5)(689)

= 0.0102 cm/s
DISCUSSION
This apparatus used on the soil sample and its allows water to move through the soil
under a steady state head condition while the volume of water flowing through the soil
specimen is measured over a period of time. The greater pore size of soil is more permeability
then the soil with smaller pore size.

The value of permeability (k) that we obtained 0.0102 cm/s. we obtain this value by
using the formula k=QL/Aht. The time taken for all water to permeate the soil is 689s. From
physical observation of the soil we assume the soil to be silty sand. From the result of the
experiment, we use the permeability and drainage characteristics of soils (Terzaghi et al. 1996)
table to determine the type of drainage and type of soil from our permeability value. Our soil
sample falls in the clean sands, clean sand and gravel mixtures category with 1.02x10−4 m/s.
Therefore, we conclude the type of our soil sample is clean sand and gravel mixtures. This type
of soil is good for drainage. The result is accepted.

Figure 3: Permeability and drainage characteristics of soils (Terzaghi et al. 1996) table.

The value of k is use as a measure of the resistance to flow offered by the soil, and it is affected
by several factors:

1) The porosity of the soil.

2) The particle-size distribution.

3) The shape and orientation of soil particles.

4) The degree of saturation/presence of air.

5) The type of cation and thickness of adsorbed layers associated with clay mineral.

6) The viscosity of the soil water, which varies with temperature.

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