1 HIGHWAY ENGINEERING II

Chapter 4.
Subgrade
Soils
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 Investigation of subgrade soils:

 Foundation material for all pavements as undisturbed in situ subgrade
material or transported and reworked embankment material.
 Construction material for pavement structures either in its natural
form (sand and gravel) or in a processed form as stabilized layer
 The results of soil investigation provide pertinent information for a
decision on one or more of the following :
 Decision on the need for subgrade or embankment foundation
treatment;
 Investigation of slope stability in cuts and embankments;
 Location and design of ditches and culverts;
 Selection and design of the roadway pavement;
 Location and evaluation of suitable borrow and construction
materials; and
 Design of foundations for bridges and other structures.
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 Investigation of subgrade soils (Cont’d):

 Before planning for field investigation, preliminary

information regarding soil condition can often be

obtained from the following sources:
 Geological and agricultural soil maps
 Aerial photographs
 Satellite images
 Area reconnaissance
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 Investigation of subgrade soils(Cont’d):

 Field investigations and sample collection for

laboratory tests are commonly carried out by:

 Test pits or trenches
 Hand augers
 Boring test holes and sampling with drill rigs
 Geophysical methods (seismic or electrical)
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 Investigation of subgrade soils: Depth of Investigations

 It is always required to plan and conduct soil surveys in a manner
that examines subgrade materials according to their suitability in
load bearing layers within the zone of the design depth
 The design depth is defined as the depth from the finished road
level to the depth that the load bearing strength of the soil no
longer has an effect on the pavement’s performance in relation
to traffic loading.
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 Investigation of subgrade soils: Depth of Investigations

According to the Tanzanian Road Design Manual (1999)

Design depth (m)
Road type General requirements Heavy traffic roads
(> 0.2  106 standard axles )
Paved trunk roads 0.8 1.2
Other roads 0.6 1.0
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 Frequency of subgrade soil investigation:

 For highway pavements, testing sites are placed at 100 m to
5 km (generally 300 m) along the centerline and additional
boreholes 30 m away from the centerline both in its left as
well as right side.
 Minimum testing frequency (Tanzania Pavement Design
manual, 1999)

Road type Indicator tests Strength tests

Paved trunk roads Min 4 per km Min 2 per km
Other paved roads Min 2 per km Min 1 per km
Gravel roads Min 2per km Min 1 per 2 km
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 Essential tests to evaluate subgrade soils:

 Particle Size Distribution Test
 Moisture Content
 Atterberg Limits
 Density-moisture relationship (Compaction)
 California Bearing Ratio (CBR) Test
 Resilient Modulus Test

 Soil classification
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 Subgrade soil tests: Soil Compaction

 Compaction
 increases soil’s density
 improves its strength,
 lowers its permeability, and
 reduces future settlement
 The dry density that can be obtained by compaction varies
with
 the moisture content,
 type of soil being compacted, and
 the compaction effort.
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 Subgrade soil tests: Soil Compaction

Effect of moisture content:
 wet
d 
1 w

d at 100% saturation
 wGs
d 
1  wG s
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 Subgrade soil tests: Soil Compaction

Effect of type of soil:

a – Gravel-sand mixture
b – Well graded sand
c – Uniform sand
d – Mixed soil
e – Heavy clay
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 Subgrade soil tests: Soil Compaction

Effect of compaction effort:

Standard AASHTO:
compacted with 25 blows of a 2.5 kg
(5.5 1b) hammer falling 30 cm (12 in)
in three layers

Modified AASHTO:
4.5 kg (10 lb) hammer falling 45 cm
(18 in) on each of five layers in the
same size mold
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 Subgrade soil tests: Soil Compaction

 Laboratory compaction test.
 The soil sample is first air dried and sieved usually
through the 4.75-mm (No. 4) sieve, mixed
thoroughly with water and then compacted in layers.
 The mass of the compacted sample is measured, and
a sample of it is taken to dry for the purpose of
determining water content.
 More water is then added to the soil, and it is
compacted again. This procedure is repeated until the
density decreases.
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 Subgrade soil tests: Soil Compaction

 Laboratory compaction test, Cont’d
 In the standard compaction test,
 The soil is compacted in three layers in a 10 cm (4 in)
diameter mold having a volume of 943.9 cm3 (1/30 ft3).
 Each layer is compacted with 25 blows of a 2.5 kg (5.5
1b) hammer falling 30 cm (12 in).
 If coarser grains are to be included in the test, a larger
mold 15 cm (6 in) in diameter with a volume of 2124
cm3 (0.075 ft3) is used. With these coarse materials,
the number of blows per layer is increased to 56 (from
25) to maintain the same compactive effort.
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 Subgrade soil tests: Soil Compaction

 Laboratory compaction test, Cont’d
 In the modified Procter or heavy compaction test, the
compactive effort is provided by a 4.5 kg (10 lb) hammer
falling 45 cm (18 in) on each of five layers in the same
mold.
 The maximum dry density obtained in the modified test is
higher than that obtained in the standard test, and occurs at
lower optimum moisture content.
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 Subgrade soil tests: Soil Compaction

 Field density test.
 The construction requirements for roads are usually
specified as a percentage of the maximum dry density
found in a laboratory compaction test for each soil type
encountered on the project.
 For example, a project specification might require that the
soil be compacted to 95% of the maximum dry density
found by the standard compaction test.
 Field density tests are made using either destructive or
nondestructive methods.
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 Subgrade soil tests: Soil Compaction

 Field density test, cont’d
 In destructive methods,
 the simplest is the core-cutter method: used only on
cohesive soils free from coarse-grained material --- to
remove an undisturbed sample on which dry density
and moisture content determinations can be made.
 The other commonly used methods are: a balloon
filled with a liquid and a sand-cone apparatus.
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 Subgrade soil tests: Soil Compaction

 Field density test, cont’d
 The quick and nondestructive method of measuring the in
situ density and moisture content of the compacted soil is
the nuclear method by which:
 the density is obtained by measuring the scatter of
gamma radiation by the soil particles which is
proportional to the bulk density of the soil.
 the moisture content is also obtained by measuring
the scatter of neutrons emitted in the soil due to the
presence of hydrogen atoms.
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 Subgrade soil tests: California Bearing Ratio (CBR)

Test
 Originally developed by the California Division of
Highways, CBR test has been modified and has been the
most common strength test conducted on soils and other
unbound road making materials.
 In this test, laboratory specimens compacted in a standard
CBR mold at the OMC are tested to give a relative strength
of the material for a pavement structure with respect to
crushed rock, which is considered an excellent base coarse
material.
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 Subgrade soil tests: California Bearing Ratio (CBR) Test

 A load is applied by cylindrical metal plunger of 56 mm
diameter to penetrate the specimen at a rate of one mm per
minute and readings of the applied load are taken at intervals
of penetration of 0.25 mm up to a total penetration of not
more than 7.5 mm.
 Depending upon the prevailing climatic conditions of the site,
CBR specimens are immersed in water for four days before
the test to obtain a saturation condition similar to what may
occur in the field.
 During this period, the sample is loaded with a surcharge load
that simulates the estimates weight of pavement layers over the
material tested. Any swell due to soaking is also measured.
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CBR Sample
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 Subgrade soil tests: California Bearing Ratio (CBR) Test

 The CBR value is reported as a percentage of a standard
value which is intended to represent the value that would be
obtained with compacted crushed stone as:
 the load that causes a penetration of 2.54 mm is read off
from the curve and divided by the standard load (6.9 Mpa)
required to produce the same penetration in the standard
crushed stone as
Unit load for 2.54 mm penetration in test specimen
CBR   100
Unit load for 2.54 mm penetration in sandard crushed roack
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CBR Curve
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General Soil Type USC Soil Type CBR Range

GW 40 - 80
GP 30 - 60
Typical CBR GM 20 - 60
Ranges Coarse-grained
soils
GC 20 - 40
SW 20 - 40
SP 10 - 40
SM 10 - 40
SC 5 - 20
ML 15 or less
CL LL < 50% 15 or less
OL 5 or less
Fine-grained soils
MH 10 or less
CH LL > 50% 15 or less
OH 5 or less
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 Subgrade soil tests: California Bearing Ratio (CBR) Test

 Design Subgrade CBR:
 The strength of subgrade soils is dependent on:
 the type of soil,
 density, and
 moisture content.
 The design CBR of the subgrade soil, therefore, should be
evaluated at the moisture content and density
representative to the subgrade condition during the service
time of the pavement structure.
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 Subgrade soil tests: California Bearing Ratio (CBR)

Test
 A road section is usually subdivided into subgrade areas
with reasonably uniform subgrade CBR, i.e. without
significant variations.
 Identification of sections deemed to have homogenous
subgrade conditions is carried out by desk studies on the
basis of geology, pedology, drainage conditions and
topography, and considering soil categories which have
fairly consistent geotechnical characteristics (e.g.
grading, plasticity, CBR).
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 Subgrade soil tests: California Bearing Ratio (CBR) Test

 Design Subgrade CBR:
 Usually, the number of soil categories and the number of
uniform subgrade areas will not exceed 4 or 5 for a given
road project.
 The design subgrade CBR for homogenous section is
usually taken as the 90 %-ile value of the CBR test results
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 Subgrade soil tests: Resilient Modulus Test

 Resilient Modulus Test, MR, is the elastic

modulus obtained from repetitive load test that
simulates the actual pavement loading.

 MR is defined as the ratio of the repeated

deviator stress d to the recoverable axial strain
r.
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Stress Distribution in Pavement

Layers Beneath a Moving Wheel Load.
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 Subgrade soil tests: Resilient Modulus Test

 Most paving materials are not elastic but experience
some permanent deformation after each load application.
 However, if the load is small compared to the strength of
the material and is repeated for a large numbers of
times, the deformation under each load repetition is
nearly completely recoverable and proportional to the
load and can be considered as elastic.
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 Subgrade soil tests: Resilient Modulus Test

 At the initial stage of load applications, there is considerable
permanent deformation (Plastic strain).
 As the number of repetitions increases, the plastic strain due to
each load repetitions decreases. After 100 to 200 repetitions, the
strain is practically all recoverable.

NOTE:
• Mr is a measure of
stiffness
• CBR is a measure of
strength (load at
 10.3 CBR
Mfailure}
r
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 Soil Classifications
 Soils are variable engineering materials !!
 As a means of obtaining general behavior, soils are
systematically categorized on the basis of some common
characteristics obtained from visual description, during soil
boring, and laboratory tests.
 The most commonly used classification systems for highway
purposes are the American Association of State Highway and
Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Classification System and
the Unified Soil Classification System (USCS).
 These classification systems only help engineers to predict
how the soil will behave if used as a subgrade or subbase
material, however, the information obtained should not be
regarded as a substitute for the detailed investigation of the
soil properties.
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 Soil Classifications: AASHTO Classification System

 Described by AASHTO as a means for determining
the relative quality of soils for use in embankments,
subgrades, subbases, and bases.
 Soils are categorized into seven groups, A-1 through
A-7, with several subgroups.
 Classification is based on its particle size
distribution, LL, and PI.
 Soils are evaluated within each group by using an
empirical formula to determine the group index (GI)
of the soils.
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 Soil Classifications: AASHTO Classification System

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 Soil Classifications: AASHTO Classification System

GI = (F - 35)[0.2 + 0.005(LL - 40)] + 0.01(F - 15)(PI - 10)

where, GI = group index
F = % of soil particles passing 0.075 mm (No. 200) sieve
LL = liquid limit expressed in whole number, and
PI = plasticity index expressed in whole number.

 The GI is determined to the nearest whole number.

 A value of zero should be recorded when a negative value is
obtained for the GI.
 Also, in determining the GI for A-2-6 and A-2-7 subgroups,
the LL part is not used, that is, only the second term of the
equation is used.
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 Soil Classifications: AASHTO Classification System

 Classifying soils under the AASHTO system is finding the
correct group for the particle size distribution and Atterberg
limits of the soil from the classification table.
 The group is then designated using the GI value.
 Granular soils fall into classes A-1 to A-3.
 A-1 soils consist of well-graded granular materials,
 A-2 soils contain significant amounts of silts and clays,
and
 A-3 soils are clean but poorly graded sands.
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 Soil Classifications: AASHTO Classification System

 Fine soils fall into classes A-4 to A-7.
 A-4 soils cover non-plastic or moderately plastic soils,
 A-5 contains similar material to Group A-4 but high LL.
 A-6 soils are typical plastic clays exhibiting high volume
change between wet and dry states.
 Group A-7 covers plastic clays, having high values of LL
and PI and show high volume change.
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 Soil Classifications: AASHTO Classification System

 In general, according to the AASHTO system of
classification, the suitability of a soil deposit for use in
highway construction can be summarized as follows:
 Soils classified as A-1-a, A-1-b, A-2-4, A-2-5, and A-3 can
be used satisfactorily as subgrade or subbase material if
properly drained.
 In addition, such soils must be properly compacted and
covered with an adequate thickness of pavement for the
surface load to be carried.
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 Soil Classifications: AASHTO Classification System

 Materials classified as A-2-6, A-2-7, A-4, A-5, A-6, A-7-5,
and A-7-6 will require a layer of subbase material if used
as subgrade.
 If these are to be used as embankment materials, special
attention must be given to the design of the embankment.
 Generally, as the GI of a soil increases its value as
subgrade material decreases.
 For example, a soil with a GI of 0 (an indication of a good
subgrade material) will be better as a subgrade material than
one with GI of 20 (an indication of a poor subgrade
material).
Example
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 Soil Classifications: Unified Soil Classification System

(USCS)
 Originally developed by Casagrande during World War II for
use in airfield construction, USCS has been modified several
times to obtain the current version.
 The fundamental premise used in the USCS system is that, the
engineering properties of any coarse-grained soil depend on
particle size distribution, whereas those for a fine-grained soil
depend on its plasticity.
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 Soil Classifications: Unified Soil Classification System

(USCS)
 The system classifies coarse-grained soils on the basis of grain

size characteristics and fine-grained soils according to

plasticity characteristics.
 In this system of classification, material that is retained in the

75 mm (3 in.) sieve is recorded, but only that which passes is

used for the classification of the sample.
 Soils are designated by letter symbols with each letter having a

particular meaning.
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 Soil Classifications: Unified Soil Classification System

(USCS)
 Coarse-grained soils:

 Soils with more than 50 percent particles retained on

No. 200 sieve.
 The coarse-grained soils are subdivided into:
 Gravels (G)  soils having more than 50 percent of
their particles larger than 4.75 mm (i.e., retained on
No. 4 sieve), and
 Sands (S)  those with more than 50 percent of their
particles smaller than 4.75 mm (i.e., passed through
No. 4 sieve).
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 Soil Classifications: Unified Soil Classification System (USCS)

 Coarse-grained soils, Cont’d:

 The gravels and sands are further divided into four

subgroups, each based on grain size distribution and the
nature of the fine particles in them as well graded (W),
poorly graded (P), silty (M), or clayey (C).
 Gravels can be described as either well-graded gravel (GW),
poorly graded gravel (GP), silty gravel (GM), or clayey
gravels (GC), and
 Sands can be described as well-graded sand (SW), poorly
graded sand (SP), silty sand (SM), or clayey sand (SC).
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 Soil Classifications: Unified Soil Classification System

(USCS)
 Coarse-grained soils, Cont’d :
 A gravel or sandy soil is described as well graded or poorly graded,
depending on the values of two shape parameters known as
coefficient of uniformity, Cu, and coefficient of curvature, Cc
D60 = grain diameter at 60% passing
given as:D60 ( D30 ) 2
Cu  Cc  D30 = grain diameter at 30% passing
D10 D10  D60 D10 = grain diameter at 10% passing

 Accordingly, gravels are described as well graded if Cu is above 4,

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 Soil Classifications: Unified Soil Classification System

(USCS)
 Coarse-grained soils, Cont’d :

 Moreover, coarse-grained soils with more than 12 percent

fines (i.e., passes No. 200 sieve) are classified as silty (M) or
clayey (C) depending on their LL plots.
 Those soils with plots below the “A” line or with a PI < 4
are silty gravel (GM) or silty sand (SM)
 Those with plots above the "A” line with a PI greater than 7
are classified as clayey gravels (GC) or clayey sands (SC).
See Lecture Handout !!
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 Soil Classifications: Unified Soil Classification System

(USCS)
 Fine-grained soils:
 Soilswith less than 50 percent particles retained on the No.
200 sieve.
 The fine-grained soils are subdivided into clays (C) or silt
(M) based on a plasticity chart plotted PI versus LL of the
soil.
 Soils that fall below the “A” line are silty soils, whereas
those with plots above the "A” line are clayey soils.
 Organic clays are an exception to this general rule since they
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 Soil Classifications: Unified Soil Classification System

(USCS)
 Fine-grained soils, Cont’d:
 The organic, silty, and clayey soils are further divided into
two groups, one having a relatively low LL (L) and the other
having a relatively high LL (H).
 The dividing line between high LL soils and low LL soils is
arbitrarily set at 50 percent.
 Fine-grained soils are, thus, further classified as either silt
with low plasticity (ML), silt with high plasticity (MH),
clays with high plasticity (CH), clays with low plasticity
(CL), or organic with high plasticity (OH).
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 USCS: Fine Grained Soils
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Questions?