CVL 383: Geotechnical Engineering
Permeability
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Learning Objectives
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Define and determine the hydraulic gradient and
hydraulic conductivity of soils.
Examine the permeability field tests: pumping and
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borehole tests.
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Introduce permeability laboratory test: constant
head permeability test .
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Lesson Overview
1 Define permeability, porosity, and seepage.
2 Determine the factors affecting permeability.
Introduce hydraulic gradient, hydraulic conductivity,
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Darcy’s law, and seepage and discharge velocities
4 Examine the hydraulic conductivity tests:
Field and Laboratory methods
5 Discuss the applications of permeability.
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Definitions
1. Permeability: Ability of the soil to allow water to flow
between its particles.
2. Porosity: Amount of space available for water to pass
through.
3. Seepage: slow movement (escape) of water through the
soil pores from one place to another.
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Permeability - Definition
▪ The soil is denoted as permeable if its voids are
continuously connected to allow water to flow between
the particles.
▪ All soils are permeable and the flow of water through all
of them obeys almost the same rules. However, the
intensity or rate of water flow through soils varies due to
several factors.
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Permeability - Factors
Intensity of water flow and thus permeability are affected by several
factors as follows:
▪ Grain size: Large, small.
▪ Grain shape: plates, rounded, and angular.
▪ Grain surface texture: smooth and sharp.
▪ Soil structure: flocculated and dispersed.
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Permeability - Factors
Intensity of water flow and thus permeability are affected
by several factors as follows:
▪ Type of bonding materials (fines): Silt causes less
bonding than clay.
▪ Quantity of bonding materials (fines): If fines percentage Low density
increases, permeability decreases.
▪ Soil density: loose, dense.
▪ Water content: High water content restrains the passage
of water, while low water content facilitate the passage of
water.
High density 7
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Permeability - Factors
Intensity of water flow and thus permeability are affected by several
factors as follows:
▪ Sometimes they are extremely localized, such as cracks and holes, and it is
difficult to calculate representative values of permeability from actual
measurements.
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Permeability - Classes
▪ Permeability is commonly measured in terms of the rate of water flow
through the soil in a given period of time.
▪ It is usually expressed either as a permeability rate in centimeters per
hour (cm/hr), millimeters per hour (mm/hr), or centimeters per day
(cm/d), or as a coefficient of permeability k in meters per second (m/s)
or in centimeters per second (cm/s).
▪ When you take an undisturbed sample to a testing laboratory, to
measure permeability, a column of soil is placed under specific conditions
such as water saturation and constant head of water. The result will be
given to you either as a permeability rate or as a coefficient of
permeability (see Table next page).
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Permeability - Classes
Average permeability for different soil textures in cm/hour
Sand 5.0
Sandy loam 2.5
Loam 1.3
Clay loam 0.8
Silty clay 0.25
Clay 0.05
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Permeability - Classes
Soil permeability classes for civil engineering
Coefficient of permeability (K in m/s)
Soil permeability classes
Lower limit Upper limit
Permeable 2 x 10-7 2 x 10-1
Semi-permeable 1 x 10-11 1 x 10-5
Impermeable 1 x 10-11 5 x 10-7
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Classes & Typical Values
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Hydraulic gradient
▪ As water flows from point A to point B, the energy loss is
represented by the difference in the total heads (𝐻𝐴 and 𝐻𝐵 ) and
equals to h, denoted loss of head and expressed in meters (m).
▪ The loss of head per unit length of flow is the hydraulic
ℎ
gradient, denoted 𝒊 and equals to: 𝑖 = where L is the length of the
𝐿
soil sample.
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Darcy’s Law
For the behavior of flow through saturated soils, Darcy derived the
following empirical equation:
𝒒 = 𝒌𝒊𝑨
where 𝒒 is the quantity of water per second flowing through a cross-
sectional area 𝑨 of soil under hydraulic gradient 𝒊.
OR
The velocity of flow can be written as:
𝒒
𝒗= = 𝒌𝒊
𝑨
▪ 𝒌 is the hydraulic conductivity or coefficient of permeability and has the units of velocity.
▪ 𝑨 is the cross-sectional area of soil normal to the direction of flow and includes the area of
the solids and the voids. www.aum.edu.kw
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Hydraulic conductivity (𝒌) of soils
Field Methods
Bore hole
Pumping test
test
Laboratory
Methods
Constant head Falling head
permeability permeability
method www.aum.edu.kw method 15
Field Method 1: Pumping test
▪ Used mainly to obtain the permeability of a deposit of coarse-grained soils
located below the water table.
▪ There are two types of wells:
1. Unconfined well: the well is sunk into an aquifer, tapping free flowing ground
water having a free ground water table under atmospheric pressure.
2. Confined well: the well is sunk into an aquifer where the ground water flow is
confined between two impermeable soil layers and is under pressure greater
than atmospheric.
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Field Method 1: Pumping test
Pumping test consists of one test well and a series of observation wells:
▪ The test well is sunk through the permeable stratum up to the
impermeable layer.
▪ The observation wells are drilled at various distances from the test
well along two lines: along and normal to the direction of ground water
flow. Thus, minimum two observation wells are required.
▪ Test Procedure: Start by pumping out water from the test well at a uniform rate until
the water levels in the test and observation wells remains steady (constant water
depth). This condition is achieved when the water pumped out of the test well equals
to the inflow into the test well from the surrounding soils.
Consequently, the water levels in the observations wells and the rate of water
pumped out of the test well will provide the data needed for the calculation of the
https://youtu.be/9MSiSfSPkMc?si=rssh4pHIcXcq0CnW
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hydraulic conductivity 𝒌.
Field Method 2: Borehole test
▪ Auger holes are drilled such as they extend below the
water table level.
▪ The hole is cased down to the bottom.
https://youtu.be/4f0ugnLtmc4?si=y0r6VOj33iDUujNj
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Field Method 2: Borehole test
Borehole test
Falling water level Rising water level
method method
▪ Casing is filled with
▪ Casing is empty at the
water at the beginning
beginning of the test.
of the test.
▪ Water will bail out of
▪ Water will seep into the
the casing.
soil.
▪ Measure the rate of
▪ Measure the rate of
rise of water level in the
drop of water level in
casing.
the casing.
▪ Water rise level
▪ Water drop level
measurements are
measurements are
taken from the top of
taken from the top of
the casing at
the casing at
determined time
determined time
intervals.
intervals. www.aum.edu.kw
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Hydraulic conductivity (𝒌) of soils
Field Methods
Bore hole
Pumping test
test
Laboratory
Methods
Constant head Falling head
permeability permeability
method method
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Constant Head Permeability
Equipment:
▪ 1. Constant head permeameter
▪ 2. Graduated cylinder (250 cc or 500 cc)
▪ 3. Balance, sensitive up to 0.1 g
▪ 4. Thermometer, sensitive up to 0.1 °C
▪ 5. Rubber tubing
▪ 6. Stop watch
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Constant Head Permeability
Specimen Preparation:
1. Remove the collar of the mold. Measure the internal dimensions of the mold.
Weigh the mold with dummy plate to the nearest gram.
2. Apply a little grease on the inside to the mold. Clamp the mold between the base
plate and the extension collar and place the assembly on a solid base.
3. Take about 2.5kg of the soil sample, from a thoroughly mixed wet soil, in the mold.
Compact the soil at the required dry density using a suitable compacting device.
4. Take a small specimen of the soil in a container for the water content
determination.
5. Remove the collar and base plate. Trim the excess soil level with the top of the
mold.
6. Clean the outside of the mold and the dummy plate. Find the mass of the soil in the
mold.
7. The mold with the sample is now placed over the permeameter. This will have
drainage and cap discs properly saturated
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Constant Head Permeability
Procedure:
1. Through the top inlet of the constant head reservoir,
the specimen is connected.
2. The bottom outlet is opened and a steady flow is
established
3. For a particular time interval, the quantity of flow can
be collected.
4. Measure the difference of head (h) in levels between
the constant head reservoir and the outlet in the
base.
5. For the same interval, this is repeated three times.
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Constant Head Permeability Test
▪ Constant head permeability test is used for coarse grained soils.
▪ The soil sample used can be undisturbed or reconstructed.
▪ A perforated plate should be placed at the top of the sample to
prevent the formation of a filter skin of fine materials on the
surface of the sample (prevent surface disturbance) and hold the
specimen in place (prevent displacement).
▪ A wire gauze should be placed at the bottom of the sample to
support the soil, hold the soil particles in place while water is
flowing, and avoid clogging of the outlet.
Wire gauze www.aum.edu.kw Perforated plate 24
Constant Head Permeability Test
Experimental procedure: Permeameter with two piezometer
▪ The sample length 𝐿 and cross-sectional area 𝐴 are
measured at the beginning of the test.
▪ Water will start to flow through the sample. After a while, the
loss of head 𝒉 becomes constant, indicating the saturation
of the soil sample.
▪ Once 𝒉 is constant, record the time interval 𝒕 needed to
discharge a known pre-determined amount (volume) of
water 𝑽.
▪ Hydraulic conductivity 𝒌 is calculated according to Darcy’s
Law as follows:
𝑽𝑳
𝒌= www.aum.edu.kw
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𝒉𝑨𝒕
Constant Head Permeability Test
Experimental procedure: Permeameter with two piezometer
▪ Repeat the experiment and re-collect the same amount of
water 𝑉 during a new time interval 𝑡 for at least three times.
𝑉𝐿
▪ Re-calculate 𝑘 such as 𝑘 = using the new time intervals to
ℎ𝐴𝑡
get the average 𝑘, denoted 𝒌𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒆 , of the soil sample.
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Constant Head Permeability Test
Experimental procedure: Permeameter with three
piezometer
▪ A permeameter with three piezometers
placed at different levels will result in greater
precision.
▪ The loss of head 𝒉 will be measured three
times, each time between two of the
piezometers as follows:
ℎ1 = ℎ𝑎 − ℎ𝑏
ℎ2 = ℎ𝑏 − ℎ𝑐
ℎ3 = ℎ𝑎 − ℎ𝑐
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Constant Head Permeability Test
Experimental procedure: Permeameter with three
piezometer
▪ Once 𝒉𝟏 , 𝒉𝟐 , and 𝒉𝟑 became constant, record the time interval 𝒕 needed to
discharge a known pre-determined amount (volume) of water V.
▪ The hydraulic conductivity 𝒌 is calculated three times
as follows:
𝑉 𝐿1 𝑉 𝐿2 𝑉 𝐿3
𝑘1 = ; 𝑘2 = ; 𝑘1 =
ℎ1 𝐴 𝑡 ℎ2 𝐴 𝑡 ℎ3 𝐴 𝑡
Where:
𝐿1 : soil sample length between piezometers a and b
𝐿2 : soil sample length between piezometers b and c The hydraulic conductivity 𝑘
of the soil sample is the
𝐿3 : soil sample length between piezometers a and c
average of 𝑘1 , 𝑘2 , and 𝑘3 , 28
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and denoted 𝑘𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 .
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Permeability Example
In a constant head permeability test, the quantity of water collected is 5 L in 600 sec
under an effective constant head of 4.50 cm. If the length and area of cross section of the
sample are 650 mm and 50 cm2 respectively, what is the coefficient of permeability (k)
in cm/sec?
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Constant Head Permeability: Data Recording
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Constant Head Permeability: Data Recording
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Constant Head Permeability: Data Recording
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Constant Head Permeability: Data Recording
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NEXT SESSION:
Lab Handout 3
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