PERMEABILITY OF SOIL

A material is said to be permeable if it contains continuous voids. Permeability is defined as the

property of a porous material which permits the passage or seepage of water through its
interconnecting voids.
The permeability of soils has a decisive effect on the cost and the difficulty of many construction
operations, such as the excavation of open cuts in water bearing sand, or on the rate at which a soft
clay stratum consolidates under the influence of the weight of a superimposed fill. It is also required
for calculation of seepage through the body of earth dam, for calculation of uplift pressure under
hydraulic structures. As water percolates through a permeable material, the individual water
particles move along paths which deviate erratically but only slightly from smooth curves
known as flow lines. If the adjacent flow lines are straight and parallel, the flow is said to be
linear.
In this figure the points a and b represents extremities of a flow line. At each extremity a standpipe,
known as pizometric tube has
been installed to indicate the level
to which the water rises at these
points. The water level in the tube
at b is designated as the
pizometric level at b and the
vertical distance from this level to
point b is the pizometric head at
b. The vertical distance between a
and b represents the position
head ΔH. If the water in the
hydraulic system stands at the same elevation in the pizometric tubes at a and b, the system is in a
state of rest, regardless of the magnitude of the position head. Flow can occur only if the pizometric
levels at a and b differ by a distance h known as the hydraulic head at a with respect to b. This
distance h is also referred to as the difference in piezometric level between a and b. It should be
observed that the difference in piezometric level is equal to the difference in the piezometric heads at
a and b only if the position head ΔH is zero.
a1 and b1 represent any two points at the same elevation in the piezometric tubes rising from a and b
respectively. Since the unit weight of water is γ w the hydrostatic pressure at a1 exceeds that at b1 by

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 PERMEABILITY OF SOIL
the amount γwh. The difference γwh is the pressure that drives the water through the soil between a and
b. It is referred to as the excess hydrostatic pressure at a with respect to b.
 wh u
The ratio ip = =
l l
Represents the pressure gradient (gm/cc) from a to b. u is the excess hydrostatic pressure.
ip 1 u h
The ratio i = = =
w w l l
is known as the hydraulic gradient. It is a pure number.

The discharge velocity v is defined as the quantity of water that percolates in a unit time across a
unit area of a section oriented at right angles to the flow lines.
If water percolates through fine saturated sand or other fine grained completely saturated soils without
affecting the structure of the soil, the discharge velocity is almost exactly determined by the equation
K
v= ip.

 is the viscosity of water (gram-seconds per square centimeter)
K is an empirical constant referred to as permeability.
The viscosity of water decreases with increasing temperature. The value K (square centimeter) is a
constant for any permeable material with given porosity characteristics and it is independent of the
physical properties of the percolating liquid.
K
v= γwi.

The temperature of the percolating water varies so little that the unit weight γw is practically constant
and in addition, the viscosity  varies within fairly narrow limits.
K w
∴k=

∴ v = ki ---------------- (a)
k is commonly called the co-efficient of permeability. Above equation is known as Darcy’s Law.
q
∴ q = kiA v= q = discharge per unit time
A
For linear flow conditions in a saturated soil, the rate of flow or the discharge per unit time is
proportional to the hydraulic gradient.

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 PERMEABILITY OF SOIL
Discharge velocity and seepage velocity
The Darcy’s law in no way describes the state of flow within individual pores. The velocity of flow v
is the rate of discharge of water per unit of total c/s area A of soil. This total area of cross section is
composed of the area of solids As and the area of voids Av. Since the flow occurs through the voids,
the actual or true velocity is called the seepage velocity vs and is defined as the rate of discharge
of percolating water per unit c/s area of voids  to the direction of flow.
q = vA = vsAv
A
vs = v
Av
In a statistically isotropic porous material porosity of a plane section is equal to the volume porosity n.
Av V
∴ = v =n
A V
V
∴Vs =
n
From his experiments with loose filter sands of high uniformity, Allen Hazen obtained the empirical
equation
k (cm/sec) = C1D10² (cm)
C1 = 100 to 150
k Drainage
Soil type
Cm/sec condition
10² to 1.0 Clean gravel Good
Constant head test
1.0 to 10-³ Clean sand Good
10-³ to 10-7 Fine sands, silt Poor
Falling head test
10-6 to 10-9 Clay Very poor

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 PERMEABILITY OF SOIL
Constant Head Permeability Test
The constant head permeability test is suitable for
very permeable soils. The water levels at inlet and
outlet are kept at constant levels. A test is
performed by allowing water to flow through the
sample and measuring the quantity of discharge Q
in time t.
h
Q=K At
L
QL
∴K =
hAt
Falling Head Permeability Test
The soil sample is kept in a vertical cylinder of cross sectional area A. A transparent stand pipe of
sectional area a is attached to the test cylinder.
Before the commencement of the test the soil sample is saturated by allowing the water to flow
continuously through the sample from the stand pipe. After the saturation is complete, the stand pipe
is filled with water up to a height of h0 and a stop watch is started. Let the initial time be to. The time
t1 when the water level drops from h0 to h1 is noted.
Let h be the head of water at any time t.
Let in the time dt the head drop by an amount dh. From Darcy’s law, the quantity of water flowing
through the sample in the time dt is
h
dQ = KiA dt = K A dt
L
the quantity of discharge dQ can also be expressed as dQ = -adh.
Since the head decreases as the time increases dh is a negative quantity.
h
-adh = K A dt
L
The discharge Q in time (t1 – t0) can be obtained by integrating as follows
dh KA t1
-a ∫
L ∫t 0
h1
= dt
h0 h

h0 KA
a logc = (t1-t0)
h1 L

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 PERMEABILITY OF SOIL
aL h
∴K = loge 0
A(t1 - t0) h1

Falling head permeability test is generally used for fine grained materials.
The set up is suitable for soils having permeabilities ranging from 10-3 to 10-6 cm per sec.

Permeability of stratified masses of soil

Natural transported soils commonly consist of layers which have different permeability. In order to
determine the average co-efficient of permeability of such deposits, representative samples are
obtained from each of the layers and are tested. Once the values of k of individual strata are known,
the averages can be computed by using the following method
K1, K2,------, Kn = co-eff of permeability of the individual strata.
H1, H2,------, Hn = thickness of corresponding strata.
H = H1 + H2 + ------ Hn = total thickness
KH = average co-efficient of permeability parallel to bedding planes. (Usually horizontal)
KV = average co-efficient of permeability perpendicular to bedding planes.
When the flow is parallel to bedding planes
Velocity of flow will be different in different layers.
Total discharge through the soil deposit
= Sum of discharge through the individual layers.
1
∴v = KHi = [K1iH1 + K2iH2 +-------- KniHn]
H
K1 H 1 + K 2 H 2 + − − − K n H n
∴ KH =
H
When the flow is  to bedding planes
The hydraulic gradient across the individual layers is denoted by i1, i2, ----in. The hydraulic gradient
and hence the head loss through each layer will be different. The hydraulic gradient across the
series of layers is h/H where h equals the total loss in head. The principal of continuity of flow
requires that the velocity be the same in each layer.
h
v= KV = k1i1 = K2i2 = ------knin
H
also h = H1i1 + H2i2 + ------Hnin

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 PERMEABILITY OF SOIL
vH H1v H 2v H 3v H n v
= + + 
Kv K1 K2 K3 Kn

H H1 H 2 H 3 H n
∴ = + + 
Kv K1 K 2 K 3 K n

H
∴ Kv =
H1 H 2 H 3 H n
+ + 
K1 K 2 K 3 K n

It should be noted that in all stratified layers of soils the horizontal permeability is generally greater
than the vertical permeability.

Factors affecting permeability

1. Grain Size – Permeability varies approximately as the square of grain size.
k = CD10²
2. Void Ratio – Permeability increases with increase of void ratio.
3. Effect of structural arrangement of particles and stratification – The structural
arrangement of the particles may vary, at the same void ratio, depending upon the method of
deposition. The structure may be entirely different for a disturbed sample as compared to an
undisturbed sample which may posses stratification. The effect of structural disturbance on
permeability is much pronounced in fine grained soils. Stratified soil masses have marked
variations in the permeabilities parallel and perpendicular to stratification. The permeability
parallel to stratification being always greater.
4. Degree of saturation and other foreign matters – the permeability is greatly reduced if air is
entrapped in the voids thus reducing its degree of saturation.

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PERMEABILITY OF SOIL

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