CIVIL ENGINEERING REVIEW

MODULE 15– GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING (SOIL PERMEABILITY)

MODULE 15 – SOIL PERMEABILITY

SOIL PERMEABILITY LABORATORY METHODS OF DETERMINING HYDRAULIC
Property of the soil to transmit water and air CONDUCTIVITY

CONSTANT HEAD PERMEABILITY TEST

A test in which the hydraulic gradient is constant throughout the
duration of experiment

DARCY’S LAW
It states that the velocity of flow of water through saturated soil
is directly proportional to the hydraulic gradient.

V = ki or Q = kiA

V = hydraulic velocity
I = hydraulic gradient
A = cross sectional area of the sample perpendicular to the qL
k=
direction of flow ℎAt
k = coefficient of permeability / hydraulic conductivity
k = coefficient of permeability
Seepage velocity / interstitial velocity, Vs = V/n L = Length of the sample
h = constant head difference
t = duration of experiment
A = cross sectional area of the sample

PROBLEM 2. A sand sample of 35 sq.cm. cross sectional area and

20 cm long was tested in a constant head permeameter. Under a
head of 60 cm, the discharge was 120 ml in 6 min. Determine (a)
the hydraulic conductivity in cm/sec,

PROBLEM 1. From the figure shown, the thickness of a

permeable soil layer is 1.1m making an angle of 14 deg with the
horizontal, K = 4.87 x 10−2 cm/sec, e = 0.7

1. Compute the hydraulic gradient

2. Compute the flow rate in cu.m/hr/m
3. Determine the seepage velocity
CIVIL ENGINEERING REVIEW
MODULE 15– GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING (SOIL PERMEABILITY)

FALLING HEAD TEST – A test in which the hydraulic gradient is TEMPERATURE CORRECTION
continuously changing through the duration of experiment. It is customary to report the hydraulic conductivity of the soil at
standard temperature of 20 degrees, but this standard
temperature is not usually met that’s why temperature
PROBLEM 7. The data is stratified soil were given as follows
correction must be applied if the temperature during test is not
20 degrees. Layer Depth K
1 4m 5 cm/hr
RT =2.42 −0.475 lnT
2 8m 3 cm/hr
3 12m 2 cm/hr

PROBLEM 4.
1. If the the
Determine testequivalent
temperature test inand
horizontal problem
vertical 2coefficient
is 40 degrees
of
compute the corrected value of hydraulic conductivity.
permeability
2. If the test temperature is 10 degrees in problem 3 compute
the corrected value of hydraulic conductivity.
PROBLEM 8. Figure shows three layers of soil in a tube. Water is
supplied to maintain a constant-head difference of 350mm
PERMEABILITY
across the sample. TEST FROM
The hydraulic PUMPING
conductivities ofWELLS
the soils in the
direction of flow through them are as follows:
A. Well in an unconfined aquifer underlain by an
impermeable
1. Determine layer of flow.
the velocity
2. Determine ℎ A and ℎe .
aL
k = ln
At
ℎ1
ℎ2 ( ) SOIL
kA=
Q ln
()
r1
k (cm/sec)
r2
−3
π ( ℎ 1 2−ℎ
2 x 102
2 )
B −1
K = coefficient of permeability 3.7 x 10
a = cross sectional area of standpipe k = coefficient of permeability
C −4
1. 2 x 10
L = length of the sample Q = rate of discharge
t = duration of the experiment r1 = the farther distance from the center of the well
ℎ1 = initial head difference at t = 0 r2 = the nearer distance from the center of the well
ℎ2 = final head difference at time = t
ℎ1 = hydraulic head at farther observation well
ℎ2 = hydraulic head at nearer observation well
PROBLEM 3. For a variable head permeability test, the following
data are given.
PROBLEM 5. A 500 mm diameter test well penetrates 30m,
Length of specimen = 200mm below the static water table. After 24 hours of pumping at 80
Area of soil specimen = 1000 sq.mm
liters/sec. The water level in an observation well at a distance of
Area of standpipe = 40 sq.mm
100m from the test well is lowered 0.5m and the other
Head difference at time t = 0 is 500 mm
observation well at a distance of 40m from the test well, the
Head difference at t = 3 is 300 mm
drawdown is 1.1m.
1. Compute the hydraulic conductivity of the soil in cm/sec
2. What was the head difference at time t = 100 sec? 1. What is the rate of flow in cu.m per day?
2. Compute the coefficient of permeability of the aquifer
in m/day
3. Determine the drawdown in the test well
CIVIL ENGINEERING REVIEW
MODULE 15– GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING (SOIL PERMEABILITY)

B. Well in a confined aquifer underlain by an impermeable

layer PROBLEM 7. The data is stratified soil were given as follows

( )
r1 Layer Depth K
Q ln 1 4m 5 cm/hr
r2
k= 2 8m 3 cm/hr
2 πt ( ℎ1 −ℎ 2)
3 12m 2 cm/hr
k = coefficient of permeability
Q = rate of discharge Determine the equivalent horizontal and vertical coefficient
r1 = the farther distance from the center of the well of permeability
r2 = the nearer distance from the center of the well
ℎ1 = hydraulic head at farther observation well
ℎ2 PROBLEM 8. Figure shows three layers of soil in a tube.
= hydraulic head at nearer observation well
Water is supplied to maintain a constant-head difference of
t = thickness of the aquifer
350mm across the sample. The hydraulic conductivities of

()
r1 the soils in the direction of flow through them are as follows:
Q ln
r2
T= 1. Determine the velocity of flow.
2 π ( Z 1 − Z 2) 2. Determine and .
Z2 and Z1 are corresponding draw down
SOIL k (cm/sec)
Transmissibility of the aquifer.
A
PROBLEM 6. A permeability pumping test was carried out in a B
confined aquifer with the piezometric level before pumping is 2.18m
C
below the ground surface. The aquiclude has a thickness of 5.7m
measured from the ground surface and the confined aquifer is 7.6m
deep until it reaches the aquiclude layer at the bottom. At a steady
pumping rate of 15.6 cu.m/hr the drawdown in the observation
wells were respectively equal to 1.62m and 0.47m. The distance of
the observation wells from the center of the test well were 15m and
32m respectively.

1. Compute the coefficient of permeability.

2. Compute the transmissibility of the impermeable layer.

HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY IN STRATIFIED SOILS EQUIVALENT

HORIZONTAL CONDUCTIVITY

k 1 H 1+ k 2 H 2 + k 3 H 3
k eq=
H

k eq=
∑ kH
∑H
CIVIL ENGINEERING REVIEW
MODULE 15– GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING (SOIL PERMEABILITY)

FLOW NETS

H Nf
Seepage through Isotropic Soil: q=k
Nd

H Nf
Seepage through Anisotropic Soil: q=√ K x K z
Nd

PROBLEM 9. The flow net for flow around a single row of sheet
piles in a permeable soil layer is shown in determine

a. How high (above the ground surface) the water will rise
if piezometers are placed at point a and b?
b. The total rate of seepage through permeable layer per
unit length.