MODULE 2 – LESSON 1 ABSTRACTION

Soil classification

Geotechnical engineers classify the soil particle types by performing tests on disturbed

(dried, passed through sieves, and remolded) samples of the soil. This provides

information about the characteristics of the soil grains themselves. It should be noted

that classification of the types of grains present in a soil does not account for important

effects of the structure or fabric of the soil, terms that describe compactness of the

particles and patterns in the arrangement of particles in a load carrying framework as

well as the pore size and pore fluid distributions. Engineering geologists also classify

soils based on their genesis and depositional history.

Classification of soil grains

In the US and other countries, the Unified Soil Classification System (USCS) is often

used for soil classification. Other classification systems include the British Standard

BS5390 and the AASHTO soil classification system.

Classification of sands and gravels

In the USCS, gravels (given the symbol G) and sands (given the symbol S) are

classified according to their grain size distribution. For the USCS, gravels may be given

the classification symbol GW (well-graded gravel), GP (poorly graded

gravel), GM (gravel with a large amount of silt), or GC (gravel with a large amount of

clay). Likewise, sands may be classified as being SW, SP, SM or SC. Sands and

gravels with a small but non-negligible number of fines (5–12%) may be given a dual

classification such as SW-SC.

Atterberg limits

Clays and Silts, often called 'fine-grained soils', are classified according to

their Atterberg limits; the most commonly used Atterberg limits are the Liquid

Limit (denoted by LL or), Plastic Limit (denoted by PL or ), and Shrinkage

Limit (denoted by SL).

The Liquid Limit is the water content at which the soil behavior transitions from that of a

liquid to that of a plastic solid. The Plastic Limit is the water content at which the soil

behavior transitions from that of a plastic solid to a brittle solid. The Shrinkage Limit

corresponds to a water content below which the soil will not shrink as it dries.

As the transitions from one state to another are gradual, the tests have adopted

arbitrary definitions to determine the boundaries of the states. The liquid limit is

determined by measuring the water content for which a groove closes after 25 blows in

a standard test.[8] Alternatively, a fall cone test apparatus may be used to measure the

liquid limit. The undrained shear strength of remolded soil at the liquid limit is

approximately 2 kPa. The Plastic Limit is the water content below which it is not

possible to roll by hand the soil into 3 mm diameter cylinders. The soil cracks or breaks

up as it is rolled down to this diameter. Remolded soil at the plastic limit is quite stiff,

having an undrained shear strength of the order of about 200 kPa.

The Plasticity Index of a particular soil specimen is defined as the difference between

the Liquid Limit and the Plastic Limit of the specimen; it is an indicator of how much

water the soil particles in the specimen can absorb, and correlates with many

engineering properties.

Classification of silts and clays

According to the Unified Soil Classification System (USCS), silts and clays are

classified by plotting the values of their plasticity index and liquid limit on a plasticity

chart. The A-Line on the chart separates clays (given the USCS symbol C) from silts

(given the symbol M). LL=50% separates high plasticity soils (given the modifier

symbol H) from low plasticity soils (given the modifier symbol L). A soil that plots above

the A-line and has LL>50% would, for example, be classified as CH. Other possible

classifications of silts and clays are ML, CLand MH. If the Atterberg limits plot in the

“hatched" region on the graph near the origin, the soils are given the dual classification

'CL-ML'.

Indices related to soil strength

Liquidity index

The effects of the water content on the strength of saturated remolded soils can be

quantified by the use of the liquidity index, LI:

When the LI is 1, remolded soil is at the liquid limit and it has an undrained shear

strength of about 2 kPa. When the soil is at the plastic limit, the LI is 0 and the

undrained shear strength is about 200 kPa.[4][10]

Relative density
The density of sands (cohesion less soils) is often characterized by the relative density,  

Where:  is the "maximum void ratio" corresponding to a very loose state,  is the

"minimum void ratio" corresponding to a very dense state and  is the in situ void ratio.

Methods used to calculate relative density are defined in ASTM D4254-00(2006)

Thus if  the sand or gravel is very dense, and if  the soil is extremely loose and

unstable.

steady state flow of water

A cross section showing the water table varying with surface topography as well as a

perched water table

If fluid pressures in a soil deposit are uniformly increasing with depth according to  then

hydrostatic conditions will prevail and the fluids will not be flowing through the soil.   is

the depth below the water table. However, if the water table is sloping or there is a

perched water table as indicated in the accompanying sketch, then seepage will occur.

For steady state seepage, the seepage velocities are not varying with time. If the water

tables are changing levels with time, or if the soil is in the process of consolidation, then

steady state conditions do not apply.

Darcy's law

Diagram showing definitions and directions for Darcy's law

Darcy's law states that the volume of flow of the pore fluid through a porous medium per

unit time is proportional to the rate of change of excess fluid pressure with distance. The

constant of proportionality includes the viscosity of the fluid and the intrinsic

permeability of the soil. For the simple case of a horizontal tube filled with soil

The total discharge,  (having units of volume per time, e.g., ft³/s or m³/s), is proportional

to the intrinsic permeability, , the cross sectional area, , and rate of pore pressure

change with distance, , and inversely proportional to the dynamic viscosity of the fluid, .

The negative sign is needed because fluids flow from high pressure to low pressure. So

if the change in pressure is negative (in the -direction) then the flow will be positive (in

the -direction). The above equation works well for a horizontal tube, but if the tube was

inclined so that point b was a different elevation than point a, the equation would not

work. The effect of elevation is accounted for by replacing the pore pressure by excess

pore pressure,  defined as:

Where  is the depth measured from an arbitrary elevation reference (datum).

Replacing  by we obtain a more general equation for flow:

Dividing both sides of the equation by , and expressing the rate of change of excess

pore pressure as a derivative, we obtain a more general equation for the apparent

velocity in the x-direction:

Where  has units of velocity and is called the Darcy velocity (or the specific

discharge, filtration velocity, or superficial velocity). The pore or interstitial velocity  is

the average velocity of fluid molecules in the pores; it is related to the Darcy velocity

and the porosity  through the Dupuit-Forchheimer relationship

(Some authors use the term seepage velocity to mean the Darcy Velocity, while others

use it to mean the pore velocity. Civil engineers predominantly work on problems that

involve water and predominantly work on problems on earth (in earth's gravity). For this

class of problems, civil engineers will often write Darcy's law in a much simpler form.

where  is the hydraulic conductivity, defined as , and  is the hydraulic gradient. The

hydraulic gradient is the rate of change of total head with distance. The total head,  at a

point is defined as the height (measured relative to the datum) to which water would rise

in a piezometer at that point. The total head is related to the excess water pressure by:

and the  is zero if the datum for head measurement is chosen at the same elevation as

the origin for the depth, z used to calculate  .

Typical values of hydraulic conductivity

Values of hydraulic conductivity, can vary by many orders of magnitude depending on

the soil type. Clays may have hydraulic conductivity as small as about, gravels may

have hydraulic conductivity up to about. Layering and heterogeneity and disturbance

during the sampling and testing process make the accurate measurement of soil

hydraulic conductivity a very difficult problem.

Flownets

A plan flow net to estimate flow of water from a stream to a discharging well Darcy's

Law applies in one, two or three dimensions.[3] In two or three dimensions, steady state

seepage is described by Laplace's equation. Computer programs are available to solve

this equation. But traditionally two-dimensional seepage problems were solved using a

graphical procedure known as flow net. One set of lines in the flownet are in the
direction of the water flow (flow lines), and the other set of lines are in the direction of

constant total head (equipotential lines). Flownets may be used to estimate the quantity

of seepage under dams and sheet piling.

forces and erosion

When the seepage velocity is great enough, erosion can occur because of the frictional

drag exerted on the soil particles. Vertically upwards seepage is a source of danger on

the downstream side of sheet piling and beneath the toe of a dam or levee. Erosion of

the soil, known as "soil piping", can lead to failure of the structure and

to sinkhole formation. Seeping water removes soil, starting from the exit point of the

seepage, and erosion advances upgradient.  The term "sand boil" is used to describe

the appearance of the discharging end of an active soil pipe.

Seepage pressures

Seepage in an upward direction reduces the effective stress within the soil. When the

water pressure at a point in the soil is equal to the total vertical stress at that point, the

effective stress is zero and the soil has no frictional resistance to deformation. For a

surface layer, the vertical effective stress becomes zero within the layer when the

upward hydraulic gradient is equal to the critical gradient. At zero effective stress soil

has very little strength and layers of relatively impermeable soil may heave up due to

the underlying water pressures. The loss in strength due to upward seepage is a

common contributor to levee failures. The condition of zero effective stress associated

with upward seepage is also called liquefaction, quicksand, or a boiling condition.

Quicksand was so named because the soil particles move around and appear to be
'alive' (the biblical meaning of 'quick' – as opposed to 'dead'). (Note that it is not possible

to be 'sucked down' into quicksand. On the contrary, you would float with about half

your body out of the water.

5 Different Soil Types – Know Your Soil Type

Last time, we discussed basic soil facts that you need to know before you started

digging around in your garden. This time, we’re going to look at different soil types and

how to determine the kind of soil that’ll be host to your plants.

There are 5 different soil types that gardeners and growers usually work with. All five is

a combination of just three types of weathered rock particles that make up the soil:

sand, silt, and clay. How these three particles are combined defines your soil’s type—

how it feels to the touch, how it holds water, and how it’s managed, among other things.
1. Soil Type: Sandy

Sandy soil has the largest particles among the different soil types. It’s dry and gritty to

the touch, and because the particles have huge spaces between them, it can’t hold on

to water.

Water drains rapidly, straight through to places where the roots, particularly those of

seedlings, cannot reach. Plants don’t have a chance of using the nutrients in sandy soil

more efficiently as they’re swiftly carried away by the runoff.

The upside to sandy soil is that it’s light to work with and warms much more quickly in

the spring.

Testing what type of soil, you’re working with involves moistening the soil and rolling it

into a ball to check the predominating soil particle. When you roll the slightly wet sandy

soil in your palms, no ball should be formed, and it crumbles through your fingers easily.

2. Soil Type: Salty

Salty soil has much smaller particles than sandy soil so it’s smooth to the touch. When

moistened, it’s soapy slick. When you roll it between your fingers, dirt is left on your

skin.

Salty soil retains water longer, but it can’t hold on to as much nutrients as you’d want it

to though it’s fairly fertile. Due to its moisture-retentive quality, salty soil is cold and

drains poorly.
Salty soil can also easily compact, so avoid trampling on it when working your garden. It

can become poorly aerated, too.

3. Soil Type: Clay

Clay soil has the smallest particles among the three, so it has good water storage

qualities. It’s sticky to the touch when wet, but smooth when dry.

Due to the tiny size of its particles and its tendency to settle together, little air passes

through its spaces. Because it’s also slower to drain, it has a tighter hold on plant

nutrients. Clay soil is thus rich in plant food for better growth.

Clay soil is cold and, in the spring, takes time to warm since the water within also has to

warm up. The downside is that clay soil could be very heavy to work with when it gets

dry. Especially during the summer months, it could turn hard and compact, making it

difficult to turn. (When clay soil is worked while it’s too wet though, it’s prone to

damage).

If moistened soil feels sticky, rolls up easily, and forms into a ball or sausage-like shape,

then you’ve got yourself clay.

4. Soil Type: Peaty

Peaty soil is dark brown or black in color, soft, easily compressed due to its high-water

content, and rich in organic matter. Peat soil started forming over 9,000 years ago, with

the rapid melting of glaciers. This rapid melt drowned plants quickly and died in the
process. Their decay was so slow underwater that it led to the accumulation of organic

area in a concentrated spot.

Although peat soil tends to be heavily saturated with water, once drained, it turns into a

good growing medium. In the summer though, peat could be very dry and become a fire

hazard. (I kid you not—peat is the precursor of coal.) The most desirable quality of peat

soil, however, is in its ability to hold water in during the dry months and its capacity to

protect the roots from damage during very wet months.

Peat contains acidic water, but growers use it to regulate soil chemistry or pH levels as

well as an agent of disease control for the soil.

When wet peat soil is rolled, you won’t form a ball. It’s spongy to the touch and when

squeezed, water could be forced out.

5. Soil Type: Saline Soil

The soil in extremely dry regions is usually brackish because of its high salt content.

Known as saline soil, it can cause damage to and stall plant growth, impede

germination, and cause difficulties in irrigation.

The salinity is due to the buildup of soluble salts in the rhizosphere—high salt contents

prevent water uptake by plants, leading to drought stress.

It’s easy enough to test if you have saline soil. You’ll probably see a white layer coating

the surface of the soil, your plants are growing poorly, and they’re suffering from leaf tip

burn, especially on young leaves.

The Ideal Soil Type: Loam

The type of soil that gardens and gardeners love is loamy soil. It contains a balance of

all three soil materials—silt, sand and clay—plus humus. It has a higher pH and calcium

levels because of its previous organic matter content.

Loam is dark in color and is mealy—soft, dry and crumbly—in your hands. It has a tight

hold on water and plant food, but it drains well, and air moves freely between soil

particles down to the roots.

The feel test for loam yields a smooth, partly gritty, partly sticky ball that crumbles

easily.
Although loamy soil is the ideal material to work with, don’t despair if you don’t have it in

your garden. That’s because soil will always favor one particles size over the two

others. Then again, there are many ways to condition your soil—adding beneficial soil

inoculants, covering your soil with compost, or simply spraying leaves and soil

with compost tea.