GEOTECH 1 — Geotechnical Engineering 1 UNIVERSITY OF THE CORDILLERAS

College of Engineering and Architecture

Module 5 — Soil Classifica on
OBJECTIVES, CLOs & TLOs
CLO 2: The student shall be able to apply exis ng methodologies to reflect,
with numerical figures, variables per nent to the physical proper es of soil.
These include but are not limited to values describing mass to volume rela-
onships, soil consistency and soil par cle size distribu on.
MTTLO 2: The student is able to iden fy and related index proper es of soils.
MTTLO 4: The student is able to classify soils according to the grain size distribu on
and soil consistency
OUTLINE
1. Short Recall
2. Soil Classifica on
2a. Key points
2b. USCS & ASTM
2b1. Classifica on Flow Chart
2c. AASHTO
2c1. Classifica on Flow Chart
3. Example Classifica on problem
SHORT RECALL
1. Coarse grained an fine grained soils, defini ons.
SOIL CLASSIFICATION
Key Points
1. Importance— Uniformity and generaliza on to promote efficiency of anal-
yses.
2. USCS & ASTM — Unified Soil Classifica on System, American Society for
Tes ng Materials
3. AASHTO —American Associa on of State Highway and Transporta on Offi-
cials

USCS/ASTM Classifica on table

All figures and tables taken from “Essen als of Soil Mechanics and Founda on, Basic Ge-
otechnics 7th Edi on” McCarthy (2014) as referenced in exis ng ASTM/AASHTO standards.
GEOTECH 1 — Geotechnical Engineering 1 UNIVERSITY OF THE CORDILLERAS
College of Engineering and Architecture
Module 5 — Soil Classifica on
ASTM/USCS Classifica on Flow Chart For Coarse Grained Soils (>50% retained on Sieve number 200).
GEOTECH 1 — Geotechnical Engineering 1 UNIVERSITY OF THE CORDILLERAS
College of Engineering and Architecture
Module 5 — Soil Classifica on
ASTM/USCS Classifica on Flow Chart For Fine Grained Soils (>50% passing Sieve number 200).
GEOTECH 1 — Geotechnical Engineering 1 UNIVERSITY OF THE CORDILLERAS
College of Engineering and Architecture
Module 5 — Soil Classifica on
ASTM/USCS Classifica on Flow Chart for Organic Fine grained Soil (>50% passing Sieve number 200).
GEOTECH 1 — Geotechnical Engineering 1 UNIVERSITY OF THE CORDILLERAS
College of Engineering and Architecture
Module 5 — Soil Classifica on
AASHTO Classifica on Table for Soil and Soil Aggregate Mixtures
GEOTECH 1 — Geotechnical Engineering 1 UNIVERSITY OF THE CORDILLERAS
College of Engineering and Architecture
Module 5 — Soil Classifica on
AASHTO Classifica on Table for Soil and Soil Aggregate Mixtures
GEOTECH 1 — Geotechnical Engineering 1 UNIVERSITY OF THE CORDILLERAS
College of Engineering and Architecture
Module 5 — Soil Classifica on
AASHTO Classifica on, other useful Informa on

USDA—United States Department of Agriculture Classifica on System

GEOTECH 1 — Geotechnical Engineering 1 UNIVERSITY OF THE CORDILLERAS
College of Engineering and Architecture
Module 5 — Soil Classifica on
Engineering Use Charts, taken from “Soil Mechanics and Founda ons” Budhu (2003) Example 1. Par cle size analyses were carried out for 2 soils, Soils A and B. The
par cle size distribu on curves are shown. The A erberg limits for the two soils
are shown.
Soil A: Liquid Limit 26 percent, same as for not dried. Plas c Limit 20
Soil B: Non Plas c Soil

P2 (0.075, 88%)
P1 (4.75, 84%)

P3 (0.002, 29%)
P4 (0.075, 20%)

1a. Classify each soil according to USCS and ASTM-CS

1b. Is either soil organic?
1c. In a preliminary assessment, which of the two soils is a be er material for a
highway subgrade material?
Emphasis 1. This is a result of par cle size analysis, not necessarily sieve analysis.
As you would observe, par cle sizes less than that of sieve number 200 are includ-
ed. Recall that sieve analysis is limited in determining par cle size distribu on for
coarse grained soil.
Emphasis 2. In the classifica on of soil, A erberg limits and par cle size distribu-
on are indispensable. It is very much possible that not everything will be neces-
sary and that not everything will be available.
Emphasis 3. Some defini ons:
Gravel—Retained at sieve number 4.
Silt—Par cle diameter less than 0.075 mm but more than 0.002 mm
Clay—Par cle diameter less than 0.002 mm
GEOTECH 1 — Geotechnical Engineering 1
Module 5 — Soil Classifica on
Considering Soil A
% greater than #200 = 12% (Above P2)
% gravel = 0%
% sand = 12%
UNIVERSITY OF THE CORDILLERAS
College of Engineering and Architecture
% less than #200 = 88%
%silt = 59% (B/W P2 and P3)
%clay = 29% (Below P3)
**please correct my statement this morn-
ing, this is how you should consider this.
Compare this with percentage outside
what passes sieve # 200.
PI = 26—20 = 6% OR Plots on or 12% < 15%
LL ra o = 1, below “A” Line
inorganic
Passing #200 = 88 %; 12%<30%

LL = 26, same
for dried.
Considering Soil B
% greater than #200 = 80% (Above P4)
% gravel = 16% (Above P1)
% sand = 64% (B/W P1 and P4)
% less than #200 = 20%
%silt = 20% (Below P1)
%clay = 0 (Below P1)

Take note for Soil A that this may be erroneous

as considering the percent clay and percent silt,
the soil has more silt. It would therefore be more 80% coarse, of which
correct to say that the soil is clayey silt. There 64% is sand and 16% is
are other limita ons of this classifica on system gravel
however these limita ons do not have significant
effect in terms of the concept of “preliminary
inves ga on”. Remember that the design of
these classifica on systems aimed to generalize
as much as possible.
I would be intui ve for the student to simply as-
20% fines, of which
sess the soil in terms of the percentages of mate- 20% silt, 0% clay
rial content. i.e. for the soil, it is obviously fine 20% is silt 0% is clay
grained with silt (59%), clay (24%) a “negligible” 16% gravel
amount of sand (12%).
GEOTECH 1 — Geotechnical Engineering 1
Module 5 — Soil Classifica on
Considering Soil A
% greater than #200 = 12% (Above P2)
% gravel = 0%
% sand = 12%
% less than #200 = 88%
%silt = 59% (B/W P2 and P3)
%clay = 29% (Below P3)
Max 50% passing not
sa sfied for A-1-a
P3 (0.075 mm, 20%), No. 200
Liquid Limit 26 percent,
same as for not dried. Plas c
Limit 20
P1 (2 mm, 70%), No. 10
P2 (0.425 mm, 39%), No. 40
UNIVERSITY OF THE CORDILLERAS
College of Engineering and Architecture
Considering Soil B
% greater than #200 = 80% (Above P4) % less than #200 = 20% ***Red Lines will correspond to Soil A
% gravel = 16% (Above P1) %silt = 20% (Below P1)
***Blue Lines will correspond to Soil B
% sand = 64% (B/W P1 and P4) %clay = 0 (Below P1)
Soil A is 88 percent fine.
Liquid Limit is 26%, less than 40% max for A-4
A—1—b, PI = 0
Plas city index is 6, less than 10% max for A-4
Sa sfied
1c. Be er material for highway subgrade material?
Soil B, given its classifica on and expected per-
formance in terms of strength, drainage and worka-
bility.
1a. Classifica on under ASTM and AASHTO
Soil A:
ASTM: CL-ML, “Silty Clay” *take note of limita ons men oned.
AASHTO: A—4 (4)
Soil B:
ASTM: SM, “Silty Sand with Gravel”
AASHTO: A—1—b (0)
1b. Is either soil organic?
NO
GEOTECH 1 — Geotechnical Engineering 1
Module 5 — Soil Classifica on
Considering Soil A
% greater than #200 = 12% (Above P2)
% gravel = 0%
% sand = 12%
% less than #200 = 88%
%silt = 59% (B/W P2 and P3)
Under USDA Classifica on, Soil A would be Silty Clay Loam
UNIVERSITY OF THE CORDILLERAS
College of Engineering and Architecture
Considering Soil B
Liquid Limit 26 percent,
% greater than #200 = 80% (Above P4) % less than #200 = 20%
same as for not dried. Plas c
% gravel = 16% (Above P1) %silt = 20% (Below P1)
Limit 20
% sand = 64% (B/W P1 and P4) %clay = 0 (Below P1)
76% sand
59% silt
29% Clay
0% Clay
12% sand
In cases of soil with gravel, under the USDA classifica-
on system, the percent weights of sand, silt and clay
are reweighed into percentages neglec ng gravel. In
this case, the percent gravel (16%) is simply subtract-
ed from the whole and percentages are recomputed.
In this case, under USDA, Soil B may be classified un-
der Loamy Sand