MANILA: Room 206, JPD Building, CM Recto Avenue, Manila

CEBU: 4/F J. Martinez Bldg., Osmeña Blvd., Cebu City

Telephone Number: (02) 516-7559 (Manila) E-Mail: buksmarquez1 @yahoo.com
(032) 254-9967 (Cebu)

Review MODULE – GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING (Soil Properties)

SOIL PARTICLE SIZE CLASSIFICATION SITUATION 2. [Past Board Exam]
Sieve No. Diameter Soil Sample
Organization Grain size (mm) A B C
Gravel Sand Silt Clay Percent Passing
USDA >2.00 2.00 – 0.05 0.05 – 0.002 <0.002 4 4.760 90 100 100
MIT >2.00 2.00 – 0.06 0.06 – 0.002 <0.002 6 2.380 64 90 100
AASHTO 76.2 – 2.00 2.00 – 0.075 0.075 – 0.002 <0.002 10 2.000 54 77 98
USCS/ 76.2 - 4.75 4.75 – 0.075 Fine silts and clays 20 0.840 34 59 92
ASTM < 0.075 40 0.420 22 51 84
60 0.250 17 42 79
USDA - U.S. Department of Agriculture
MIT- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
100 0.149 9 35 70
AASHTO- American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials 200 0.074 5 33 63
ASTM – American Society of Testing and Materials For soil A, solve the following:
9. Cc
Particle- Size Distribution Curve (Sieve Analysis) can be used to 10. Cu
determine the following four parameters.
SITUATION 3. Classify the sizes of the soil particles in SITUATION 1 and
1. Effective size (D10) – diameter corresponding to 10% finer. determine the corresponding percentages using the following methods.
11. AASHTO
2. Uniformity Coefficient (Cu) 12. USCS/ASTM
D60 13. USDA
𝑪𝒖 =
D10 14. MIT

3. Coefficient of Gradation or Coefficient of Curvature (C c) SITUATION 4. The size characteristics of the soil particles are shown in the
(𝑫𝟑𝟎 )𝟐 table below.
𝑪𝒄 =
𝑫𝟔𝟎 𝑫𝟏𝟎 Size (mm) Percent finer
4. Sorting coefficient (So) 0.4250 100
0.0330 92
0.0180 82
𝑫𝟕𝟓
𝑺𝒐 = √ 0.0100 70
𝑫𝟐𝟓 0.0062 65
. 0.0035 51
0.0018 40
SITUATION 1. A sieve analysis is performed and the following results were 0.0010 30
obtained. Determine the percentages of gravel, sand, silt and clay using:
Sieve Opening Mass CMR CMP % Finer 15. USDA
No. (mm) retained 16. MIT
4 4.75 - 17. AASHTO
10 2.00 75 18. USCS
20 0.850 155
40 0.425 95 SITUATION 5. The percentages of a gravel, sand, silt and clay of a
60 0.250 125 particular soil are tabulated as shown.
80 0.180 130 Soil Particle Particle-size Distribution
100 0.150 123 Soil A Soil B Soil C
200 0.075 50 Gravel 0 35 20
Pan - 18 Sand 34 15 15
Silt 40 30 25
CMR – Cumulative Mass Retained Clay 26 20 40
CMP – Cumulative Mass Passing
TM – Total Mass 19. Using USDA method, calculate the modified percentages of sand.
Silt and clay for each soil type.
𝐶𝑀𝑃 20. Classify each soil using USDA Textural Classification Chart
%𝐹𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑟 % 𝑃𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 = 𝑋100%
𝑇𝑀
Calculate the following:
1. D10 5. D75
2. D25 6. Cu
3. D30 7. Cc
4. D60 8. S0
 MANILA: Room 206, JPD Building, CM Recto Avenue, Manila
CEBU: 4/F J. Martinez Bldg., Osmeña Blvd., Cebu City
Telephone Number: (02) 516-7559 (Manila) E-Mail: buksmarquez1 @yahoo.com
(032) 254-9967 (Cebu)

WEIGHT – VOLUME RELATIONSHIPS

Problem 1 (MAY 2015 CE BOARD EXAM)
Given the following properties:
Specific Gravity of soil solids, Gs = 2.67
Void ratio, e = 0.45
Degree of saturation, S = 40%

Calculate the following:

1. unit weight of soil
2. dry unit weight of soil
3. unit weight of the soil when fully saturated

V = V s + Vv = V s + V w + Va
V = total volume
Vs = volume of soil solid
Vv = volume of voids
Vw = volume of water
Va = volume of air
W = Ws + Ww
W = total weight
Ws = weight of soil solid
Ww = weight of water
VOLUME RELATIONSHIPS
1. Void ratio, e
2. Porosity, n
Problem 2
The moist weight of 0.00283 m^3 of soil is 54.4 N. If the
moisture content is 12% and the specific gravity of soil solids is
2.72, determine the following:
1. Moist unit weight
2. Dry unit weight
3. Void ratio
4. Porosity
5. Degree of Saturation
6. Determine the air content
7. Volume occupied by water
Problem 3 (NOV 2015 CE BOARD EXAM)
If the dry unit weight of soil is 12KN/m3, what is the unit weight
of soil if water is added causing a water content of 15%.
Problem 4
A soil has a bulk density of 1.8g/cc at a water content of 5%. If
the void ratio remains constant, then what will be the
VV corresponding bulk density if its water content is increased to
e= 10%?
VS
Problem 5
The net weight of soil sample before drying is 200g and its
VV e
n= n= oven – dried weight is 145g. The volume of the soil before
V 1+ e drying is 120cm3. Specific gravity of soil is 2.69.

1. Compute the moisture content of the soil.

VW
3. Degree of saturation, S S= 2. Compute the void ratio.
VV 3. Compute the degree of saturation.

V
4. Air content, aC = A = n(1 − S ) Problem 6
A soil has porosity of 40%, the GS=2.50 and water content is
V 12%.
WEIGHT RELATIONSHIPS 1. Compute for the water content at full saturation
W
1. Moisture or water content , ω = W 2. The weight of water required to be added to 100m^3 of this
soil for full saturation
WS 3. Water content which can fully saturate and increase the
W volume by 5%
2. Unit weight or Moist unit weight,  =
V Problem 7 (MAY 2016 CE BOARD EXAM)
WS A soil sample has a dry unit weight of 17 kN/m^3 and a void ratio
3. Dry unit weight, γ d d = of 0.60.
V 1. Evaluate the specific gravity of the soil solids.
A. 2.44 B. 2.65 C. 2.77 D. 2.56
RELATIONSHIPS AMONG UNIT WEIGHT, VOID RATIO,
MOISTURE CONTENT, AND SPECIFIC GRAVITY 2. Obtain the unit weight of the sample in kN/m^3 when fully
G (1 +  ) W saturated.
G = eS = s A. 21.3 B. 18.6 C. 20.7 D. 19.6
1+ e
3. What is the hydraulic gradient at quicksand condition?
(GS + Se) W (Gs + e) W A. 1.43 B. 1.11 C. 1.35 D. 1.28
=  sat = Gs − 1
1+ e 1+ e Critical hydraulic gradient, icr =
1+ e
Gs w Gs w Problem 8
d =  zav = In a wet soil mass, air occupies one-sixth of its volume and
1+ e 1 + Gs water occupies one-third of its volume. Determine the void ratio
of the soil.
 MANILA: Room 206, JPD Building, CM Recto Avenue, Manila
CEBU: 4/F J. Martinez Bldg., Osmeña Blvd., Cebu City
Telephone Number: (02) 516-7559 (Manila) E-Mail: buksmarquez1 @yahoo.com
(032) 254-9967 (Cebu)

USDA TEXTURAL CLASSIFICATION CHART