SOILS

Soils are naturally occurring inert materials of mineral particulate nature that are formed as a result of disintegration of rocks due to physical and chemical weathering. The study of soils and rock materials make an important part of a wider area of study called Geotechnical Engineering. This study is important because every construction work in Civil engineering is built on soil or rock and in many instances theses are also raw materials of construction. USES OF SOIL Soils as construction material is commonly used in the following; Road construction as a base/ sub base material As a fill material. Embankment construction in floor control. Manufacture of bricks, tiles and other building units In manufacturing of concrete As a filtering materials e.g. slow filtration.

SOIL PROFILE If an excavation is made through previously undisturbed soil the following profile is revealed

Top soil Hardpan Sub soil Soil Bed Rock a. Top Soil; Is a layer of organic soil, usually not more than 500mm thick, in which humus (highly organic partly decomposed vegetable matter) is often found.

b. c.

Sub Soil: I s the soil weathered from the earth crust lying between the unweathered soil below. Hardpan; A hard pan is a hard rock like layer that results from humic acid formation by rain water that reacts with iron and aluminum oxides, especially in humid climates.. Soil: This is the geological deposit extending from the subsoil to the parent rock. It may be soft soil or a hard rock. Ground water; This is a natural reservoir of underground water. The upper surface of this water may occur at any depth and is known as the water table or ground water level (GWL).

d. e.

CLASSIFICATION OF SOILS Soil should always be classified before studying its properties and this may be done according to; 1. 2. 3. 4. 1. Geological origin Mineral content Grain size Plasticity

Geological Origin Considering the modes of formation, soils are classified in three types; Transported soils, Residual soils and Organic soils. Transport Soils These are soils formed as a result of weathered rock particles being carried from their point of origin transporting agents are commonly water, ice and wind. Residual Soils These are insitu soils resulting from chemical weathering found on level rock surfaces where the action of the elements has produced a soil with little tendency to move. They also occur whenever the rate of breakup of the parent rock exceeds the rate of removal. Residual soils have different particles sizes depending on the type of parent rock. A special group of residual soils are laterites, which are formed by rainwater dissolving soluble rock and leaching them leaving behind insoluble oxides and hydroxides of iron and aluminum hence their x-tic reddish brown colour Organic Soils

a.

b.

c.

These are soils that mainly contain decomposed animals and vegetable matter. They are dark in colour and have a destructive small. They are good for agriculture but are very trouble some for civil engineering works. 2. Grain Size Classification by particle size distribution is used for granular soils. This is because the physical x-tics and appearance of granular soils are governed/influenced by the distribution of the various particle sizes. The particles are therefore classified on the basis of their sizes as follows: Soil type (mm) Boulders Cobbles soils Gravel Coarse Medium Fine Sand Coarse Medium Fine Coarse Medium Fine Nominal Diameter > 200 60 200 very coarse 20 60 26 6 20 coarse soils

0.6 2 0.2 0.6 0.06 0.2 0.02 0.06 0.006 0.02 0.002 0.006 < 0.002

Silt

Clay

PARTICLE SIZE DISTRIBUTION This involves, defining the proportions of the various sizes of particles in a soil. It is expressed in terms of a grading curve or particle size distribution curve in which the percentage by mass of particles finer than specific size is plotted against a loganthinic scale. The purpose of the loganthinic scale on the horizontal axis for particle sizes is to accommodate the varying particles sizes (from molecular to boulder size). For coarse grained soil, the grading curve is determined through

sieve test while for true grained soil it is determined by sedimentation or hydrometer analysis. SIEVE ANALYSIS A representative sample of a soil of known mass is passed though a selves of standard sieves of decreasing size and the mass retained in each sieve is measured and recorded. The percentage by mass of the soil sample passing each sieve is deduced and reduced and recorded. The cumulative percentage by mass of the soil sample passing is then computed and plotted against the corresponding sieve size on semi- loganthin paper. The particles size boundaries of a conventional semi- loganthmic plot is as shown below.
100

Uniform

90

Well graded

Gap graded

80

70

Percentage Passing

60

50

40

30

20

10 0

CLAY F 0.002 60

SILT M 0.006 C 0.02 F 0.2

SAND M C 0.6 F

GRAVE L M 2

Cobble s C 6

20

Percentage size (mm)

GRADING Depending on the range of particles sizes present in a soil (reflected by the particles size distribution curve) soils are graded into three; a. b. c. well graded soil Uniformly graded soil poorly graded. Gap graded soil.

Well Graded Soil If the particles distribution curve is not too steep and is more or less constant over the full range over the full range of the soils particles sizes, then the particle size distribution extends, evenly over the range of the particles sizes within the soil and then is no deficiency or excess of any particle size. Such a soil is described as well graded otherwise if not the soil is graded. Uniformly Graded soil If the major part of the curve is steep, then the soil has particle size distribution extending over a limit range with most particles tending to be a limit range size the soil is described as closely graded or more commonly uniformly graded. Gap Graded Soil If a soil has large percentages of its bigger and smaller particles and only a small percentage of the intermediate sizes, there its grading device will exhibit a significantly flat section or plateaus such a soil is said to be gap grade.

GRADING PARAMETERS Important features in particles size distribution are expressed in terms of effective size, uniformly coefficient Cu and coefficient of curvature Cc the effective size an important particle size within a soil distribution is the size, which is the largest size of the smallest 10%. Symbolized as D 10 (termed effective size). Other particles sizes such as D 30 . D60 and D 85 are determined from the grading curve in the same manner.

60 % age passing 30

10

D10

D30 Diameter (mm)

D60

The uniformity coefficient Cu Since the grading of a soil by observation of its particle size distribution curve is difficult to the less expert some empirical guidance is obtained by use of grading parameter known as uniformly coefficient Cu defined as; Cu = D 60 D10 Interpreted as; If Cu < 4.0 then the soil is uniformly graded Cu > 4.0 then the soil is either well graded or gap graded and a glance at the grading curve should be sufficient for determining which of the fore is the correct description. NB: Lower valves of Cu implies coarse. Coefficient of curvature, Cc This assesses the central perform of the particles size distribution curve and is defined as; Cc = D30 2 D10 D60

For the grain size and amounts to do so arranged that a dense packing is possible, the distribution curve should be concave upwards giving a Cc valve of between 1-3. Example Qn .The results of a sieve analysis on a soil sample were as follows Sieve (mm) 10 6.3 2 1 0.6 0.3 0.15 0.063 man Retained (g) 0.0 5.5 25.7 23.1 22.1 17.3 12.7 6.9

2.3 passed through the 63NMsieve. a. b. (i) (2) (3) plot the particles size distribution curve and describe the soil. Using the curve determine Effective size. Uniformly coefficient Coefficient of curvature

SEDIMENTATION ANALYSIS Since the finer soils are difficult to sieve due to their cohesive nature, the particles size distribution of the fine grade passing the 63Nm is determined by use of sedimentation characteristic of particles of particles as they settle out of water (ref BS 1377 part 2 1975 or ASTM 422-67). Procedure; An oven dried sample is sieved using a 63NM sieve a suspension of sieve. A suspension of law concentration is prepared using distilled water to water a coagulating agents is added to ensure settlement of particles. The suspension is put in a 1000ml cylinder and thoroughly shaken and the sedimentation process allowed to begin.

The specific gravity of the suspension is measured at different depths at specific, times the methods is based on stokes law which expresses the terminal velocity with which spherical particles fall through a liquid.