SOIL MECHANICS

EXPERIMENT NO. 8

ENGINEERING CLASSIFICATION OF SOILSACCORDING TO

USCS & AASHTO
REFERENCE

ASTM D2487
Standard Practice for Classification of Soils for Engineering Purposes (Unified Soil
Classification System)

ASTM D2487
Standard Practice for Classification of Soils and Soil-Aggregate Mixtures for Highway
Construction Purposes

AASHTO M 145

OBJECTIVE

To perform basic characterization tests (specific gravity test, Sieve analysis, Hydrometer
analysis, Atterberg‟s limits) on soil specimens and to classify those soils according to USCS
and AASHTO methods

THEORY

A classification scheme provides a method of identifying soils in a particular group that would
likely exhibit similar characteristics. Soil classification is used to specify a certain soil type
that is best suitable for a given application. There are several classification schemes available.
Each was devised for a specific use. For example American Association of State Highway and
Transportation Officials (AASHTO) developed one scheme that classifies the soil according
to their usefulness in roads and highways. However, Unified Soil Classification System
(USCS) was originally developed for use in airfield construction, but was later modified for
general purpose. AASHTO and USCS are two major classification systems in use.

Unified Soil Classification System(USCS )

The USCS uses symbols for the particular size group:

G - Gravel particles retained on #4 sieve (4.75 mm)

S - Sand particles passing #4 sieve, but retained on # 200 sieve (0.075 mm)
M - Silt particles passing # 200 sieve
C - Clay particles passing # 200 sieve

These are combined with other symbols with expressing gradation characteristics

W- Well graded
P- Poorly graded

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And, plasticity characteristics (figure 1)

H – High plasticity L- Low plasticity O- Organic matter

Figure 1: Plasticity chart for the USCS classification of fines

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Figure 2 USCS Classification Chart

AASHTO Soil Classification System

The AASHTO soil classification is used to determine the suitability of soils for earthworks,
embankments, and road bed materials (sub base and sub grade). According to AASHTO
classification,
Gravel 75 mm – 2 mm (#10 sieve)
Sand 2 mm – 0.075 mm (#200 sieve)
Silt and Clay <0.075 mm
Silty: PI <10%
Clayey: PI >11

AASHTO classification classifies soil into 7 major groups: A-1 through A-7.
A-1 – A-3 : Granular or coarse grained soil
A-4 – A-7 :Silty clay or fine grained soil

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Figure 3: AASHTO soil classification chart

Silty and clayey soils can be located in a plasticity chart as shown in the figure 4 below

Figure 4: Plasticity chart for the AASHTO classification system

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Group Index (GI)

A group index value (GI) is appended in parentheses to the main group to provide a
measure of quality of a soil as highway sub grade material. The group index is given as:

Group Index : GI = (F-35) (0.2+0.005 ( LL-40 ) ) + 0.01 (F-15) (PI-10)

Where,
F = % finer than #200 sieve size.

GI is expressed in a nearest whole number. If GI is less than 0, then set it to 0. If any terms in
the above equation are less than 0, set them to 0. For them partial group index is used. The
higher the group index, the lower the quality of soil as sub grade material. GI should not
exceed 20 for any of group A-4 through A-7.

PROCEDURE
Information Required
Grain size distribution curve
Plasticity information of the soil – LL,
PL, and PI ASTM D 2487
AASHTO M 145
USCS Classification

1. Determine the % of soil retained on #200 sieve (R200).

2. If R200 is greater than 50%, it is a coarse grained soil otherwise it is a fine grained soil.
3. For fine grained soil:
a. Find whether the soil is organic, by comparing the liquid limit of oven dried specimen
with that of the original specimen. If the LL of oven dried specimen is less than 75%
of that of the non oven dried specimen, the soil is organic. Otherwise, the soil is
inorganic.
b. Plot the LL and PI values on the plasticity chart, and find the group symbol for the soil.
c. Determine % of soil retained on the US #4 sieve (R4). This is the % of gravel fraction
(GF) in the soil.
d. Determine the % of sand fraction (SF) in the soil by, SF = R200 – GF.
e. Use the ASTM table to classify the fine grained soil.
4. For coarse grained soil,
a. If % of gravel is more than % of sand, it is gravelly soil otherwise sandy.
b. Using the grain size distribution curve, calculate Cc, and Cu.
c. Using the ASTM chart for the coarse grained soil, classify the soil. Be careful
to check whether they fall under dual classification or not.

AASHTO Classification
1. Determine the % of soil passing through #200 sieve (F200). If F200 is more than
35% soil is fine grained otherwise coarse grained.
2. For coarse grained soil:
a. Determine F10, F40, F200, LL, and PI.

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b. Match the soil group based on the AASHTO Classification.

3. For fine grained soil:
a. Determine LL, and PI.
b. Group soil according to the AASHTO classification.
4. Determine Group Index (GI) of the soil as:

Group Index : GI = (F-35)(0.2+0.005(LL-40)) + 0.01(F-15)(PI-10)

5. Express GI in whole number.

6. Express the classification first by soil classification and then GI in parenthesis.

CALCULATIONS
1. Calculate the % of soil retained on the #200 sieve

R200 = (100 – F200)

2. Calculate the % of soil retained on the #4 sieve

R4 = (100 – F4)
3. Calculate uniformity coefficient (Cu) and coefficient of gradation (Cc) using the
following equations.

UNIFORMITY COEFFICIENT (CU)

COEFFICIENT OF CURVATURE (CC)

CALCULATE GROUP INDEX (GI)

GI = (F-35) (0.2+0.005 (LL-40)) + 0.01 (F-15) (PI-10)

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Percentage Cumulative
Weight of Soil Percent
Diameter Weight Percent
Sieve No. Retained Passing
(mm) Retained Retained
(grams) (%)
(%) (%)
10 2 2.19 0.438 1.39 98.61

40 0.42 50.05 10.01 11.4 98.61

200 0.74 389.01 77.80 89.2 88.6

PAN 52.10 10.82 99.62 0.38

AASHTO SOIL CLASSIFICATION TABLE

USCS CLASSIFICATION OF SOIL

Percentag Cumulative
Weight Percent
Diameter e Weight Percent
Sieve of Soil Passin
(mm) Retained Retained
No. Retained g (%)
(%) (%)
(grams)
4 4.76 4.82 0.96 0.96

200 0.74 389.9 88.25 89.21

pan 52.10 10.42 99.63

TYPE OF SOIL
Type of soil AASHTO USCS

Gravel 1.40

Sand 87.81

Silt and clay 10.42

100
Grain Size Distribution Curve
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PRECAUTIONS

1. Particles that appear to be stuck in the sieve screen should never be forced on through
the mesh. There are two reasons for not doing this.
a. The particles would have passed the screen on their own had they been smaller than
the mesh opening. Forcing these particles through the screen to be retained on the next
size would distort the grain size results.
b. Secondly forcing the particles through the mesh can damage the screen and
necessitate its replacement.

2. Particles caught in a screen should be removed by brushing with the proper sieve
brush. Brushing should be done from the underside of the screen in order that the
particles can be brushed out of the screen in the direction from which it entered in the
screen opening. Stubborn (obstinate) particles that cannot be removed by rushing
should be left in place.

3. Lumps of soils must have broken down into their individual particles in order for
the grain size analysis to be valid. This is accomplished in two ways. The first is to
break up lumps with a rubber-tipped pestle in ceramic mortar. It has been found that
the rubber-tipped pestles will not grind or crush the individual particles while a
ceramic or metal-tipped pestle will. The second is to wet-sieve the soil. Washing
the particles that are retained on the No.200 sieve with water and this will
accomplish two things.
a. It separates those small lumps that might not have been broken up with the rubber
tipped pestle into individual particles.

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b. It washes the “Dust size” particles and through the No.200 sieve.
4. A 10 minute shaking period is suggested in procedure. A large sample is requires
longer shaking than a sample. Similarly a sample comprising primarily of fine grained
material will require a longer shaking period than a coarse grained sample of equal
weight.
COMMENTS

● From this experiment, we practice for classification of soils for engineering purposes
such as in Unified Soil Classification System.
● We can to know that we took 500 g sample of soil
● Our sample was about 85 to 90 percent course sand so that’s why there ll and plastic
limit of soil could not be found.

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