If you want to eat food,

prevent soil
erosion dude….!!
1. Hafiz M.Ijaz
2. M.Tajammul Khalid
3. Husnain Tariq
4. M.Ansar
Today I will discuss the soil need and its types. To be more
specific, by soil I particularly mean topsoil. From Civil
engineering view soil is an unconsolidated agglomerate of
minerals with or with out organic matter found at or near
the surface of the earth curst with which and upon which
civil engineering build their structure. Compare to rock,
soil are easy to excavated and generally disintegrated
when agitated in water. Soil mass is a particulate material
consisting of solid particles with void filled with air or
water or both.
Need To Study Soil:
Almost all structure civil engineering structure Are in
contact with soil mass or rock. Soil in this case either in the
undisturbed natural state( in-situ or in-place) or artificially
placed for example under foundation of the structure the soil
in general is in-situ state whereas the backfill behind a
retaining wall is artificially placed. Similarly soil used in the
construction of water structure(dam , embankment for road
and railway etc) is artificially placed.
 To design able and durable Structure and engineer must
therefore be able to visualize these change and forecast
their behavior at any time. Hence beside analyzing the
stress and strain produced by structure load such as
external load , wind load , earthquake etc.
It is the necessary to determine or to at least estimate:

• The character and the value of stress in the structure

and adjacent soil.
• Design of foundation
• Stability of slopes and cut
• Design of earth structure (earth dam , retaining wall ,
sheet pile etc)
• Design of road
Uses of Soil:
 As a supporting material to bear the Loads of structure
resting on earth.
 As a raw construction material for the construction of
earth structure for example earthen dam , airfield ,
road etc.
 As a processed material in the form of burnt brick
concrete mix.
 In pottery industry china clay is used as a raw material.
 Kaolnite is also used in paint paper .
Various Soil Deposits:

Residual Soil
Soil formed by weathering of
rock in place are called residual
soil.
Transported Soil
Soil formed by transporting
weathered material and des posting
at distance from the parent rock are
know as transported soils. The
transported media may be moving
water , wind , glacier etc. Typically
soil type respect to the modes of
formation geological deposit.
Types of The Soil:
Depending on the presence of three different particles
(sand, silt, and clay), the soil is classified into some
basic types. These are
1. Sandy Soil
2. Silty Soil
3. Clay Soil
4. Loamy Soil
5. Aeolian Soil
6. Glacier Soil
 Sandy soil:
To start with, sandy soil
has mostly the largest sized
particles in them. The
particle size is over 1/20 mm
in diameter. Upon touching
you will feel it as much more
dry and gritty with
compared to other soil.
This type of soil is very
light in weight and can
warm up very quickly in the
spring.
Due to its large particle size, they do not pack as
closely like another type of soil and thus has a
very good aeration and good drainage capacity.
The downside of the story is it drains very
quickly, the plants get very less time to absorb the
nutrients with generally drains off with the water.
You can improve the water retention capacity of
the sandy soil by adding organic compost, peat
moss etc, these will help to retain the nutrient as
well as moisture.
Silty soil:
The silty soil has much
smaller particles compared to
sandy soil. If you touch the soil
with your finger it will give you
much smoother feeling
compared to the sandy soil.
It is an intermediate between
sandy and clay type of soil.
It retains water longer than
sandy type. The drainage and
aeration are far less than the
sandy type. Due to its water
retention, this type of soil
doesn’t warm up so easily.
Silty soil Characteristics:
Smooth and soapy to the touch
Well-drained soil
Retains moisture
Richer in nutrients (more fertile) than sandy soil
Easier to cultivate than clay
Heavier than sand
Soil structure is weak and easily compacted
A very good soil if well managed
Clay Soil:
It contains mostly the particle which is sized less than 1/200
mm in diameter. If you touch clay type soil in the wet
condition you will feel the stickiness in the soil.
Here the particles are packed very closely leaving very little
space for aeration and drainage. It can hold more water than
any other type of soil. As it has a tighter grip on the drainage
it can hold on to the nutrients. Clay soil is very rich in plant
food for growth.
This type of soil
warms up very slowly
in the springs. It can
become very hard once
it gets dry. So it can be
a problem working
with this type of soil
especially in the time
of summers.
If properly managed
clay soil can be the
best for plant growth.
Clay soil characteristics :
Feels lumpy and sticky when very wet
Rock-hard when dry
Clay drains poorly
Few air spaces
Warms slowly in spring
Heavy to cultivate
If drainage is improved, plants grow well as it holds
more nutrients than many other soils
Loamy Soil:
Loamy soil is a
mixture of sandy, silty
and clay type of soil.
Generally, most of the
plant growing is done
in this type of soil. If
put mixed with the
proper organic matter
this type of soil is easy
to maintain and
required a very little
add-on.
Having said all that loamy
soil is not permanent in
nature and you can definitely
alter its nature. So don’t be
disheartened if your nearby
soil is not suitable for the
type of crop you are thinking
about growing.A list of
materials which you can add
to your soil and change its
aeration or water retention
capacity.
Loamy soil:
 The perfect soil
Good structure
Drains well
Retains moisture
Full of nutrients
Easy to cultivate
Warms up quickly in spring and doesn’t dry out in
summer
Consider yourself very lucky if you have this soil
Aeolian Soil:

A type of soil that is

transported from one place to
another by the wind.
Glacier Soil:

Glaciers carry with them

soils varying in size from fine
grained to huge boulder.
Soil get mixed with the ice
and are transported far away
from their original position.
Marine soil:
MARINE soil is from
materials carried into the
seas by streams and by
material eroded from the
beaches by the tidal action
of the waves. Part of the
material is carried out and
deposited in deep water
part is the heaped upon the
beaches along the coast.
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Reference:
FUNDAMENTALS OF SOIL MECHANICS
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_type
http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/htbg/modul
e1/soil_types1.shtml