GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING SET 1 REFERENCE: REVIEW INNOVATIONS

SOIL PROPERTIES Situation 6: A sand cone test has been performed in a

Situation 1: The sample of soil weighing 30.6 kg had a compacted fill of soil. The test results were as follows:
volume of 0.0183m3. The sample is allowed to dry in an Initial mass of sand cone apparatus w/ sand = 5.912 kg
oven and the weight was reduced to 27.2 kg. The Final mass of sand cone apparatus w/ sand = 2.378 kg
specific gravity of the solids was found to be 2.65. Mass of soil recovered from hole = 2.833 kg
Determine the following: Moisture content of soil from hole = 7% Density of
1. Moist unit weight of soil in kN/m3 sand = 1300 kg/m3
2. Dry unit weight of soil in kN/m3 Volume of cone below valve = 1.114 x 103 m3 Max. dry
3. Moisture content unit weight =19 kN/m3
4. Void ratio Determine the following:
5. Porosity 18. Moist unit weight
6. Degree of saturation 19. Dry Unit Weight
20. Relative compaction
Situation 2: The soil sample in natural state having a
volume of 0.0012 m3 weighs 1.73 kg. The degree of Situation 7: A sample of dry coarse-grained material
saturation being 61.6%. After drying in an oven, the was taken through a layer of sieves and the following
final weight of sample was 1.44 kg. Determine the results were obtained:
following: Sieve no. Openings Mass of soil retained
7. Specific gravity of solid (mm) (grams)
8. Void ratio 4 4.76 46.0
9. Critical hydraulic gradient 10 2.0 165.6
20 0.84 92.0
Situation 3: The moist soil having a volume of 0.0154 40 0.42 55.2
m3 has a unit weight of 16.5 kN/m3 and a moisture 60 0.25 23.0
content of 15%. If the specific gravity of solid is 2.7. 100 0.149 36.8
Determine the following: 200 0.074 23.0
10. Degree of Saturation Pan 18.4
11. Volume of air in the original sample Determine the following:
12. Weight of water to be added to reach full 21. Effective particle size
saturation 22. Uniformity coefficient
23. Coefficient of curvature
COMPACTION
Situation 4: The moist unit weight of sample of soil is
17.43 kN/m3. It has a specific gravity of solid of 2.65
and water content of 16%. The sample has a void ratio
of 0.88 in the loosest condition and 0.36 in the densest
condition.
13. Compute the density index
14. If the dry unit weight at optimum water
content was 19.12 kN/m3, what is the
minimum dry unit

Situation 5: A proposed embankment fill requires 5000

m3 of compaction soil. The void ratio of the compacted
fill is specified as 0.70. Three borrow pits are available
as described in the following table.
Borrow Pit Void Ratio Cost/m3
A 0.85 P830
B 0.95 P760
C 1.10 P720
What is the total cost for acquiring soil from:
15. Borrow Pit A?
16. Borrow Pit B?
17. Borrow Pit C?

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First City Providential College / College of Engineering / Civil Engineering Department
Engr. Clarence F. Abris, RCE, RMP, ME-1, SO2, MSCE
GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING SET 1 REFERENCE: REVIEW INNOVATIONS

Problems for Practice

Situation 8: A saturated soil has a unit weight of 18.85
kN/m3 and water content of 32%. Determine the
following:
24. Specific gravity of solid (2.725)
25. Porosity (0.466)
26. Submerged unit weight (9.04)

Situation 9: The relative compaction of sand in the field

is 94%. The maximum and minimum dry unit weights of
the sand are 16.2 kN/m3 and 14.9 kN/m3 respectively.
For the field condition determine the following:
27. Dry unit weight (15.23)
28. Relative density of compaction (27%)
29. Moist unit weight at moisture content of 8%
(16.45)

Situation 10: A proposed earth fill needs 30,000 m3 of

soil and be compacted to 95% of Standard Proctor dry
density. Tests indicate that the max dry density is 19.4
kN/m3 at an optimum water content of 16%. The
borrow material in its natural condition has a unit
weight of 17.6 kN/m3 and water content of 12%.
Determine the following:
30. Total volume of borrow required (35,194)
31. Volume of void of borrow material if Gs = 2.671
(14,077)
32. Quantity of water to be added to bring the soil
to the optimum moisture content. (2254)

Situation 11: The following observations were recorded

when sand replacement test was conducted using sand-
cone equipment in order to find the density of natural
soil.
Density of sand used in the test = 1.4 g/cm3 Weight of
soil excavated from the pit = 950 grams Weight of sand
filling the pit = 700 grams
Water content of natural soil = 15% Specific gravity of
solid = 2.70
33. Compute the dry density of soil in g/cm3 (1.65)

Situation 12: The following are the details for the

backfill material in a vibroflotation project.
D10 = 0.36 mm
D20 = 0.52 mm
D25 = 0.60 mm
D50 = 1.42 mm
D75 = 1.65 mm
Determine the following:
34. Suitability number (6.11)
35. Rating based on the value of suitability number.
(Excellent)
36. Sorting coefficient (1.66)

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First City Providential College / College of Engineering / Civil Engineering Department
Engr. Clarence F. Abris, RCE, RMP, ME-1, SO2, MSCE
GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING SET 1 REFERENCE: REVIEW INNOVATIONS

Properties of Soil 15. Relative/Percent Compaction

𝜹𝒅
𝑹= 𝒙𝟏𝟎𝟎%
1. Void Ratio (e) 𝜹𝒅𝒎𝒂𝒙
𝑽𝒗
𝒆=
𝑽𝒔 16. Effective Gran Size = D10
17. Average Grain Size = D50
2. Porosity (n)
𝑽𝒗 18. Coefficient of Uniformity (CU)
𝒏= 𝑫𝟔𝟎
𝑽 𝑪𝑼 =
𝑫𝟏𝟎
3. Degree of Saturation (S)
𝑽𝒘 19. Coefficient of Gyration/Curvature (CC)
𝑺=
𝑽𝒗 𝑫𝟑𝟎 𝟐
𝑪𝑪 =
𝑫𝟔𝟎 𝑫𝟏𝟎
4. Water/Moisture Content (w)
𝑾𝒘 𝑴𝒘 20. Sorting Coefficient (SO)
𝒘= =
𝑾𝒔 𝑴𝒔
𝑫𝟕𝟓
𝑺𝑶 = √
5. Dry Unit Weight ( 𝜹𝒅 ) 𝑫𝟐𝟓
𝑾𝒅
𝜹𝒅 =
𝑽 21. Suitability Number (Sn)
𝟑 𝟏 𝟏
6. Moist Unit Weight ( 𝜹𝒎 ) 𝑺𝒏 = 𝟏. 𝟕√ 𝟐 + 𝟐 +
𝑾𝒎 𝑫𝟓𝟎 𝑫𝟐𝟎 𝑫𝟏𝟎 𝟐
𝜹𝒎 =
𝑽
Sn Rating
7. Saturated Unit Weight ( 𝜹𝒔𝒂𝒕 ) 0 – 10 Excellent
𝑾𝒔𝒂𝒕
𝜹𝒔𝒂𝒕 = 10 – 20 Good
𝑽 20 – 30 Fair
30 – 50 Poor
8. Bulk Unit Weight ( 𝜹′ )
𝜹′ = 𝜹𝒔𝒂𝒕 − 𝜹𝒘

9. Specific Gravity of Solids

𝜹 Weight – Volume Relationship
𝑮=
𝜹𝑾
𝐺𝑆
a. 𝛿𝑑 = 𝛿
1+𝑒 𝑤
10. Specific Gravity of Solids
𝜹𝑺
𝑮𝑺 =
𝜹𝑾 b. 𝛿𝑚 = 𝛿𝑑 (1 + 𝑤)

11. Air Content (𝜶𝒄 ) 𝐺𝑆+ 𝐺𝑆 𝑤

𝑽𝒂 c. 𝛿𝑚 = 1+𝑒
𝛿𝑤
𝜶𝒄 = = 𝒏(𝟏 − 𝑺)
𝑽
𝐺𝑆+ 𝑆𝑒
d. 𝛿𝑚 = 𝛿
12. Air Void Ratio (𝒏𝒂 ) 1+𝑒 𝑤
𝑽𝒂
𝒏𝒂 = =𝟏−𝑺 𝐺𝑆+ 𝑒
𝑽𝒗 e. 𝛿𝑠𝑎𝑡 = 𝛿𝑤
1+𝑒
13. Critical Hydraulic Gradient (𝒊𝒄𝒓 )
𝐺𝑆 −1
𝜹′ 𝑮𝑺 − 𝟏 f. 𝛿′ = 𝛿𝑤
𝒊𝒄𝒓 = = 1+𝑒
𝜹𝒘 𝟏+𝒆
𝑒
14. Relative Density or Density Index (𝑫𝒓 ) g. 𝑛 = 1+𝑒
𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒙 − 𝒆
𝑫𝒓 = 𝒙𝟏𝟎𝟎%
𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒙 − 𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒏
h. 𝑆𝑒 = 𝑤𝐺𝑠
𝟏 𝟏
−
𝜹𝒅𝒎𝒊𝒏 𝜹𝒅
𝑫𝒓 = 𝒙𝟏𝟎𝟎%
𝟏 𝟏
−
𝜹𝒅𝒎𝒊𝒏 𝜹𝒅𝒎𝒂𝒙

𝜹𝒅 − 𝜹𝒅𝒎𝒊𝒏 𝜹𝒅𝒎𝒂𝒙
𝑫𝒓 = ( ) 𝒙𝟏𝟎𝟎%
𝜹𝒅𝒎𝒂𝒙 − 𝜹𝒅𝒎𝒊𝒏 𝜹𝒅

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First City Providential College / College of Engineering / Civil Engineering Department
Engr. Clarence F. Abris, RCE, RMP, ME-1, SO2, MSCE
GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING SET 1 REFERENCE: REVIEW INNOVATIONS

Page 4|4
First City Providential College / College of Engineering / Civil Engineering Department
Engr. Clarence F. Abris, RCE, RMP, ME-1, SO2, MSCE