Review Innovations CE Review for Nov 2023 – Geotechnical Engineering 1

Properties of Soil Situation 6.

A sand cone test has been performed in a compacted fill of
Situation 1. soil. The test results were as follows:
The sample of soil weighing 30.6 kg had a volume of Initial mass of sand cone apparatus w/ sand = 5.912 kg
0.0183m3. The sample is allowed to dry in an oven and the Final mass of sand cone apparatus w/ sand = 2.378 kg
weight was reduced to 27.2 kg. The specific gravity of the Mass of soil recovered from hole = 2.833 kg
solids was found to be 2.65. Determine the following:
Moisture content of soil from hole = 7%
1. Moist unit weight of soil in kN/m3
Density of sand =1300 kg/m3
2. Dry unit weight of soil in kN/m3
Volume of cone below valve =1.114 x 10 3 m3
3. Moisture content
4. Void ratio Max. dry unit weight =19 kN/m3
5. Porosity Determine the following:
6. Degree of saturation 18. Moist unit weight
19. Dry Unit Weight
Situation 2. 20. Relative compaction
The soil sample in natural state having a volume of 0.0012 m3
Situation 7.
weighs 1.73 kg. The degree of saturation being 61.6%. After
A sample of dry coarse-grained material was taken through
drying in an oven the final weight of sample was 1.44 kg.
a layer of sieves and the following results were obtained:
Determine the following:
Sieve no. Openings Mass of soil retained
7. Specific gravity of solid
(mm) (grams)
8. Void ratio
4 4.76 46.0
9. Critical hydraulic gradient
10 2.0 165.6
Situation 3. 20 0.84 92.0
The moist soil having a volume of 0.0154 m3 has a unit weight 40 0.42 55.2
of 16.5 kN/m3 and a moisture content of 15%. If the specific 60 0.25 23.0
gravity of solid is 2.7. Determine the following: 100 0.149 36.8
200 0.074 23.0
10. Degree of Saturation
11. Volume of air in the original sample Pan 18.4
12. Weight of water to be added to reach full saturation Determine the following:
21. Effective particle size
Compaction 22. Uniformity coefficient
23. Coefficient of curvature
Situation 4.
The moist unit weight of sample of soil is 17.43 kN/m3. It has Problems for Practice
a specific gravity of solid of 2.65 and water content of 16%.
The sample has a void ratio of 0.88 in the loosest condition Situation 8.
and 0.36 in the densest condition. A saturated soil has a unit weight of 18.85 kN/m3 and water
13. Compute the density index content of 32%. Determine the following:
14. If the dry unit weight at optimum water content was 1. Specific gravity of solid (2.725)
19.12 kN/m3, what is the minimum dry unit 2. Porosity (0.466)
3. Submerged unit weight (9.04)
Situation 5.
A proposed embankment fill requires 5000 m3 of compaction Situation 9.
soil. The void ratio of the compacted fill is specified as 0.70. The relative compaction of sand in the field is 94%. The
Three borrow pits are available as described in the following
maximum and minimum dry unit weights of the sand are
table.
16.2 kN/m3 and 14.9 kN/m3 respectively. For the field
Borrow Pit Void Ratio Cost/m3
condition determine the following:
A 0.85 P830
4. Dry unit weight (15.23)
B 0.95 P760
5. Relative density of compaction (27%)
C 1.10 P720 6. Moist unit weight at moisture content of 8% (16.45)
What is the total cost for acquiring soil from:
15. Borrow Pit A? Situation 10.
16. Borrow Pit B? A proposed earth fill needs 30,000 m3 of soil and be
17. Borrow Pit C?
compacted to 95% of Standard Proctor dry density. Tests
indicate that the max dry density is 19.4 kN/m3 at an
optimum water content of 16%. The borrow material in its
natural condition has a unit weight of 17.6 kN/m3 and water
content of 12%. Determine the following:
7. Total volume of borrow required (35,194)
8. Volume of void of borrow material if Gs = 2.671 (14,077)
9. Quantity of water to be added to bring the soil to the
optimum moisture content. (2254)

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 Review Innovations CE Review for Nov 2023 – Geotechnical Engineering 1
Situation 11.
The following observations were recorded when sand
replacement test was conducted using sand-cone equipment
in order to find the density of natural soil.
Density of sand used in the test = 1.4 g/cm3
Weight of soil excavated from the pit = 950 grams
Weight of sand filling the pit = 700 grams
Water content of natural soil = 15%
Specific gravity of solid = 2.70
10. Compute the dry density of soil in g/cm3 (1.65)

Situation 12.
The following are the details for the backfill material in a
vibroflotation project.
D10 = 0.36 mm
D20 = 0.52 mm
D25 = 0.60 mm
D50 = 1.42 mm
D75 = 1.65 mm
Determine the following:
11. Suitability number (6.11)
12. Rating based on the value of suitability number
(Excellent)
13. Sorting coefficient (1.66)

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 Review Innovations CE Review for Nov 2023 – Geotechnical Engineering 1
Properties of Soil h. Se = Gs
14. Relative Density or Density Index (Dr)
1. Void Ratio (e)
emax − e
e=
Vv Dr =  100%
Vs emax − emin
2. Porosity (n) 1 /  d min − 1 /  d
Dr =  100%
Vv 1 /  d min − 1 /  d max
n=
VT  −  d min  d max
Dr = d ( )  100%
3. Degree of Saturation (S)  d max −  d min  d
Vw 15. Relative/Percent Compaction (R)
S=
Vv d
4. Water/Moisture Content (ω) R=  100%
 d max
Ww M w
= = 16. Effective grain size (D10)
Ws Ms 17. Average grain size (D50)
5. Dry Unit Weight (γd) 18. Coefficient of Uniformity (Cu)
Wd D60
d = Cu =
VT D10
6. Moist Unit Weight (γm) 19. Coefficient of gyration/curvature (Cc)
W D30 2
m = m Cc =
VT D60 D10
7. Saturated Unit Weight (γsat) 20. Sorting coefficient (So)
Wsat D75
 sat = So =
VT D25
8. Submerged/Buoyant Unit Weight (γ’) 21. Suitability Number (Sn)
 ' =  sat −  w 3 1 1
9. Bulk Specific Gravity (G) Sn = 1.7 2
+ 2
+
D50 D20 D10 2

G=
w Sn Rating
10. Specific Gravity of Solids (Gs) 0-10 Excellent
s 10-20 Good
Gs =
w 20-30 Fair
11. Air Content (ac) 30-50 Poor
Va
ac = = n(1 − S )
VT
12. Air Void Ratio (na)
Va
na = = 1− S
Vv
13. Critical Hydraulic Gradient (icr)
 ' Gs − 1
icr = =
 w 1+ e
Weight – Volume Relationships:
Gs
a. d = w
1+ e
b. m =  d (1 +  )
Gs + Gs 
c. m = w
1+ e
G + Se
d.  m = s w
1+ e
G +e
e.  sat = s w
1+ e
Gs − 1
f.  ' = w
1+ e
e
g. n =
1+ e

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 Review Innovations CE Review for Nov 2023 – Geotechnical Engineering 1

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