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MULUNGUSHI UNIVERSITY

CIVIL ENGINEERING III

SOIL MECHANICS – CIE 352

March, 2023

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Introduction
What is soil?
• It is defined as the weakly cemented or uncemented
accumulation of mineral particles formed by the weathering of
rocks as part of the rock cycle.
• The strength of this cementation depends on many factors,
including compaction during the rock cycle.
• After soil deposits have been buried, they are compressed,
particles cemented and transformed to sedimentary rocks.
• This process is known as lithification.

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Introduction
• Recall the rock cycle and the weathering process that lead to
formation of soil.

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Residual and transported soils

• Soil from weathering processes may either be residual
or transported soil.
• Residual soil refers to that which remains at its original
location after weathering.
• Transported soil refers to that which is deposited at a
different location by agents such as gravity, wind,
water or glaciers.
• Soil particle sizes range from >100mm to <0.001mm.

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Residual soils
• Residual soils often differ from transported soils in
characteristics.
• Due to the varying degree of break down in residual
soils, the sizes of soil grains is not definite.
• The grains in these soils may break into smaller pieces
when pressure is applied.

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Residual soils
• Residual soil profiles may be divided into three
parts:
• Upper zone – high degree of weathering and
removal of material;
• Intermediate zone – some weathering in the top
portion and deposition at the bottom;
• Partially weathered zone – transition from weathered
material to unweathered parent rock.

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Transported soils
• Some scholars refer to transported soil as sedimentary
soil since the sediments are transported further from
the point of origin by weathering agents.
• These soils undergo changes in particle shape, size and
texture, The grains are also sorted during the
transportation and deposition processes.
• The type of transportation and deposition affects the
range of sizes present in types of soils.
• Transported soil are characterised by the high degree of
smoothness and fineness of individual grains.

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Transported soils
Transported soils may be categorised into the following
groups.
• Colluvial soils
• Alluvial soils
• Aeolian soils
• Glacial soils
• Marine soils
• Lacustrine soils

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Transported soils
• Each of these categories of soil has a typical particle size
distribution.
• Particle size distribution is the relative proportion of varying
sizes of particles within a soil.
• Loess usually is characterised by having the finest soil fraction.
• Glacial till has the most varying of particle sizes within it.
• Understanding the geological history of a region helps the Civil
Engineer to make deductions about the prevailing ground
conditions.

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SOIL STRUCTURE

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The soil structure

• The soil structure is defined by its arrangement of soil
grains.
• Considerations such as mineralogical composition,
orientation and shape of grains, and the properties of
soil water are studied in the soil structure.
• Permeability, compressibility and shear strength are the
engineering properties that influence the structure of
sedimented soils.

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The soil structure

Single grain
structure

Types of
soil Honey-comb
structure
structure
Flocculent
structure

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The soil structure

• After rocks have been broken down, the resulting soil
particles have the same mineral composition as the
parent rock.
• These type of particles are bulky in form.
• They can be described by terms like angular, round,
elongated, or flat.
• The arrangement of bulky particles is described as
single grain.
• Here, each particle is directly in contact with adjoining
ones. Sometimes without any bond between them.

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The soil structure – single grain

• Are usually coarse grained
soils.
• Have a particle size
>0.02mm.
• Gravitational force
dominates the surface
forces.
• Each particle is in contact
with adjoining one.

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The soil structure – honey-comb

• Only occurs in fine-grained
soils, e.g. silts.
• Inter-particle surface forces
are responsible for settling
of soil grains.
• Each honey-comb cell
comprises many
individual soil grains.
• The structure has a large
void space.
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The soil structure – flocculent

• Characteristic structure of
fine-grained soils (clay).
• Inter-particle forces play a
predominant role in
deposition.
• Grains group together to
form “floc”.
• The flaky particles arrange
themselves edge to edge or
face to face.
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Soil structure
• Clay minerals in soil play a big role in how the soil
particles bond.
• Adjacent clay mineral particles may either attract or
repel.
• These inter-particle forces influence the structural form
of clay mineral particles on deposition.
• If there is net repulsion, the particles assume a
dispersed structure.
• If there is net attraction, then the particles form a
flocculated structure.
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SOIL DESCRIPTION

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Soil description
• In the practice of Civil Engineering, there is standard
language and terms used to describe soil.
• Standard systems for the classification of different soil
types is necessary in engineering work and design.
• Along side the classification, a description of the soil
material and in-situ soil mass should be provided.
• Two main material characteristics used to classify soils
are particle size distribution and the soil plasticity.

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Soil description
• Secondary characteristics are the soil colour and shape,
texture and composition of its particles.
• A description of the soil should include minor
geological details (soil macro-fabric) such as bedding,
discontinuities and weathering.
• This can provide information on the behaviour of the
soils engineering properties.
• What is the difference between soil description and soil
classification?

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Soil description
• Soil description will include details of the soil’s
material and mass characteristics. The description
varies widely from soil to soil.
• Soil classification is the allocation of a soil according to
its behaviour and chosen from a limited number of
groups on the basis of its characteristics.
• Particles of 0.06mm (lower size for coarse grains) are
harsh when rubbed between the fingers and are visible
to the eye.

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Soil description
• Finer materials (such as silts) feel smooth to touch.
• Soils can be distinguished by being organic or
inorganic.
• Soils such as peat, muck and humus are organic soils.
• Organic soils contain a significant proportion of
vegetable matter and thus produce a distinct odour and
colour.
• Inorganic soil examples are cobbles, gravel, boulders,
sand, clay and silt.

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Soil description

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Classification of Soils
• Sand and gravel soils are those that after removal of
cobbles and boulders, 65% of remaining material is of
sand and gravel size.
• Fine soils are those after removing cobbles and
boulders, 35% of material is clay or silt.
• Commonly used soil classification systems used in
Zambia are the AASHTO (American Association of
State Highway & Transportation) and USCS (Unified
Soil Classification System).
• ASTM D2487
• BS 5930: Code of Practice for Site Investigations

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Classification of Soils
Soil group Term Indication
Coarse soils Very loose Pick removes soil in lumps
Loose
Medium dense
Dense
Very dense
Slightly cemented
Fine soils Uncompact Easily moulded and crushed by
fingers
Compact Moulded or crushed by strong
finger pressure
Organic soils Firm Fibres pressed together
Spongy Very compressible and open
structure
Plastic Moulded in the hand and
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Discussion point
What information do you think is crucial to include in a
soil report?

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Further reading
Research or read up on these key persons in the
development of soil mechanics and their theories:
1. Mohr
2. Skempton
3. Terzaghi
4. Coulomb

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