ERNESTO SANDIGAN

Field identification of soil is of great importance for civil engineering. Sometimes the lack of time and
facilities makes laboratory soiltesting impossible in military construction. Even when laboratory tests
are to follow,field identification tests must be made during the soil exploration. Soil types need to be
identified so that duplicate samples for laboratory testing are held to a minimum

The dry "strength" is a measure of plasticity or cohesiveness of a soil. An increase in the clay content
increases the dry strength. Slight dry strength indicates an inorganic silt or silty sand.
Since coarse grained soils are easily identified by visual inspection on the basis of particle size,dry
density test is not necessary.Becuse dry density test is applicable only for fine grained soil.This is how
it is done:

If a small piece of dry fine grained soil is broken or crushed with fingers, the breaking strength is an
indication of the relative amounts of silt or clay. If the soil can be powdered easilywith the fingers, it is
said to have slight dry strength and indicates siltor sandy silt. If considerable strength is required, but
the soil can still be broken into small pieces without great difficulty, it is said to havemedium dry
strength, and is indicative of silty clays and clays of low plasticity. When the pat of dry soil cannot be
broken with fingers, ithas high dry strength and represents a highly plastic clay. The presenceof high
strength, water soluble cementing materials, such as calciumcarbonate or iron oxides, may also cause
high dry strength. Soil with high strength is treated with a little dilute hydrochloric acid. A
strongreaction indicates that the strength may be due to calcium carbonate ascementing agent, rather
than colloidal.If you can find a dry sample of soil, try to break it. Soil with veryhigh dry strength is
typically highly plastic. A soil that is very easy tocrumble is likely a low plastic silt. A soil that takes
some effort but isstill easy to break is likely a low to moderately plastic clay.

A field test for dry strength,which is an indication of plasticity,begins with wetting a soil sample until
it its consistency approaches a stiff putty,and molding it into a ball approximately 1 in. (25 mm) in
diameter.After it dries,the sample is held between the thumb and finger of both hands and squeezed.If
it does break,the soil is highly plastic and characteristics of clays.If the sample breaks but is difficult to
cause the sections to powder when rubbed between the fingers,it has a medium plasticity.If the sample
easily breaks down into powder,it has low plasticity.

Advantages of field identification:-

It is very economical.
It can be carried out in short duration of time.
No pre-setting is required
Disadvantages of field identification:-
It is just an approximation.
You cannot completely rely on it
Experienced people are required
2.Volume characteristics

The volume of soil changes as it is excavated,hauled,placed and compacted.When soil is

excavated and transported,the grains loosen as air fills voids between them,and its
volume is increased.Known as swell,it is measured as percentage of the original volume
and varies with different types of soil.
When soil is placed and compacted,the air between the grain is forced out and the soils
volume decreases.this is called shrinkage,the amount of shrinkage varies with the type of
soil and is measured as a percentage of the orig volume.

THE VOL OF ONE CUBIC YARD OF SOIL in situ (UNDISTURBED SOIL) IS

REFERRED TO AS BANK MEASURE.WHEN DISTURBED,IT WILL PRODUCE
MORE THAN I CUBIC YARD,AND WHEN COMPACTED,LESS THAN ONE CUBIC
YARD OF SOIL

3.Soil water is the term for water found in naturally occurring soil. Soil water is also
called rhizic water. There are three main types of soil water - gravitational water,
capillary water, and hygroscopic water - and these terms are defined based on the
function of the water in the soil.

Type # 1. Gravitational Water or Ground Water:

After a heavy rain or on application of irrigation water, the surface layer of a soil is
temporarily saturated. This water obeys the laws of gravity and thus descends rapidly
through the dry layers, leaving a moist zone in its path.

If there is sufficient water this wet layer penetrates deeply. The rate of this downward
percolation of this gravitational water is determined by the number, size and continuity of
non-capillary or larger pores.

The gravitational water is available to plants only when rain showers follow one another
in rapid succession; otherwise it percolates below the reach of the roots within a few days
and thus remains unavailable.

Type # 2. Capillary Water:

As ground water drains out of the upper layer of the soil, it leaves behind considerable
moisture in the form of films, coating smaller soil particles and as droplets suspended in
the angles of larger pores or completely filling the smaller pores.

This water is retained by the forces of surface tension and does not respond to the
gravitational pull. The forces are, however, small—seldom more than a fraction of an
atmosphere depending on the diameter of the capillaries.

This is capillary water. It is primarily this capillary water which is readily available to the
plant and this is the source of practically all the water a plant extracts from the soil.

Type # 3. Hygroscopic Water:The water that held tightly on the

surface of soil colloidal particle It is essentially non-liquid and
moves primarily in the vapour form. Hygroscopic water held so
tenaciously (31 to 10000 atmospheres) by soil particles that plants can
not absorb it. Some microorganism may utilize hygroscopic water. As
hygroscopic water is held tenaciously by surface forces its removal from
the soil requires a certain amount of energy. Unlike capillary water
which evaporates easily at atmospheric temperature, hygroscopic water
cannot be separated from the soil unless it is heated.
Owing to evaporation from the soil surface and absorption by roots, the capillary water
held by the soil is gradually depleted. As depletion pro 颅 gresses, the forces of molecular
attraction or adsorption between the soil particles and the thin films of water held against
their surfaces increase until finally the remaining water passes into a state where it is no
longer in the liquid condition and thus ceases- to be chemically or biologically active.

The forces of molecular attraction increase rapidly as the water film surrounding soil
particle grows thinner until a point is reached when the films are only a few molecules
thick and the forces of attraction may reach values as high as 1000 atm.

Evidently plants can absorb only a relatively small amount of this hygroscopic water. The
hygroscopic water cannot be entirely evaporated from a soil under ordinary atmospheric
conditions, but it can be done by heating soil to a constant weight in an oven at
approximately 150 掳 C.

The above three types of soil are not sharply defined but form a continuous series from
water which is not retained by the soil, to water which is held with great force.

Type # 4. Chemically Combined Water:

The water chemically combined in the structure of soil minerals is known as combined
water. After the elimination of hygroscopic water by heating soil to about 150 掳 C., the
only water that remains is in the hydrated oxides of aluminium, iron, silicon, etc.

This water is absolutely unavailable to the plants and can only be driven off from the soil
by resorting to very high temperature but not before bringing about irreversible changes
in the physical and chemical composition of the soil itself.