CHAPTER 2

DESCRIPTION AND FILLED IDENTIFICATION OF SOILS

1. MAJOR DIVISIONS OF SOILS

Soils may be subdivided into three major groups; namely course grained, fine-grained and
organic.

• DESCRIPTION

A soil is considered to be course-grained if its individual particles are visible to

the unaided eye. The principal soil types that comprise the course-grained group are
gravel and sand. These are loose water-worn fragments of rocks, gritty and cohesionless.

A soil is considered to be a fine-grained soil if its individual particles are not

visible to the unaided eye. The two principal soil types comprising this group are silt and clay;
they are similar in appearance but they exhibit different physical properties. The courser type, silt, has a
smooth texture; it possesses little or no cohesion. The finer type, clay, is derived from the chemical
weathering of rock; its texture is also smooth, it is cohesive and plastic when wet.

Organic soils are those which contain an appreciable amount of decayed animal
and/or plant matter. They are characterized by their gray to black color and foul odor. The
common types are peat, muck, organic silts and organic clay. Peat is a fibrous soil composed of
decayed plant matter. Muck compared to peat, contains more oxidized organic matter, it is much older,
denser, and contains more mineral matter. Organic silt and organic clay contain finely divided organized
matter and are plastic. Organic soils are highly compressible and any structure supported by these soil may
settle exclusively.

• ENGINEERING PROPERTIES

Course-grained soil have good load bearing qualities, they are easy to drain, they are not
subject to appreciable changes in volume or strength due to changes in water content, and they are
comparatively incompressible when acted upon by static loads but if loose or not adequately
compacted the will compress considerably if subjected to vibratory action.

Fined-grained soils have poor load bearing qualities, poor drainage characteristics, they will
compress under the action of sustained load, and they will changed in volume and strength due to
change in water content. Compared to clay, silt have better load- bearing qualities, they are less
compressible, they are easier to drain, and they are less susceptible to volume change due to changes
in water content.

Organic soils have poor load-sustaining qualities and change in volume very considerably
even under comparatively light loads.
2. SIZE AND SHAPE OF SOIL PARTICLES

The engineering properties of course grained soil are controlled largely by the sizes of the
individual particles. Particle size, therefore is used to differentiate between the soil types of this
group. A soil is called gravel if its particles are bigger than 2mm. The upper limiting diameter is
usually 8 inches or or 203 mm, but in highway engineering it is only 3 inches or 76 mm. Rock
fragments which are coarser than the upper limiting size for gravel are called boulders. A soil is
called sand if its individual particles are less than 2mm but are visible to the unaided eye, The
lower limiting diameter for sand, or coarse-grained soil in general, is considered to be 0.074 mm
(the opening of a No. 200 sieve).

Particles size has an insignificant effect on engineering properties of fined-grained soils. The
reason is obvious, the particles are microscopic. However, particle size is used for purposes of
classification and 0.005mm is usually set as the limiting size between silt and clay. All particles
smaller than 0.005mm are called clay; those smaller than 0.001mm are frequently called
“colloids”. (See Fig. II.1)

The shape of coarse-grained soil may be rounded, sub-angular or angular. The particles are
mostly “bulky” or the dimensions in three mutually perpendicular directions do not vary greatly,
unlike the flat particles of fine-grained soils.

Silt particles which exhibit little or no cohesive properties are rounded, while the cohesive
varieties contain an appreciable quantity of flake-shaped particles. Clay particles are
predominantly flake-shaped or, rarely, needle-shaped.

Particles - Diameter of Particles, U.S. Standard Sieve

Size mm. Passing : Retained
Classification
Gravel 203 to 2 8” : No.10
Sand 2 to 0.074 No. 10 : No. 200
Silt 0.074 to 0.005 Cannot be separated by sieving. Size id determined by wet
Clay Smaller than 0.005 analysis.
Colloid Smaller than 0.001
Fig. II-1. Definition of Principal Soil Types in Terms of Particle Size.

3. FIELD IDENTIFICATION OF SOIL

The first step in the proper identification of soils is by the use of simple methods in the field
without the aid of laboratory facilities. These methods must be supplemented by laboratory tests
to make the identification and classification adequate. Soil identification is not an easy task to
become an expert in this line. It is necessary for an engineer to gain experience in handling soils
 in the field, to make constant comparisons of field identification with laboratory test results, and to
associate with experience soil engineers.

Coarse-grained soils are readily identified on the basis of particle size as the individual
particles cam be differentiated by the unaided eye. However, this is not true for fine-grained soils
since the particles are not visible. Therefore, other means should be employed for their
identification.

The following are the sample visual and manual test used for the identification of fine-grained
soils in the field:

A. DRY STRENGTH.
The wet sample is molded to say convenient shape and allowed to dry in the air or by
heating. A small fragment of dried sample is obtained and pressed between the thumb and
forefinger. The soil is a clay if the fragment can be broken only with great effort; it is silt if the
fragment crushes readily. The test indicates that the dry strength of clay is high while of silt is
low.

B. PLASTICITY.
If a sample of moist soil can be molded and rolled into thin threads without breaking or
crumbling, the soil is a clay. It said to have plastic properties. A thin thread of clay one foot or
more long can support its own weight or will not break when hold by one end. A silt, on the
other hand, can seldom be rolled into a thin thread without crumbling. If it can be rolled into a
thin thread more than a few inches long, the thread will break when held by one end.

C. WATER MOBILITY.
A soil sample is mixed with water to the consistency, of a thick paste, then it is placed and
shaken in the palm of the hand. The soil is a silt if the surface of the soil becomes wet and it
exhibits a shiny appearance. Then, if the soil paste is deformed by squeezing or stretching,
the water will flow back into the inner voids and the surface becomes dry and appear dull. A
clay, if similarly treated, will not change in appearance. The tests indicates that there is more
mobility of water in silt than in clay, or silt is more permeable than clay.

D. DISPERSION.
A small quantity of the soil is dispersed with water in a glass cylinder or test tube and
allowed to settle. The coarser particles will fail and the finer particle will remain suspension.
Sands will settle 3 inches in about 10 seconds, silt will settle 3 inches in about 30 seconds,
and the clay will remain in suspension for at least several hours and usually for several days.

Organic soils can be identified by their gray to black color, fibrous structure due to the presence of
undecomposed vegetable matter and unhealthy sewage odor because of gas that is released when the soil
is excavated.