Botswana University of Agriculture &

Natural Resources

Department of Agricultural & Biosystems

Engineering

ELB 120 – Soil Mechanics & Foundations

Assignment No.5

Due Friday 28th October 2022 at 4pm

Question 1
A shear-box test carried out on a sandy clay gave the following
results:

Vertical load (kg) Divisions of proving ring dial gauge (one

division to 1 μm
36.8 17
73.5 26
110.2 35
146.9 44

If the shear box is 60 mm square and the proving ring constant 20 N/μm,
determine the apparent cohesion and the angle of internal friction for this
soil.

• Convert vertical load (kg) into the vertical compressive stress in kN/m2
• Convert the dial gauge reading using the proving ring constant into
shear stress in kN/m2
• Plot compressive stress (x-axis) versus shear stress (y-axis) on a
graph paper using a suitable scale.
• Calculate the slope and y intercept of the linear plot.
• Estimate the soil strength and outline the equation.

1
 Question 2

Question 3

Question 4

Question 5