CE 412

LABORATORY EXERCISE NO.__

NAME: COURSE & YEAR: RATING:

GROUP NO.___ DATE:

MEMBER:

_________

DISTURBED SOIL SAMPLING, LABELING AND STORAGE

INTRODUCTION:
DISTURBED SOIL SAMPLING IS AN IMPORTANT FACTOR IN THE DETERMINATION OF THE PROPERTIES OF SOIL. THE
CORRECT METHOD OF SAMPLING WILL LEAD TO MORE ACCURATE RESULTS IN THE DETERMINATION OF SOIL PROPERTIES
AND STRUCTURE. THE STORAGE OF A SAMPLE, AFTER IT HAS BEEN OBTAINED, IS AS IMPORTANT AS SAMPLING ITSELF. IF
THE STORAGE IS NOT DONE ADEQUATELY IT WILL LEAD TO A CHANGE IN SOME OF THE PROPERTIES OF THE SAMPLE. THE
LABELING IF A SAMPLE IS NECESSARY FOR EASY IDENTIFICATION OF THE SAMPLE AND TO AVOID CONFUSION IF DIFFERENT
PERSONS UNDERTAKE THE SAMPLING AND TESTING OF THE SOIL SAMPLE. A BETTER FILING OF SOIL SAMPLE WILL ALSO
MEAN BETTER CONTROL OF DATA ACQUISITION.

SAMPLING EITHER FROM PITS OR BORINGS FOLLOWED BY LABORATORY TESTING IS WIDELY USED IN SOIL
INVESTIGATION ESPECIALLY FOR IMPORTANT STRUCTURES AND RELATIVELY UNIFORM SUBSOILS. PITS OR TRENCHES CAN
BE DUG BY HAND OR BY POWER TOOLS SUCH AS BACK HOLE OR DOZER. BORING CAN BE MADE BY AUGER WITH OR
WITHOUT A CASING.

OBJECTIVES:
AFTER PERFORMING THE EXPERIMENT, THE STUDENTS SHOULD BE ABLE TO:

1. TO KNOW HOW TO LABEL AND STORE A DISTURBED SOIL SAMPLE.

2. TO KNOW HOW TO PLOT THE SOIL PROFILE BASED ON THE BORING RECORD.

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APPARATUS:
1. SOIL AUGER
2. SPADE OR SHOVEL
3. MEASURING TAPE
4. JARS OR AIRTIGHT CONTAINER
5. PETROWAX OR PARAFFIN
6. MASKING TAPE
7. MARKING PEN

PROCEDURES:
THE STUDENTS WILL ENUMERATE THE STEPS TO BE UNDERTAKEN FOR THE TEST:

1. LOCATE THE POINT WHERE BORING IS TO BE MADE.

2. CLEAR THE AREA OF GRASS AND VEGETATION WHERE THE SAMPLE IS TO BE OBTAINED.
3. MAKE A SQUARE SHAPE HOLE WITH A 1 FOOT SIZE OPENING.
4. WITH THE USE OF SOIL AUGER OR SHOVEL, THE SOIL IS BORED UNTIL DESIRED DEPTH IS REACHED AND OBTAIN
A DISTURBED SAMPLE.
5. FIRST SAMPLE IS OBTAIN IN A DEPTH OF 0.25 METER, SECOND AT A DEPTH OF 0.50 METER AND THIRD AT A
DEPTH OF 1 METER.
6. MEASURE THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE FIRST AND SECOND BORING AND REPEAT STEPS 3-5.
7. RECORD THE DEPTH OF EACH TYPE OF SOIL STRATA.
8. PLACE THE SOIL IN A CONTAINER WITH ADEQUATE SPACE SUCH AS CANVASS BAGS, CANS AND BINS FOR
LARGE QUANTITIES AND GLASS JARS FOR SMALL SAMPLES.
9. LABEL CONTAINER GIVING JOB OR PROJECT NAME, NUMBER, DATE, BORING NUMBER AND DEPTH OF
SAMPLE.
10. FOR DISTURBED SAMPLE, COVER SAMPLE WITH PETROWAX OR PARAFFIN AFTER IT HAS BEEN PLACED IN A
CONTAINER.
11. UPON COMPLETION OF THE FIELD WORK, THE BORING SHOULD BE COMPLETELY REFILLED.
12. PLOT THE SOIL PROFILE BASED ON THE RECORD OF EACH GROUP.

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DATA SHEET:
DISTURBED SOIL SAMPLING
PROJECT NAME: _________________________________________
LOCATION: _________________________________________
DATE: _________________________________________

Boring Number

Sample Number
Elevation of Ground
Surface
Depth of Sample
(Bottom)

Type of Sample

Soil
Moisture
Condition

Odor

Soil
Description Color

Grain Size

Plasticity

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SOIL PROFILE:

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OBSERVATION:

CONCLUSION:

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LABORATORY PROCEDURES WITH PHOTOS:

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