3.

2 Field ldentification of Soils

Ercacy soi car se categorzed as coarse graned (cohesioniess) and fne grained soi's (cohesive)
a) Coarse Grained Soils
Coarse gared sals can be easy cetfed by e naed se on the basis of grain size. The major
Coese ganed sos a e gavel and san
i o v c e su partcies larger han4 75 mm and sTaler than&0 mm are called 'gravel.
S a d pances rangg in size from 0.075m to 4.75m are caled 'sand.

b Fine Grained Soils

Sardcays are *caT as fne ganed sols. Fne sos can be organc or inorganic.
Inorganic Soils: Feididenticat.on of inorganic soil's can be done by tolowing tests
Dercy test or shakng test Dry stergth test
()Dispersontest (v) Toughness test cr Roling test
9 Diatancy Test (Dilatancy Reaction to Shaking): A par cf tre material is shaken ater placing it
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on the pam. i i s SiL water comes to e sutace and gves t a shinng appearance. If it is
kneaned, Te mostre wil re-eter into the sol and tne shin1ng d sacpears.
# s clay. te waer cannot move easily and hence it contnues to loc' dark. if it is a mixture of silt
and clay. e reatve speed witn winich the shine appears may grve rough indication of the anount of
sit present Tnis test is a'so known as Shaking test.
()Dry Strength Test (Dry strength Crushing Resistance): A small ball cr briquette of size 3 mm
is prepared and kept for drying. H dried ball can be easily broken, the material is silt. If it is clay, it
wi reauire efort to break. Aiso one can dust off ioose material fom the surtace of briquette if it is
 silt. When moist soil ispressed between fingers, clay
gives a soapy touch; it also sticks and driea
slowly which cannot be dusled easily
ti) Disperslon Test: spoonful of soil is poured in a
A
jar of water. If it is silt, the particles will settle in
about 15 minutes to one hour. If it is clay, it will form a turbid
for hours and even for days
suspension, which will remain as such
() Toughness Test orThread Test (Toughness =
Consistency near plastic limit): A thread is
attempted to be made out of a moist soil
sample with a diameter of about 3 mm. If the material is silt,
it is not possible to make such thread without surface cracks and
crumbling
clay. such a thread can be made
If it is even to a
length of about 30 cm and supported by its awn
weight when held at the ends.
This test is also called 'Rolling test.
Organic Soils:
Fresh, wet organic soils usually have a distinctive odour of decomposed organic matter, which can
be more easily detected on heating the wet sample.
.Another distinctive feature of such soils is the darkcolour.