DISCUSSION

Theory
Permeability is a property of soil which permits flow of water through its
interconnecting voids; it is an important engineering property which governs the
rate of settlement of saturated compressible soil layers and the rate of flow of
aquifer.
The rate of flow under laminar flow conditions through a unit cross sectional are of
porous medium under unit hydraulic gradient is defined as coefficient of
permeability. Constant Head Permeameters are used for coarse grained
cohesionless soils.
The coefficient of permeability, k, is a product of Darcys Law. Darcy
established an empirical relationship for the flow of water through porous
media. This relationship has evolved into Darcys Law, which states: Q = A . k . I
Constant Head Permeability Test is performed on sands as the pore openings are
large and hence high permeability (k >10 -4 cm/s)

Observation
The soil sample has a cylindrical form with its diameter being large enough in order
to be representative of the tested soil. The testing apparatus is equipped with an
adjustable constant head reservoir and an outlet reservoir which allows maintaining
a constant head during the test. Water used for testing is de-aired water at constant
temperature. The permeability cell is also equipped with a loading piston that can
be used to apply constant axial stress to the sample during the test.
Before starting the flow measurements, however, the soil sample is saturated.
During the test, the amount of water flowing through the soil column is measured
for given time intervals. Knowing the height of the soil sample column L, the sample
cross section A, and the constant pressure difference h, the volume of passing
water Q, and the time interval T
Application
The knowledge of this property is much useful in solving problems involving yield
of water bearing strata, seepage through earthen dams, stability of earthen dams,
and embankments of canal bank affected by seepage, settlement etc.

 Calculation of seepage through earth dams, embankments of canals, under sheet

pile walls.
Estimate settlements in foundations and slope stability analysis.

CONCLUSION
This test method covers the determination of the coefficient of permeability by a
constant-head method for the laminar flow of water through granular soils. The
procedure is to establish representative values of the coefficient of permeability of
granular soils that may occur in natural deposits as placed in embankments, or
when used as base courses under pavements.
The result we obtained for the average value of the coefficient of permeability is
0.270 cm/sec. The value for the permeability coefficient for sands should be greater
than 10-4 cm/sec, and with the result of the experimentation our value is within the
range of the expected results. Thus, the result is valid and the procedure of the
experiment was correctly done and accurately efficient.