ENGINEERING

PROPERTIES OF SOIL
 ENGINEERING PROPERTIES OF SOIL
1. Granular or Coarse grained soil
• Good load bearing quality
• Permeable – easy to drained, water easily absorb
• Comparatively incompressible under static load, however loose
granular materials may undergo a considerable change in volume,
when subjected to vibratory load.
• Not subjected to change in strength & volume due to variation to
water content.
 ENGINEERING PROPERTIES OF SOIL
2. Fine-grained soils
• Poor load bearing quality
• Impermeable
• Compressible under sustained load
• Subjected to change in strength & volume due to variation in
water content
3. Organic soil
• Inferior than fine-grained soil as to the properties stated, natural
moisture content is 100%
 CLASSIFICATION OF SOILS
• Soils have been classified into groups in accordance with their origin,
physical characteristics and field performance, for convenience in dealing
with them as highway construction materials.
GRANULAR MATERIALS – containing 35% or less, passing the 0.075 mm sieve.
1. Group A-1. The typical material of this group is a well-graded mixture of
stone fragments or gravel, coarse sand, fine sand and non-plastic or freely
plastic binder.
a. Group A1-a. This includes those materials consisting predominantly of stone
fragments or gravel, either with or without a well-graded binder of fine
material.
b. Group A1-b. This includes those materials consisting predominantly of coarse
sand either with or without a well-graded soil binder.
 CLASSIFICATION OF SOILS
GRANULAR MATERIALS – containing 35% or less, passing the 0.075 mm sieve.
2. Group A-2. This group indicates a wide variety of “granular materials”
which are borderline between the materials falling in Groups A-1 and A-3
and the silt-clay materials of groups A-4, A-5, A-6 and A-7.
a. Subgroup A-2-4. These include various granular materials containing 35% or less
passing the 0.075 mm sieve and with a minus 0.425 mm portion having the
characteristics of the A-4 and A-5 groups. These groups include such materials
as gravel and coarse sand with silt contents or plasticity indexes of the
limitations of Group A-3.
b. Subgroup A-2-6 and A-2-7. These include materials similar to those described
under Subgroups A-2-4 and A-2-5 except that fine portion contains plastic clay
having the characteristics of the indexes in excess of 10 and % passing of the
0.075 mm sieve in excess of 15 is reflected by group index values of 0 to 4.
 CLASSIFICATION OF SOILS
GRANULAR MATERIALS – containing 35% or less, passing the 0.075 mm sieve.
3. Group A-3. The typical material of this group is fine beach sand or fine
dessert blow without silty or clay fines or with a very small amount of non-
plastic silt. The group includes also steam deposited mixtures of poorly-
graded fine sand and limited amounts of coarse sand and gravel.
 CLASSIFICATION OF SOILS
SILT-CLAY MATERIALS – containing more than 35% passing the 0.075 mm sieve
1. Group A-4. This typical material of this group is non-plastic or moderately
plastic silty soil usually having 75% or more passing the 0.075 mm sieve. The
group index values ranges from 1 to 8 with increasing percentages of coarse
material being reflected by decreasing group index values.
2. Group A-5. The typical material of this group is similar to that described under
Group A-4, except that is usually of diatomaceous or micaceous character
and may be highly elastic as indicated by the high liquid limit. The group index
values ranges from 1 to 12.
3. Group A-6.The typical material of this group is a plastic clay soil usually having
75% or more passing the 0.075 mm sieve. The group index values ranges from 1
to 16.
 CLASSIFICATION OF SOILS
SILT-CLAY MATERIALS – containing more than 35% passing the 0.075 mm sieve
4. Group A-7. The typical material of this group is similar to that described under
A-6 except that it has the high liquid limits characteristics of the A-5 group and
may be elastic as well as subject to high volume change. The range of group
index volume is 1 to 20.
a. Subgroup A-7-5. This includes those materials with moderate plasticity indexes in
relation to liquid limit and which may be highly elastic as well as subject to
considerable volume change.
b. Subgroup A-7-6. This includes those materials with high plasticity indexes in relation
to liquid limit and which are subject to extremely high volume change.
 GROUP INDEX
The soils within each group are evaluated by means of a Group Index which is
an empirical number ranging from 0 to 20. A group index of zero (0) indicates
a good subgrade material and group index of 20 indicates a very poor
subgrade material.

The group index is determined by the following empirical formula:

Group Index = (F-35)0.20 + 0.005 (LL-40) + 0.01 (F-15) (PI-10)
Where:
F = Percentage passing 0.075 mm sieve expressed as a positive whole number
LL = numerical liquid limit, expressed as a positive whole number
PI = numerical plasticity index, expressed as a positive whole number
 EXAMPLE CALCULATION OF
GROUP INDEX
• An A-4 soil has a 50% passing the 0.075 mm sieve, lquid limit of 30, and
plasticity index of 10.
G.I. = (50-35)0.0 + 0.005(30-40) + 0.01(50-15)(10-10)
= 2.95
 ITEMS 200 AND 201
Characteristics required for base and subbase materials:
• The aggregate shall consist of hard, durable particles or fragments crushed stones,
crushed or natural gravel.
• The filler shall consist or natural or crushed sand or other finely divided material.
• The composite material shall be
• Free from vegetable matter and lumps or ball of clay
• Can be compacted readily to form a firm, stable subbase/base
• Must be stable when wet and dry
• Must show very little or no deflection when loaded
• Must be permeable or free draining
• Must be susceptible to capillary moisture from he subgrade
• Must be well graded with maximum size which will permit finishing to the desired
degree
 ITEM 200
AGGREGATE SUBBASE COURSE
This consists of furnishing, placing and compacting and aggregate subbase
course on a prepared subgrade in accordance with the required lines,
grades and cross-sections.
Grading Requirements (AASHTO T11&27)
The subbase materials should be well graded and should conform to
the following grading requirements:
Sieve Designation Mass % Passing
The fraction passing the 0.075 mm
mm Inches (No. 200) sieve shall not be greater
50 2 100 than 2/3 of the fraction passing the
0.425 mm (No. 40) sieve.
25 1 55-85
9.5 3/8 40-75
0.075 No. 200 0-12
 ITEM 200
AGGREGATE SUBBASE COURSE
• Liquid Limit: Tested by AASHTO T89
The fraction passing the 0.425 mm (No. 40) sieve shall have a liquid limit of not
greater than 35.
• Plastic Limit: Tested by AASHTO T90
The fraction passing the 0.425 mm (No. 40) sieve shall have a plastic limit of not
greater than 12.
• Abrasion Loss or Mass % Wear: Tested by AASHTO T96
The coarse portion, retained on a 2.00 mm (No. 10) sieve shall have a mass
and wear not exceeding 50 by the Los Angeles Abrasion Test.
• CBR Value: Tested by AASHTO T193
• The material have a soaked CBR value of not less than 25%. This value is obtained at
the maximum dry density (MDD) as determined by AASHTO T180, Method D.
 ITEM 201
AGGREGATE BASE COURSE
This consists of furnishing, placing and compacting and aggregate subbase
course on a prepared subgrade/subbase in accordance with the plans and
specifications.
Grading Requirements
The base course materials should should conform to the following
grading requirements:
Sieve Designation Mass % Passing
mm Inches Grading A Grading B
50 2 100
37.5 11/2 100
25.5 1 60-85 The fraction passing the 0.075 mm
19 3/4 60-85
(No. 200) sieve shall not be greater
than 2/3 of the fraction passing the
12.5 1/2 36-65
0.425 mm (No. 40) sieve.
4.75 No. 4 20-50 30-55
0.425 No. 40 5-20 8-25
0.075 No. 200 0-12 2-14
 ITEM 201
AGGREGATE BASE COURSE
• Liquid Limit: Tested by AASHTO T89
The fraction passing the 0.425 mm (No. 40) sieve shall have a liquid limit of not
greater than 25.
• Plastic Limit: Tested by AASHTO T90
The fraction passing the 0.425 mm (No. 40) sieve shall have a plastic limit of not
greater than 6.
• Abrasion Loss or Mass % Wear: Tested by AASHTO T96
The coarse portion, retained on a 2.00 mm (No. 10) sieve shall have a mass
and wear not exceeding 50 by the Los Angeles Abrasion Test.
• CBR Value: Tested by AASHTO T193
• The material have a soaked CBR value of not less than 80%. This value is obtained at
the maximum dry density (MDD) as determined by AASHTO T180, Method D.