UNIT 1 -SOIL

Building materials I

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FUNDAMENTALS OF SOIL SCIENCE

TYPES OF SOILS
PRINCIPLES OF SOIL STABILIZATION
CHARACTERISTICS OF CORE
TYPES OF STABILIZERS
REQUIREMENTS AND TYPES OF MUDWALL
BUILDING SURFACE PROTECTION

FUNDAMENTALS OF SOIL SCIENCE

FORMATION OF SOIL

FACTORS

COMPONENTS & LAYERS

Soil is a mixture of four main ingredients:

weathered rock

organic matter

Air

Water

LAYERS

ORGANIC LAYER about 1 deep -100 to 600

yrs to form
UPPER SOIL LAYER about 1 deep dark colorliving organisms chemical reactions

MIDDLE SOIL LAYER after 2/3 depth darker

in color less air
LOWER SOIL LAYER after 3 depth orangish or
yellowish color- more sand, clay and rocks

SOIL CLASSIFICATION

Soil classification based on IS:1498 -1970 INDIAN STANDARDS

FOR CLASSIFICATION AND IDENTIFICATION OF SOILS FOR
GENERAL ENGINEERING PURPOSES
This standard is based on UNIFIED SOIL CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM
with few modifications.
IS system divides soil into three major groups,

COARSE GRAINED
FINE GRAINED
ORGANIC SOILS AND OTHER MISCELLANEOUS SOIL MATERIALS.

COARSE GRAINED

Coarse grained soils - more than 50% of

the material larger than 0.075mm size.
(75-micron IS Sieve size.)
further classified into gravels (G) and
sands (S).

Gravels - In these soils, more than half the

coarse fraction is larger than 475 mm IS Sieve
size. This subdivision includes gravels and
gravelly soils.
Sands - In these soils, more than half the coarse
fraction is smaller than 4.75 mm IS Sieve size.
This subdivision includes sands and sandy soils.

The gravels and sands are further divided

into four categories according to
gradation, silt or clay content.

FINE GRAINED

Fine grained soils - more than 50% of soil

finer than 0.075 mm sieve size.
divided into three sub-divisions as silt (M),
clay , and organic salts and clays (O)
based on liquid limit
Silts and clays of low compressibility having a liquid limit less than 35
(represented by symbol L)
Silts and clays of medium compressibility having a, liquid limit greater than 35 and
less than 50 (represented by symbol I)
Silts and clays of high compressibility having a liquid limit greater than 50

( represented by symbol H).

ORGANIC SOILS AND OTHER

MISCELLANEOUS SOIL MATERIALS

These soils contain large percentages of fibrous organic matter, such

as peat, and particles of decomposed vegetation.
In addition, certain soils containing

shells

concretions

cinders

other non-soil materials

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION OF SOIL

SOIL TYPE

Clay: Soils that stick when wet - but very hard when completely dry.
Silt: The same as sand except that it is so fine that you cannot see individual
grains.
Sand: Similar small pieces of stone (usually quartz), which are small but each
grain, is visible to the eye.

Gravel: Small pieces of stone varying from the size of a pea to that of an egg.

Cobble: rocks with particle size from 7.5cm to 30 cm.

Boulder: rocks usually with grain size no less than 30 cm in diameter.

Organic Soil: Soil mainly composed of rotting, decomposing organic matters such
as leaves, plants and vegetable matter. It is spongy when wet, usually smells of
decaying matter, is dark in color and usually damp.

BOULDERS

COBBLES

GRAVEL

SAND

SILT

CLAY

REFERENCES

http://ecoursesonline.iasri.res.in/mod/page/view.php?id=276

https://law.resource.org/pub/in/bis/S03/is.1498.1970.pdf

http://theconstructor.org/geotechnical/soil-classification/3358/

http://environment.uwe.ac.uk/geocal/SoilMech/classification/default.htm

http://theconstructor.org/geotechnical/foundations/soil-investigation-foundation-types/26/

http://www.dphu.org/uploads/attachements/books/books_2317_0.pdf