GEOTECHNICAL PROPERTIES OF SOIL

The soil at a borrow area is at moisture content of 8.5% and a unit

weight of 17.5 kN/m3. This soil is used in the construction of a
compacted road base where the dry unit weight is 19.5 kN/m3, and the
moisture content is 14.0%. If the finished volume of the road base is
120,000 m3, what would be the volume of the soil removed from the
borrow pit? How much water would be added to the soil from the
borrow pit?
Borrow Area
Road Base

Soil
Soil
V V = 120,000 m3
γ = 17.5 kN/m3
ω = 8.5% γd = 19.5 kN/m3
ω = 14%
 Va Wa Va Air Wa
Air Va Air Wa
Va Air Wa

Vw Water Ww Vw Water Ww
Vw Water Ww Vw Water Ww

Excavate Add Water Compact

Vs Solid Ws Vs Solid Ws Vs Solid Ws Vs Solid Ws

At Borrow Pit During Transport Moisture In Compacted Fill

Conditioning

Weight of dry soil at compacted road base = Ws

Dry Unit Weight = γDry = Ws = γDryVFill

= 19.5 kN/m3 x 120,000 m3
= 2.34 x 106 kN
Unit Weight of soil at borrow pit = γ = =

Moisture Content = ω =
Ww = ωWs
Therefore, = =

= = = 145,080 m3

The volume of the soil removed from the borrow pit is 145,080 m 3.
Moisture Content difference = ∆ω = ωFill - ωBorrow = 14% - 8.5% = 5.5%

Amount of water to be added = ∆Ww = ∆ωWs = x 2.34 x 106 kN

= 128,700 kN

Let γw = 9.81 kN/m3

Volume of water to be added = = 13,119.27 m3

The amount of water to be added to the soil from the borrow pit is
13,119.27 m3.
THANK YOU