Lec 4: SOIL CLASSIFICATION

Importance: To provide a common language to concisely express the general characteristics of soils which
are infinitely varied, without detailed descriptions.

Textural Classifications
 Texture of soil refers to its surface appearance.
 Soil texture is influenced by the size of individual soil particle in it.
 In the textural classification system, the soils are named after their principal components, such as sandy clay,
silty clay, etc.

Soil Classification Systems

1. USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) Textural Classification System
 This classification method is based on the particle-size limits.
Sand size: 2.0 to 0.05 mm in diameter
Silt size: 0.05 to 0.002 mm in diameter
Clay size: smaller than 0.002 mm in diameter

Classification by Engineering Behavior

2. AASHTO (American Society of State Highway and Transportation Officials) Classification System
 According to this system, soil is classified into seven (7) major groups, A-1 to A-7.
 Soils classified under groups A-1, A-2 and A-3 are granular materials with 35% or less passing through
a No. 200 sieve.
 Soils with more than 35% passing No. 200 sieve are classified under groups A-4, A-5, A-6 and A-7.
These soils are mostly silt and clay type materials.
 This classification system is based on the ff. criteria:
a. Grain size
a.1. Gravel: fraction passing the 75 mm sieve and retained on the No. 10 (2 mm) US sieve
a.2. Sand: fraction passing the No. 10 sieve and retained on the No. 200 (0.075 mm) sieve
a.3. Silt and Clay: fraction passing the No. 200 sieve

b. Plasticity
b.1. The term 'silty' is applied when the fine fractions of the soil have plasticity index of 10 or
less.
b.2. The term 'clayey' is applied when the fine fractions have a plasticity index of 11 or more.
 Group Index (GI)
GI = (F200 - 35) [0.20 + 0.005 (LL - 40) ] + 0.01 (F200 - 15) (PI - 10)

where: F200 = percentage passing no. 200 sieve

LL = liquid limit
PI = plasticity index

a. Rules in Determining the Group Index

a.1. If GI yields a negative value, use GI = 0.
a.2. The group index is rounded off to the nearest whole number.
a.3. There is no upper limit for the group index.
a.4. The group index of soils belonging to groups A-1-a, A-1-b, A-2-4, A-2-5 and A-3 is always 0.
a.5. When calculating the group index for soils that belong to groups A-2-6 and
A-2-7, use partial group index for PI, or
GI = 0.01 (F200 - 15) (PI - 10)

3. USCS (Unified Soil Classification System)

 This system classifies soils into two (2) broad categories:
a. Coarse-grained soils that are gravelly and sandy in nature with less than 50% passing through the
No. 200 sieve. The group symbols start with prefixes of either G or S, G for gravel or gravelly soil,
and S for sand or sandy soil.
 b. Fine-grained soil with 50% or more passing through the No. 200 sieve. The group symbols start
with prefixes M, which stands for inorganic silt, C for organic clay, and O for organic silts and
clays. The symbol Pt is used for peat, muck and other highly organic soils.
c. Other symbols used:
W = well graded L = low plasticity (LL<50)
P = poorly graded H = high plasticity (LL>50)
CL = inorganic; LL<50; PI>4; Atterberg limits plot on or above A -line
ML = inorganic; LL<50; PI<4; Atterberg limits plot below A-line
OL = organic;(LL-oven dried)/(LL-not dried)<0.75; LL<50
CH = inorganic; LL≥50; Atterberg limits plot on or above A-line
MH = inorganic; LL≥50; Atterberg limits plot below A-line
OH = organic; (LL-oven dried)/(LL-not dried)<0.75; LL≥50
CL-ML = inorganic; Atterberg limits plot in the hatched zone

Comparison between the AASHTO Classification System and the Unified Soil Classification System
 Both soil classification systems are based on the texture and plasticity of soil. Also both system divide the
soils into two (2) major categories, coarse-grained and fine-grained soils.
 AASHTO system, the No. 10 sieve is used to separate gravel from sand, in Unified, the No. 4 is used.
 In the AASHTO system, a soil is considered fine-grained when more than 35% passes through the No. 200
sieve. In Unified system, a soil is considered fine when more than 50% passes through No. 200 sieve.
 In Unified system, the gravelly and sandy soils are clearly separated, in AASHTO they are not.
 The classification of organic soils as OL, OH and Pt is provided in the Unified System. Under AASHTO system,
there is no place for organic soils.

Soil Particle Size

1. Gravel - pieces of rocks with occasion pieces of quartz, feldspar and other minerals
2. Sand - composed mostly of quartz and feldspar
3. Silt - a microscopic soil factor that consists of very fine quartz grain
4. Clay - mostly flake-shaped particles that are capable of developing cohesion and plasticity

PARTICLE-SIZE DISTRIBUTION CURVE (Sieve Analysis)

A particle-size distribution curve can be used to determine the ff. four (4) parameters for a given soil:
1. Effective Size, D10
This parameter is the diameter in the curve corresponding to 10% finer. The effective size of a
granular soil is a good measure to estimate the hydraulic conductivity and drainage through soil.

2. Uniformity Coefficient, Cu
Cu = D60/D10 where: D60 = diameter corresponding to 60% finer

3. Coefficient of Gradation/Coefficient of Curvature, Cc

Cc = (D30)2/D60(D10) where: D30 = diameter corresponding to 30% finer

4. Sorting Coefficient, So
So = √D75/D25 where: D75 = diameter corresponding to 75% finer
where: D25 = diameter corresponding to 25% finer

Prepared by:
Leah H. Untalan-Gonzales, MSCE
Assistant Professor III
USDA Soil Classification Chart
AASHTO Soil Classification System

GRANULAR MATERIALS
General Classification
(35% or less of total sample passing No. 200)
Group A-1 A-2
A-3
Classification A-1-a A-1-b A-2-4 A-2-5 A-2-6 A-2-7
Sieve Analysis
(percentage passing)
No. 10 50 max.
No. 40 30 max. 50 max. 51 min.
No. 200 15 max. 25 max. 10 max. 35 max. 35 max. 35 max. 35 max.
Characteristics
of fraction passing
No. 40
Liquid Limit 40 max. 41 min. 40 max. 41 min.
Plasticity Index 6 max. NP 10 max. 10 max. 11 min. 11 min.
Usual types
of significant Stone fragments,
Fine Sand Silty or Clayey gravel and sand
constituent gravel and sand
materials
General subgrade
Excellent to Good
rating

SILT-CLAY MATERIALS
General Classification
(more than 35% of total sample passing No. 200)
A-7
Group Classification A-4 A-5 A-6 A-7-5a
A-7-6b
Sieve Analysis
(percentage passing)
No. 10
No. 40
No. 200 36 min. 36 min. 36 min. 36 min.
Characteristics
of fraction passing
No. 40
Liquid Limit 40 max. 41 min. 40 max. 41 min.
Plasticity Index 10 max. 10 max. 11 min. 11 min.
Usual types
of significant
Silty Soils Clayey Soils
constituent
materials
General subgrade
Fair to Poor
rating
a
For A-7-5, PI ≤ LL - 30
b
For A-7-6 PI > LL - 30