Backfill Material Specification – Basic Things to Consider When

Checking Backfill Materia

We have different types of backfill materials.In this post, we will be considering the common
backfill material specification for imported soil materials.

This type of backfill material is commonly used to raise site levels to the desired elevation, to
fill excavated areas which will support or retain structure, or similar pusposes.

Many things have to be considered when it comes to the technical checking of backfill material.
I have tried to summarize the basic things to consider to consider when checking backfill
material for your easy review.

To proceed further, below are some points that might help you when checking backfill
materials:

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The Common Backfill Material Specification

In large scale projects, the technical specification in the contract documents always includes
the requirement of soil as backfill materials. It gives the criteria for acceptance of the fill
material in complete details. Engineers are required to have a thorough review at least with the
given backfill material specification to ensure compliance with the requirements.

The overused statement about the backfill material requirement which is always mentioned in
a specification is:

The fill must be suitable materials.

Suitable materials are selected fill that is free from all debris, any deleterious or organic
materials, clay or mud, and surplus materials other than approved by engineer.

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What to Check?

Many things have to be considered when it comes to the careful checking of soil as backfill
materials. Please be guided below:

a) The source of material. It is essential to identify the source of backfill material to ensure
that the material being checked and brought to the laboratory was taken from the actual
materials which will be used at the construction site. This details can usually be checked
through available records such as material approval sheet (MAS), test reports, and delivery
notes if coming from the approved supplier. The source of the backfill material must be clearly
indicated and matched with all available records related to it.

b) The content of soluble matters. The backfill material must not contain any soluble
components or substances such as chloride and sulphates. As per general specification, a good
backfill materials must have a chloride and sulphate content not exceeding 0.05% and 1.2 gm
per liter respectively.

c) Grain Size Distribution. The backfill material shall be sand and gravel mixtures of
appropriate grading and must not contain swelling components such as clay or organic matters.
Depending upon types of backfill materials, specification are available for the reference of
engineer. Meanwhile, below figure 1.0 shows sample requirement for grain or particle size
distribution of backfill materials as per British Standard

d) The maximum dry density and the optimum moisture content. These two items always
come together as they are related to each other (see definition below). They are essential in
determining the degree of compaction of backfilling works being executed at site.

As an overview with actual backfilling activities, layer by layer of compaction is being

conducted at the site, then being tested to the laboratory, and can proceed upon the
satisfaction of the engineer with the result of the test. The required minimum degree of
compaction shall be 98% according to the Modified Proctor Density. Meanwhile, the 95%
degree of compaction can be considered for raising site levels or for areas which will not
support any structure. For further details, you can check in your specification the compaction
procedure as it is a separate topic to discuss
How to check?

Since we already know what are the things to be checked as mentioned above. The next
question will be how to check it in the actual scenario. Sample test reports are shown below
to have an idea of where are the details can be found which needs to be taken care of. Let us
go one by one.

a) The source of material

Figure 2.0.

In the above sample test report shown in figure 2.0, the source of material was not provided
by the contractor. The source of material was an unidentified supplier, and the sampling
location was not given. We are not sure where the backfill materials are obtained. In this
case, we can let the contractor resubmit another record indicating all the necessary details
 b) Content of soluble matters.

Figure 3.0.

The chloride and sulphate content shown in above sample test reports (figure 3.0) exceeds the
tolerance mentioned in above specification for chloride and sulphate content. If this soil was
taken from the excavated area of constructions site, we could come up with the conclusion to
avoid re-using the materials due to its high content of soluble chemicals.
c) Grain size distribution

Figure 4.0

The grain size distribution can be checked by just merely comparing the result of the test
reports with the specification. If the sieve size is not available, you can assume the percent
passing by linear interpolation.
d) The maximum dry density and the optimum moisture content.

Figure 5.0.

Sample test report for determination of maximum dry density and optimum moisture content
is shown in above figure 5.0. These results will be used to determine the degree of
compaction which will be shown in a separate test report as describe earlier
Basic Definition

• Imported soil material, fill, fill material – terms used to indicate backfill materials
(also with different types).
• Technical specification – a document which is part of the contract that describes the
requirements that a project or a work must meet or pass.
• Material approval sheet – a document showing the description of the materials, its
supplier, and manufacturer, with a technical data sheet and other details that are
submitted to the client or client representative for approval.
• Maximum Dry Density and Optimum Moisture Content– the most compact soil
achieved in the laboratory at a given moisture content. The density of that compacted
soil is the maximum dry density. The optimum moisture content is the corresponding
amount of water added into that soil until it reaches the maximum dry density.

Always Check the Specification.

Kindly check your specification if there are any details not covered in this post. Always
remember that in various projects, there are different types, applications, considerations, or
even local requirements regarding backfilling material. It varies from a particular place to
another place.