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Soils

Major works of man since the beginning of time have depended on the use of soils. Not only does soil form the foundation,
or supporting surface for buildings, bridges, roadways and culverts, but it is the most common constituent, in the form of
aggregate, in the works themselves. Soils are the most basic abundant material in highway engineering and as such, are well
characterized by the expression "common as dirt." The steps taken to prepare foundations, manipulate and transport soils
and prepare them for use as aggregates accounts for well over 70 percent of the total cost of construction for a normal
highway project. It is easy to see then why knowledgeable consideration of every aspect of soils is very important to
successful highway engineering.

The tests included in the soils part are all concerned with either evaluating or describing soils and aggregates, or with
controlling the manner in which they are to be used. Many of the tests accomplish the same thing but require different
equipment or perhaps a slightly different procedure. For instance, there are two tests for determining in-place density and
three for determining moisture content. The selection of one test over another is often a matter of personal judgment. More
often than not the higher quality of test results is dependent on how carefully the test was performed rather than the
superiority of one piece of equipment or process over another.

There are four major groups of soils tests included: 1) grading or sieve analysis, 2) moisture content determinations, 3) basic
properties tests, and 4) density standards and density determination tests.

The most basic group of tests are the grading or sieve analysis tests. In each of these tests, a soil or an aggregate, is graded
on a number of sieves of selected sizes. Over the years, a certain series of sizes has come to be standard. Those most
commonly used to grade materials have openings varying from 125 mm down to 0.075 mm. Tests described in this manual
identify sieve sizes by their opening in millimeters followed by English aperture size: for example, 4.75 mm (No. 4) sieve.
All sieves have square openings.

There is no question that the grading analysis is the most important of all the soil tests, more can be learned about a soil
from a grading analysis than from any other single test. Decisions regarding subsequent tests are made based on information
gained from the sieve analysis. Most other soils tests are performed on specific particle sizes which requires that the soil be
sized accordingly. It is easy to see how important it is to perform these basic tests carefully and strictly according to
standards. These same tests will be used, and are common to tests, in Parts 3, 4, and 5 of the Materials Manual.

The second most basic and universal soils tests are those to determine the moisture content. There is nothing that has more
influence on the engineering properties of a soil or aggregate than water. Too much or too little water can render some
otherwise desirable and stable material virtually useless. Knowledge of the in place moisture content is necessary for many
decisions regarding design and control of materials. There are several ways to determine the moisture content of soils, from
the carbide gas pressure method (MRDTM 217) to the more recently accepted nuclear method (MRDTM 218). By far, the
most common method involves weighing a given quantity of wet material, drying it to a constant mass, then measuring the
difference in mass which is the mass of water driven off during drying. The moisture content is expressed as a percentage
and is the mass of water divided by the dry mass of soil times one hundred. A moisture content determination is a part of
almost every test in Part 2 of the Materials Manual, and the calculations will become a familiar operation to those using this
manual.

Oven-drying at 110 ±5 C does not result in reliable moisture content values for soil containing gypsum or other minerals
having loosely bound water of hydration or for soil containing significant amounts of organic material. Reliable moisture
content values for these soils can be obtained by drying in an oven at approximately 60 C, or by vacuum desiccation at a
pressure of approximately 10 mm Hg and at a temperature not lower than 23 C.

The third category of tests are those which describe some basic property or physical state of a soil. The Liquid Limit, Plastic
Limit and Plasticity Index are all helpful properties to describe various transition states of soil-water mixtures. These
properties, together with the Sand Equivalent, provide information about the nature of the clay fractions of soils or
aggregates. A sieve analysis will quantitatively measure how much clay is present in a soil but not whether the clay is of a
type that would be detrimental; these tests are in a sense qualitative. A very small quantity of a highly reactive clay may
cause a large reduction in stability while a large quantity of another clay type may have little effect on overall stabililty.
Generally, high Liquid Limits, high Plasticity Indices, and low Sand Equivalents are indicative of potentially troublesome
soils. Some of these tests, in addition to being used in the preconstruction stages, are widely used as control tests during
construction and the production of aggregates.

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A basic understanding of specific gravity in its various forms is necessary for soils testing in addition to foundation design,
asphalt mix design, portland cement concrete mix design, and other physical and chemical tests.

In simplest terms, specific gravity is the ratio of the mass of a given volume of material to the mass of an equal volume of
water at the same temperature. The property applies to materials as both solids and liquids. A handy frame of reference is: if
the specific gravity is less than one, the particular material, solid or liquid, will float on water, if it is more than one, it will
sink.

Values of specific gravity are highly dependent upon temperature, therefore, specific gravity is not completely defined
unless the temperatures of both the material and the water are stated. However, for simplification, the statement of
temperature will be omitted in the specific gravity definitions, understanding that the temperatures of the material and the
water are the same and at approximately room temperature.

The terms "permeable voids" and "impermeable voids" used in the definitions of the different types of specific gravity are
defined as follows:

Permeable voids are those voids in the individual particles of a material which become filled with water when the
material is soaked or otherwise processed in accordance with a specified procedure. Impermeable voids are those
in the individual particles of a material which do not become filled with water when the material is soaked or
otherwise processed in accordance with a specified procedure.

The four basic measures of specific gravity are defined as:

1. Specific Gravity (liquids and solids)-The ratio of mass of a given volume of material to the volume of the solid
matter, including impermeable voids of the material, as illustrated in Fig. 2-1.

2. Apparent Specific Gravity (solids)-The ratio of the mass of a given volume of material to the mass of a volume of
water equal to the volume of the solid matter, including impermeable voids of the material, as illustrated in Fig. 2-2.

3. Bulk Specific Gravity (solids)-The ratio of mass of a given volume of material to the mass of a volume of water
equal to the total volume of the material. The total volume includes the combined volume of solid matter,
permeable voids, and impermeable voids, as illustrated in Fig. 2-3.

4. Bulk Specific Gravity, Saturated Surface Dry Basis (solids)-The ratio of the mass of a given volume of material
with its permeable voids filled with water to the mass of a volume of water equal to the total volume of the
material. The total volume includes the combined volume of solid matter, permeable voids, and impermeable voids
as illustrated in Fig. 2-4.

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The fourth major group of tests included in the soils part are those concerning density; both the determination of density in
the field; and establishment, through standard tests, of reference or standard densities to which the field tests are compared.
The results of a field density test, cannot be properly evaluated until compared to an appropriate reference density. The
establishment of density standards for each soil or surfacing aggregate is the roadway designer's means of assigning a fixed
strength to each of these materials or components of the roadway section. The density tests performed in the field that
measure the density achieved during the compaction process are the means by which the Field Engineer insures that the
design density is obtained, thus these tests are control tests-tests used to control compaction.

Tests used to establish density standards are those represented by MRDTM 212, and 214. MRDTM 213, the California
Bearing Ratio test (CBR), is a combination design and density standard test in that often the standard density used is that
determined from MRDTM 212 and is customarily called the "Modified Proctor Test."

As mentioned earlier, there are many different methods available for the determination of density on the grade. The Sand
Cone Test, MRDTM 215 is used extensively throughout the world. Nuclear methods, MRDTM 218 are also common where
the volume of work is sufficiently large. Nuclear methods are the generally preferred method of test. Among the many
features that make nuclear equipment desirable are the following: most devices are capable of making moisture content
determinations as well as density determinations; once an Inspector becomes familiar with the equipment and the project
materials, determinations can be made very rapidly; the testing is nondestructive and does not require test holes or cores;
test results are available immediately allowing corrective measures to be initiated sooner; through the statistical approach,
isolated "poor samples" are more readily detected; the equipment can be used on all courses in the pavement structure from
the subgrade up through the wearing course of the pavement; density determinations may be made on hot asphalt pavements
which permits additional rolling before the mat cools and becomes difficult or impossible to compact; and the total number
of density-moisture tests made economically feasible are greatly increased.

Each density test is described in detail in their respective MRDTM. There are two important points, common to all density
testing. The first concerns the special precautions inherent in each test method. Density tests are performed in the field and
generally under adverse conditions. A person performing a density test should be aware of all special precautions for that
type of test, for instance, the sand cone test is extremely sensitive to vibration, and the nuclear devices require very careful
and uniform surface preparation. Operators must familiarize themselves with all the features of their equipment and test
methods.

The second point concerns the correction in density occasioned by the presence of oversize materials. In the preceeding
discussion on grading, it was mentioned that it is always specified, for each test, what sizes of materials are to be tested. For
instance, the sand equivalent is performed on material passing the 4.75 mm (No. 4) sieve, the "Proctor" is run on material
passing the 19 mm (3/4 in.) sieve, etc. In working with subgrade materials it is quite common to encounter materials which
contain a considerable amount of material with particles larger than can be tested in laboratory size equipment. Where this
situation occurs, recognition must be made of the oversize material and a correction made. A procedure for making this
correction is described in MRDTM 216.

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