LA SALLE UNIVERSITY

OZAMIZ CITY

CIV 321 (Geotechnical Engineering I)

Name: _______________________________ Instructor: _________________________
Date Performed:_______________________ Date Due: __________________________
Group No.: ___________________________ Grade: ____________________________

EXPERIMENT NO. ______

DESPCRIPTION AND IDENTIFICATION OF SOILS (VISUAL-MANUAL PROCEDURE)

(ASTM D 2488)

Objective: ____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________

Introduction
Soil exists throughout the world in a wide variety of types. Different types of soil
exhibit diverse behavior and physical properties. In as much as the engineering properties and
behavior of soils are governed by their physical properties, it is important to describe and
identify soils in terms that will convey their characteristics clearly and accurately to soils
engineers.
Before tests on soil samples from a given area are conducted, a prudent visual and
actual inspection along with a few simple tests can be performed to provide an initial
appraisal of the soil in the area. Such information can be helpful in preliminary planning and in
relating field observations to subsequent test results. Of course, any initial appraisal should be
described clearly using appropriate and recognizable terminology.

Definitions
The American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM) gives the following definitions
for various types of soil.
1) For particles retained on a 3-in. (75-mm) US standard sieve, the following definitions are
suggested:
1.1 Cobbles – particles of rock that will pass a 12-in. (300mm square opening) and be
retained on a 3-in. (75mm) sieves.
1.2 Boulders – particles of rock that will not pass a 12-in (300mm) square opening.

2) Clay – soil passing a No. 200 (.075mm) sieve that can be made to exhibit plasticity within a
range of water contents and that exhibits considerable strength when air dry. For
classification, a clay is a fine-grained soil, or the fine-grained portion of a soil, with a
plasticity index equal to or greater than 4, and the plot of plasticity index versus liquid
limit falls on or above the “A” line.

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3) Gravel – particle of rock that will pass a 3-in. (75mm) sieve and be retained on a No. 4
(4.75mm) sieve with the following subdivisions.
Coarse – passes a 3-in. (75mm) sieve and is retained on a ¾-in. (19mm) sieve.
Fine – passes a ¾-in. (19mm) sieve and is retained on a No. 4 (4.75mm) sieve.

4) Organic Clay – a clay with sufficient organic content to influence the soil properties. For
classification, an organic clay is a soil that would be classified as a clay, except that its
liquid limit value after oven drying is less than 75% of its liquid limit value before oven
drying.

5) Organic Silt – a silt with sufficient organic content to influence the soil properties. For
classification, an organic silt is a soil that would be classified as a silt, except that its liquid
limit value after oven drying is less than 75% of its liquid limit value before oven drying.

6) Peat – a soil comprised primarily of vegetable tissue in various stages of decomposition,

usually with an organic odor, a dark brown to black in color, a spongy consistency, and a
texture ranging from fibrous to amorphous.

7) Sand – particles of rock that will pass a No. 4 (4.75mm) sieve and be retained on a No. 200
sieve with the following subdivisions.
Coarse – passes a No. 4 (4.75mm) sieve and is retained on a No. 10 (2.0 mm) sieve.
Medium – passes a No. 10 (2.0 mm) sieve and is retained on a No. 40 (0.425mm) sieve.
Fine – passes a No. 40 (0.425mm) and is retained on a No. 200 (0.075mm) sieve.

8) Silt – soil passing a No. 200 (0.075mm) sieve that is non-plastic or very slightly plastic and
that exhibits little or no strength when dry. For classification, a silt is a fine-grained soil, or
the fine-grained portion of a soil, with a plasticity index less than 4, and the plot of
plasticity index versus liquid limit falls below the “A” line.

Description Information for Soils

1) Angularity – describe the angularity of the sand, gravel, cobbles and boulders in
accordance with the criteria in table 1.

Table 1 – Criteria for Describing Angularity of Coarse-Grained Particles

Description Criteria
Angular Particles have sharp edges and relatively plane sides with unpolished
surfaces
Subangular Particles are similar to angular description but have rounded edges
Subrounded Particles have nearly plane sides but have well-rounded corners and
edges
Rounded Particles have smoothly curved sides and no edges
2) Shape – describe the shape of the gravel, cobbles and boulders as flat, elongated if they
meet the criteria in table 2. Otherwise, do not mention the shape. Indicate the fraction of
the particles that have the shape, such as one-third of the gravel particles are flat.

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Table 2 – Criteria for Describing Particle Shape
The particle shape shall be described as follows where length, width and thickness refer to
the greatest, intermediate, and least dimension of a particle, respectively.
Flat Particles with width/thickness > 3
Elongated Particles with length/width > 3
Flat and elongated Particles meet criteria for both flat and elongated

3) Color – an important property in identifying organic soils, and within a given locality. It
may also be useful in identifying materials of similar geologic origin. If the sample contains
layers of particles of varying color, this shall be noted and all representative colors shall be
described. The color shall be described for moist samples. If the color represents a dry
condition, this shall be noted.

4) Odor – describe the odor if organic or unusual. Sols containing a significant amount of
organic material usually have a distinctive odor of decaying vegetable.

5) Moisture condition – describe as dry, moist or wet in accordance with table 3.

Table 3 – Criteria for Describing Moisture Condition

Description Criteria
Dry Absence of moisture, dusty, dry to the touch
Moist Damp but no visible water
Wet Visible free water, usually soil is below water table

6) Consistency – for intact fine-grained, describe the consistency as in accordance with the
criteria in Table 4. This observation is inappropriate for soils with significant amounts of
gravel.

Table 4 – Criteria for Describing Consistency

Description Criteria
Very Soft Thumb will penetrate soil more than 1 in. (25mm)
Soft Thumb will penetrate soil about 1 in. (25mm)
Firm Thumb will indent soil about ¼ in (6mm)
Hard Thumb will not indent soil but readily indented with thumbnail
Very hard Thumb will not indent soil

7) Cementation – for intact coarse-grained soil describe in accordance with table 5.

Table 5 – Criteria for Describing Cementation

Description Criteria
Weak Crumbles or breaks with handling or little finger pressure
Moderate Crumbles or breaks with considerable finger pressure
Strong Will not crumble or break with finger pressure

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Illustration:

Observation

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