Coarse Grain Soils

Density

N-Value

Fine Grain Soils

Relative
Density

Stiffness

N55

N-Value
N55

WOR WOH

<10%

Very Loose

1-4

10%-15%

Very Soft

1-2

Loose

4-10

15%-35%

Soft

2-4

Medium

10-30

35%-65%

Medium

4-8

Dense

30-50

65%-85%

Stiff

8-15

>50

>85%

Very Stiff

>15

Fluid

Very Dense

Field
Identification

Fluid

WOR WOH

Bedrock
Unconfined
Compressive
Strength

Moisture
Content

Hardness

N55

(tsf) [KPa]
non-traversable
easily penetrated
by fist
easily penetrated
by thumb
moderate thumb
penetration
difficult thumb
penetration
indented by thumb
nail

N-Value

NIL

>>LL

Fluid

WOR WOH

<0.25 [<24]

>LL

Soft

1-30

0.25-0.5 [24-48]

LL

Medium

30-50

0.5-1.0 [48-96]

PL-LL

Hard

50-100

1.0-2.0 [96-192]

PL

Very Hard

100-BNC

>2.0 [>192]

<PL

Competent

BNC

WOR = Weight of Rod; WOH = Weight of Hammer; BNC = Bounce; NIL = Negligible