Soil description and classification

It is necessary to adopt a formal system of soil description and classification in order

to describe the various materials found in ground investigation. Such a system must be
comprehensive (covering all but the rarest of deposits), meaningful in an engineering
context (so that engineers will be able to understand and interpret) and yet relatively
concise. It is important to distinguish between description and classification:

Description of soil is a statement describing the physical nature and state of the soil.
It can be a description of a sample, or a soil in situ. It is arrived at using visual
examination, simple tests, observation of site conditions, geological history, etc.

Soil classification is the separation of soil into classes or groups each having similar
characteristics and potentially similar behaviour. A classification for engineering
purposes should be based mainly on mechanical properties, e.g. permeability,
stiffness, strength. The class to which a soil belongs can be used in its description. 

Basic characteristics of soils

Soils consist of grains (mineral grains, rock
fragments, etc.) with water and air in the voids
between grains. The water and air contents are
readily changed by changes in conditions and
location: soils can be perfectly dry (have no water
content) or be fully saturated (have no air content)
or be partly saturated (with both air and water
present). Although the size and shape of the solid
(granular) content rarely changes at a given
point, they can vary considerably from point to
point. 
 

First of all, consider soil as a engineering material -

it is not a coherent solid material like steel and concrete, but is a particulate material.
It is important to understand the significance of particle size, shape and composition,
and of a soil's internal structure or fabric. 
 Soil as an engineering material:

The term "soil" means different things to different people: To a geologist ( A scientist
who specializes in pedology, i.e. a scientist who studies origins, composition and distribution of
soils and the materials from which soils are formed.) it represents the products of past
surface processes. To a pedologist it represents currently occurring physical and
chemical processes. To an engineer it is a material that can be:

Built on: foundations to buildings, bridges. 

Built in: tunnels, culverts, basements. 
Built with: roads, runways, embankments, dams. 
Supported: retaining walls, quays.

Soils may be described in different ways by different people for their different
purposes. Engineers' descriptions give engineering terms that will convey some sense
of a soil's current state and probable susceptibility to future changes (e.g. in loading,
drainage, structure, surface level).

Engineers are primarily interested in a soil's mechanical properties: strength,

stiffness, permeability. These depend primarily on the nature of the soil grains, the
current stress, the water content and unit weight. 

Size range of grains:

The range of particle sizes encountered in soil is very large: from boulders with a

controlling dimension of over 200mm down to clay particles less than 0.002mm
(2m). Some clays contain particles less than 1  in size which behave as colloids,
i.e. do not settle in water due solely to gravity.

In the British Soil Classification System soils are classified into named Basic Soil
Type groups according to size, and the groups further divided into coarse, medium
and fine sub-groups: 
 
 RANGE OF PARTICLE SIZE
TYPE
mm

BOULDERS > 200 mm

Very coarse
soils COBBLES 60 - 200 mm

coarse 20 - 60 mm
G medium 6 - 20 mm
GRAVEL
fine 2 - 6 mm
Coarse
soils coarse 0.6 - 2.0 mm
S medium 0.2 - 0.6 mm
SAND
fine 0.06 - 0.2 mm

coarse 0.02 - 0.06 mm

M medium 0.006 - 0.02 mm
Fine SILT
soils fine 0.002 - 0.006 mm

C  CLAY < 0.002 mm

TABLE1

Soils possess a number of physical characteristics which can be used as aids to size
identification in the field. A handful of soil rubbed through the fingers can yield the
following:

SAND (and coarser) particles are visible to the naked eye. 

SILT particles become dusty when dry and are easily brushed off hands and boots. 
CLAY particles are greasy and sticky when wet and hard when dry, and have to be
scraped or washed off hands and boots. 

Shape of grains:
The majority of soils may be regarded as either SANDS or CLAYS:

SANDS include gravelly sands and gravel-sands. Sand grains are generally broken
rock particles that have been formed by physical weathering, or they are the resistant
components of rocks broken down by chemical weathering. Sand grains generally
have a rotund shape.

CLAYS include silty clays and clay-silts; there are few pure silts (e.g. areas formed
by windblown Löess). Clay grains are usually the product of chemical weathering of
rocks and soils. Clay particles have a flaky shape.

There are major differences in engineering behaviour between SANDS and CLAYS
(e.g. in permeability, compressibility, shrinking/swelling potential). The shape and
size of the soil grains has an important bearing on these differences. 

Shape characteristics of SAND grains:

SAND and larger-sized grains are rotund. Coarse soil grains (silt-sized, sand-sized
and larger) have different shape characteristics and surface roughness depending on
the amount of wear during transportation (by water, wind or ice), or after crushing in
manufactured aggregates. They have a relatively low specific surface (surface area).

Rounded: Water- or air-worn; transported sediments.

Irregular: Irregular shape with round edges; glacial sediments (sometimes sub-divided into 'sub-
rounded' and 'sub-angular').
Angular: Flat faces and sharp edges; residual soils, grits.

Flaky: Thickness small compared to length/breadth; clays.

Elongated: Length larger than breadth/thickness; scree, broken flagstone.

Flaky and Elongated: Length>Breadth>Thickness; broken schists and slates.

 Shape characteristics of CLAY grains:

CLAY particles are flaky. Their thickness is very small relative to their length &
breadth, in some cases as thin as 1/100th of the length. They therefore have high to
very high specific surface values. These surfaces carry a small negative electrical
charge that will attract the positive end of water molecules. This charge depends on
the soil mineral and may be affected by an electrolyte in the pore water. This causes
some additional forces between the soil grains which are proportional to the specific
surface. Thus a lot of water may be held as adsorbed water within a clay mass.

Structure or fabric:

Natural soils are rarely the same from one point in the ground to another. The
content and nature of grains varies, but more importantly, so does the arrangement
of these.

The arrangement and organisation of particles and other features within a soil mass is
termed its structure or fabric. This includes bedding orientation, stratification, layer
thickness, the occurrence of joints and fissures, the occurrence of voids, artefacts, tree
roots and nodules, the presence of cementing or bonding agents between grains.

Structural features can have a major influence on in situ properties.

 Vertical and horizontal permeabilities will be different in alternating layers of

fine and coarse soils.
 The presence of fissures affects some aspects of strength.
 The presence of layers or lenses of different stiffness can affect stability.
 The presence of cementing or bonding influences strength and stiffness.
Grading and composition
The recommended standard for soil classification is the British Soil Classification
System, and this is detailed in BS 5930 Site Investigation. 

Coarse soils:
Coarse soils are classified principally on the basis of particle size and grading.

TYPE RANGE OF PARTICLE SIZE (mm)

Very coarse BOULDERS > 200 mm

soils COBBLES 60 - 200 mm

coarse 20 - 60 mm
G
medium 6 - 20 mm
GRAVEL

Coarse fine 2 - 6 mm
soils coarse 0.6 - 2.0 mm
S
medium 0.2 - 0.6 mm
SAND
fine 0.06 - 0.2 mm

Particle size tests:

The aim is to measure the distribution of particle sizes in the
sample. When a wide range of sizes is present, the sample will
be sub-divided, and separate tests carried out on each sub-
sample. Full details of tests are given in BS 1377: "Methods of
test for soil for civil engineering purposes".

Particle-size tests

Wet sieving to separate fine grains from coarse grains is carried

out by washing the soil specimen on a 60m sieve mesh. 
Dry sieving analyses can only be carried out on particles >
60 m. Samples (with fines removed) are dried and shaken
through a nest of sieves of descending size. 
Sedimentation is used only for fine soils. Soil particles are
allowed to settle from a suspension. The decreasing density of
the suspension is measured at time intervals. Sizes are determined from the settling
velocity and times recorded. Percentages between sizes are determined from density
differences.

Particle-size analysis

The cumulative percentage quantities finer than certain sizes (e.g. passing a given size
sieve mesh) are determined by weighing. Points are then plotted of % finer
(passing) against log size. A smooth S-shaped curve drawn through these points is
called a grading curve. The position and shape of the grading curve determines the
soil class. Geometrical grading characteristics can be determined also from the
grading curve.

  
Typical grading curves

Both the position and the shape of the grading curve for a soil can aid its identity and
description. 
Some typical grading curves are shown in the figure: 
A - a poorly-graded medium SAND (probably estuarine or flood-plain alluvium) 
B - a well-graded GRAVEL-SAND (i.e. equal amounts of gravel and sand) 
C - a gap-graded COBBLES-SAND 
D - a sandy SILT (perhaps a deltaic or estuarine silt) 
E - a typical silty CLAY (e.g. London clay, Oxford clay) 
Grading characteristics:

A grading curve is a useful aid to soil description. Grading curves are often included
in ground investigation reports. Results of grading tests can be tabulated using
geometric properties of the grading curve. These properties are called grading
characteristics

First of all, three points are located on the grading curve: 

d10 = the maximum size of the smallest 10% of the sample 
d30 = the maximum size of the smallest 30% of the sample 
d60 = the maximum size of the smallest 60% of the sample

From these the grading characteristics are calculated: 

Effective size: This is defined as the maximum particle size of the smallest 10 percent and is
denoted d10.
Uniformity coefficient: Allen Hazen’s uniformity coefficient. This is the ratio of the maximum
particle size of the smallest 60 percent to the effective size.
Cu = d60 / d10
Coefficient of gradation 
Ck = d30² / d60 d10
Both Cu and Ck will be 1 for a single-sized soil 
Cu > 5 indicates a well-graded soil 
Cu < 3 indicates a uniform soil 
Ck between 0.5 and 2.0 indicates a well-graded soil 
Ck < 0.1 indicates a possible gap-graded soil 
Sieve analysis example
The results of a dry-sieving test are given below, together with the grading analysis and grading
curve. Note carefully how the tabulated results are set out and calculated. The grading curve has
been plotted on special semi-logarithmic paper; you can also do this analysis using a spreadsheet.

Sieve mesh Mass Percentage Percentage

size (mm) retained (g) retained finer (passing)

14.0 0 0 100.0

10.0 3.5 1.2 98.8

6.3 7.6 2.6 86.2

5.0 7.0 2.4 93.8

3.35 14.3 4.9 88.9

2.0 21.1 7.2 81.7

1.18 56.7 19.4 62.3

0.600 73.4 25.1 37.2

0.425 22.2 7.6 29.6

0.300 26.9 9.2 20.4

0.212 18.4 6.3 14.1

0.150 15.2 5.2 8.9

0.063 17.5 6.0 2.9

Pan 8.5 2.9  

TOTAL 292.3 100.0  

The soil comprises: 18% gravel, 45% coarse sand, 24% medium sand, 10% fine sand,
3% silt, and is classified therefore as: a well-graded gravelly SAND 
  
 

Fine soils
In the case of fine soils (e.g. CLAYS and SILTS), it is the shape of the particles rather
than their size that has the greater influence on engineering properties. Clay soils
have flaky particles to which water adheres, thus imparting the property
of plasticity. 
  
 

Consistency limits and plasticity:

Consistency varies with the water content of the soil. The consistency of a soil can
range from (dry) solid to semi-solid to plastic to liquid (wet). The water contents at
which the consistency changes from one state to the next are called consistency
limits (or Atterberg limits).

Two of these are utilised in the classification of fine soils.

Liquid limit (wL) - change of consistency from plastic to liquid. The minimum moisture content
at which soil will flow under its own weight. 
Plastic limit (wP) - change of consistency from brittle/crumbly to plastic. The minimum moisture
content at which the soil at which the soil can be rolled into a thread 3 mm diameter without
breaking up.
Shrinkage limit (wS). The maximum moisture content at which further loss of moisture does not
cause a decrease in the volume of the soil.
Measures of liquid and plastic limit values can be obtained from laboratory tests. 

  
 

Plasticity index:
The consistency of most soils in the ground will be plastic or semi-solid. Soil strength and
stiffness behaviour are related to the range of plastic consistency. The range of water content
over which a soil has a plastic consistency is termed the Plasticity Index (IP or PI).
IP = liquid limit - plastic limit
= wL - wP
The plasticity chart and classification
In the British Soil Classification System fine soils are divided into ten classes based on their
measured plasticity index and liquid limit values: CLAYS are distinguished from SILTS, and
five divisions of plasticity are defined:

Low plasticity wL = < 35%

Intermediate plasticity wL = 35 - 50%

High plasticity wL = 50 - 70%

Very high plasticity wL = 70 - 90%

Extremely high plasticity wL = > 90%

A plasticity chart is provided to aid classification.

An empirical boundary called the 'A' line, with a slope expressed by the equation plasticity
index=0-73 (liquid limit--20), separates inorganic clays from inorganic silts and organic soils.
Further vertical subdivisions of the chart are made to distinguish differences in engineering
properties such as compressibility, permeability and toughness. Soils located within each area of
the chart are assigned a definitive code in the classification and would be expected to behave
similarly in constructional engineering.