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CE209 Geotechnical Engineering‐I

TOPICS: SOIL PARTICLE SIZES
WEEK: 3
LECTURE: 5
LEVEL: 4 TH SEMESTER 2 ND YEAR
PROGRAM: BE CIVIL ENGINEERING

COURSE TEACHER: DR. QAISER IQBAL (qi.civil@suit.edu.pk)

ACCESS AT: portal.suit.edu.pk
Civil Engineering Department, SUIT Peshawar
DR. QAISER IQBAL (SUIT PESHAWAR) QI.CIVIL@SUIT.EDU.PK 1

Soil‐Particle Size:
The sizes of particles that make up soil vary over a wide range. Soils generally are called gravel,
sand, silt, or clay, depending on the predominant size of particles within the soil.

DR. QAISER IQBAL (SUIT PESHAWAR) QI.CIVIL@SUIT.EDU.PK 2

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Soil‐Particle Size: Typical particle sizes

To describe soils by their particle size, several organizations have developed particle‐size classifications.
Table 2.3 shows the particle‐size classifications developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation
Officials, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

DR. QAISER IQBAL (SUIT PESHAWAR) QI.CIVIL@SUIT.EDU.PK 3

Soil‐Particle Size: Typical particle sizes

DR. QAISER IQBAL (SUIT PESHAWAR) QI.CIVIL@SUIT.EDU.PK 4

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Sands and Gravels

Gravels are pieces of rocks with occasional particles of quartz, feldspar, and other minerals. Sand particles are
made of mostly quartz and feldspar. Other mineral grains also may be present at times. Figure 2.8 shows the
scanning electron micrograph of some sand grains.

DR. QAISER IQBAL (SUIT PESHAWAR) QI.CIVIL@SUIT.EDU.PK 5

Sands and Gravels

Note that the larger grains show rounding that can occur as a result of wear during intermittent transportation by
wind and/or water. Figure 2.9 is a higher magnification of the grains highlighted in Figure 2.8, and it reveals a few
small clay particles adhering to larger sand grains.

DR. QAISER IQBAL (SUIT PESHAWAR) QI.CIVIL@SUIT.EDU.PK 6

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Sands and Gravels

Due to the origin from quartz and feldspar they are strong and electrically inert as they are result of mechanical
weathering and no chemical changes has occurred to change their parent rock properties.

DR. QAISER IQBAL (SUIT PESHAWAR) QI.CIVIL@SUIT.EDU.PK 7

Silts
Silts are the microscopic soil fractions that consist of very fine quartz grains and some flake‐shaped particles that
are fragments of micaceous (consisting of, containing or resembling mica) minerals.

DR. QAISER IQBAL (SUIT PESHAWAR) QI.CIVIL@SUIT.EDU.PK 8

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Clays
Clays are mostly flake‐shaped microscopic and submicroscopic particles of mica, clay minerals, and other
minerals. They are usually the result of chemical weathering. They carry electrical charge causing plasticity.

DR. QAISER IQBAL (SUIT PESHAWAR) QI.CIVIL@SUIT.EDU.PK 9

Clays
Particles classified as clay on the basis of their size may not necessarily contain clay minerals. Clays have been
defined as those particles “which develop plasticity when mixed with a limited amount of water” (Grim, 1953).

DR. QAISER IQBAL (SUIT PESHAWAR) QI.CIVIL@SUIT.EDU.PK 10

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Clays sized particles

Non‐clay soils can contain particles of quartz, feldspar, or mica that are small enough to be within the clay classification.
Hence, it is appropriate for soil particles smaller than 2 microns (0.002 mm), or 5 microns (0.005 mm) as defined under
different systems, to be called clay‐sized particles rather than clay. These soils will have zero plasticity being electrically
inert.

Quartz Feldspar Mica

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Next Class
Clay Mineralogy

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