Objectives

1. To be able to classify the soil sample using the Unified Soil Classification System

(USCS) and American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials

(AASHTO) Soil Classification System

2. To be able to describe the property of the classified soil sample comparing it to other

soil classification

Theoretical Background

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 such as permeability, stiffness, strength.

The class to which a soil belongs can be used in its description.

Soil with similar properties may be classified into two groups and subgroups based on

their engineering behaviour. Classification systems provide a common language to express

concisely the general characteristics of soils, which are infinitely varied, without a detailed

description. At the present time, two elaborate classification systems that use the grain-size

distribution and the plasticity of soils are commonly used by soil engineers. They are the

American association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO)

classification system and the Unified Soil Classification System (USCS). The AASHTO

system is used mostly by state and county highway departments, whereas geotechnical

engineers usually prefer to use the Unified Soil Classification System.

The AASHTO classification was developed in 1929 as the Public Road

Administration Classification System. It has undergone several revisions, with the present

version proposed by the Committee on Classification of Materials for Subgrades and

Granular Type Roads of the Highway Research Board in 1945.

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 Figure 7-1 Classification of Highway Subgrade Materials

To classify a soil according to Figure 7-1, the test data are applied from left to right.

By process of elimination, the first group from the left into which the test data will fit is the

correct classification.

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 The original form of USCS was proposed by Casagrande in 1948 for use in the

airfield construction works undertaken by the Army Corps of Engineers during World War II.

In cooperation with the US Bureau of Reclamation, this system was revised in 1952.

This system classifies soils into two broad categories:

1. Coarse grained soils that are gravelly and sandy in nature with less than 50% passing

through the No.200 sieve. The group symbols start with a prefix of either G or S. G

stands for gravel or gravelly soil, and S for sand or sandy soil.

2. Fine-grained soils with 50% or more passing through the No.200 sieve. The group

symbols start with a prefix M, which stands for inorganic silt, C for organic clay, or O

for organics silts and clays. The symbol Pt is used for peat, muck and other highly

organic soils.

Figure 7-2 Unified Soil Classification system (Based on Material Passing 75-mm sieve)

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 Figure 7-3 Plasticity Chart

For proper classification according to this system, some or all of the following

information must be known:

1. Percent of gravel – that is, the fraction passing the 76.2-mm sieve and retained on the

No. 4 sieve (4.75-mm opening)

2. Percent of sand – that is, the fraction passing the No.4 sieve (4.75-mm opening) and

retained on the No.200 sieve (0.075-mm opening)

3. Percent of silt and clay – that is, the fraction finer than the No.200 sieve (0.075-mm

opening)

4. Uniformity coefficient (Cu) and the coefficient of gradation (Cc).

5. Liquid Limit and Plasticity Index of the portion of soil passing No.40 sieve.

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Figure 7-4 Flowchart Group Names for Gravelly and Sandy Soil

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Figure 7-5 Flowchart Group Names for Inorganic Silty and Clayey Soils

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Figure 7-6 Flowchart Group Names for Organic Silty and Clayey Soils

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Procedure

AASHTO CLASSIFICATION

1. Determine the percentage of soil passing through U.S. No. 200 sieve (0.075 mm

opening). If [35% or less passes No. 200 sieve, it is a coarse-grained material. Proceed

to Steps 2 and 4. If more than 35% passed No. 200 sieve, it is a fine-grained material

(i.e., silty or clayey material). For this, go to Steps 3 and 5.

2. Determination of Groups or Subgroups 2. For coarse-grained Soils, determine the

percent passing U.S. sieve Nos. 10, 40 and 200 and, additionally, the liquid limit and

plasticity index. Then proceed to Figure 7-1 Start from the top line and compare the

known soil properties with those given in the table (Columns 2 through 6). Go down

one line at a time until a line is found for which all the properties of the desired soil

matches. The soil group (or subgroup) is determined from Column I.

3. For fine-grained soils, determine the liquid limit and the plasticity index. Then go

to Figure 7-1. Start from the top line. By matching the soil properties from Columns

2, 3 and 4, determine the proper soil group (or subgroup). Determination of Group

Index

4. To determine the group index (GI) of coarse-grained soils, the following rules need

to be observed.

a. OH or soils in groups (or subgroups) A-I-a, A-I-b, A-2-4, A-2-5 and A-3 is zero.

b. For OJ in soils of groupsA-2-6 and A-2-7, use the following equation: OJ = 0.01

(F200 - 15)(PI - 10) whereF200 = percent passing No. 200 sieve PI = plasticity index

(9.1) If the 01 comes out negative, round it off to zero. If the 01 is positive, round it

off to the nearest whole number.

5. For obtaining the GI of coarse-grained soils, use the following equation: GI =

(F200 - 35)[0.2 + 0.005(LL - 40)] + 0.01(F200 - l5)(PI - 10) (9.2) If the GI comes out

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negative, round it off to zero. However, if it is positive, round it off to the nearest

whole number. Expression for Soil Classification

6. Expression for Soil Classification. The final classification of a soil is given by first

writing down the group (or subgroup) followed by the group index in parenthesis.

Unified Classification System

1. If it is peat (i.e., primarily organic matter, dark in color, and has organic odor),

classify it as Pt by visual observation. For all other soils, determine the percent

of soil passing through U.S. No. 200 sieve (F200).

2. Determine the percent retained on U.S. No, 200 sieve (R200) as R4 = 100 -

F4 i (nearest whole number)

3. If R200 is greater than 50%, it is a coarse-grained soil. However, if R2oo is

less than or equal to 50%, it is a fine-grained soil. For the case where R200 s

50% (i.e., fine-grained soil), go to Step 4. If R200 > 50%, go to Step 5.

4. For fine-grained soils (i.e., R200 S 50%, determine if the soil is organic or

inorganic in nature.

a. If the soil is organic, the group symbol can be OH or OL. If the soil is

inorganic, the group 'symbol can be CL, ML, CH, MH, or CL-ML.

b. Determine the percent retained on U.S. No.4 sieve (R4) as R4 = 100 -

F4 i (nearest whole number) where F4 ='percent finer than No.4 sieve

Note that R4 is the percent of gravel fraction in the soil (OF), so

c. Determine the percent of sand. fraction in the soil (SF), or SF=R200 -

OF (9.4) (9.5) (9.6).

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 d. For inorganic soils, determine the liquid limit (LL) and the plasticity

index (Pl). Go to Step 4e. For organic soils, determine the liquid limit

(not oven dried), LLNOD; the liquid limit (oven dried), LLOD; and the

plasticity index (not oven dried), PI NOD' Go to Step 4f.

e. With known values of R200, OF, SF, SF/OF, LL and PI, use Table 9-3

to obtain group symbols and group names of inorganic soils.

f. With known values of LLNOD' LLoD, PINOD' R200 , OF, SF and

SF/OF.

5. For coarse-grained soils:

a. If R4 > 0.5R200> it is a gravelly soil. These so Us may have the

following group symbols:

GW GW-GM

GF GW-GC

GM GP-GM

GC GP-GC

GC-GM

b. If R4 > 0.5Rzoo, it is a sandy soil. These soils may have the following

group symbols:

SW SW-SM

SP SW-SC

SM SP-SM

SC SP-SC

SM-SC

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Analysis of Data

Location : Pinagtung-Ulan, San Jose, Batangas

Table 7-1: Sieve Analysis Test Result

Sieve Sieve Mass of Mass of Mass of Soil Percent of Cumulative Percent

No. Diamete empty Soil Retained on Mass Percent Passing
r (mm) Sieve + each Sieve (g) Retained Retained (%)
(g) Mass of on each (%)
Sieve (g) Sieve (%)
4 4.75 515 620 105 14 14 86
10 2.00 460 640 180 24 24 62
20 0.850 385 565 180 24 24 38
40 0.425 360 465 105 14 14 24
60 0.250 335 390 55 7.333 7.333 16.667
100 0.150 325 365 40 5.333 5.333 11.334
200 0.075 315 350 35 4.667 4.667 6.667
pan 365 420 55
Σ 755 = 𝑊1

Plastic Limit = 26.667

Liquid Limit = 41.9

Placticity Index = Liquid Limit – Plastic Limit

= 41.9 – 26.667

= 15.223

Soil Classification Using AASHTO

The result of the particle-size analysis of a soil are as follows:

 Percent passing through No.10 sieve = 62

 Percent passing through No.40 sieve = 24

 Percent passing through No.200 sieve = 6.667

The liquid limit and plastic limit are 41.9 and 26.667 respectively.

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 Using the Figure 7-1, since 6.667% of the soil passing through the No.200 sieve, it

falls under granular materials classification. The plasticity index of the soil is 15.223. So,

the soil will be classified as A-1-b (0).

Soil Classification Using USCS

The result of the particle-size analysis of a soil are as follows:

 Percent passing through No.10 sieve = 62

 Percent passing through No.40 sieve = 24

 Percent passing through No.200 sieve = 6.667

The liquid limit and plastic limit are 41.9 and 26.667 respectively.

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 Using the Figure 7-2 to Figure 7-6, the classification of soil is SW-SC well graded sand

with clay or silty clay.

 Fine fraction = 6.667

 Coarse fraction = 93.333

 Gravel fraction = 14

 Sand fraction = 79.333

Computing D10

𝟏𝟏. 𝟑𝟑𝟒 − 𝟔. 𝟔𝟔𝟕 𝟏𝟏. 𝟑𝟑𝟒 − 𝟏𝟎

=
𝟎. 𝟏𝟓𝟎 𝟎. 𝟏𝟓𝟎
𝒍𝒐𝒈 ( ) 𝒍𝒐𝒈 ( 𝑫 )
𝟎. 𝟎𝟕𝟓 𝟏𝟎

𝑫𝟏𝟎 = 𝟎. 𝟏𝟐𝟑𝟎𝟑𝟗𝟖𝟔𝟎𝟕

Computing D30

𝟑𝟖 − 𝟐𝟒 𝟑𝟖 − 𝟑𝟎
=
𝟎. 𝟖𝟓𝟎 𝟎. 𝟖𝟓𝟎
𝒍𝒐𝒈 ( ) 𝒍𝒐𝒈 ( 𝑫 )
𝟎. 𝟒𝟐𝟓 𝟑𝟎

𝑫𝟏𝟎 = 𝟎. 𝟓𝟕𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟕𝟓𝟖𝟏𝟗

Computing D60

𝟔𝟐 − 𝟑𝟖 𝟔𝟐 − 𝟔𝟎
=
𝟐 𝟐
𝒍𝒐𝒈 ( ) 𝒍𝒐𝒈 (𝑫 )
𝟎. 𝟖𝟓𝟎 𝟔𝟎

𝑫𝟔𝟎 = 𝟏. 𝟖𝟔𝟐𝟑𝟓𝟒𝟕𝟑𝟏

Computing Cc

(𝑫𝟑𝟎 )𝟐
𝑪𝒄 = = 𝟏. 𝟒𝟐𝟕𝟖𝟗𝟏𝟗𝟏𝟏
(𝑫𝟏𝟎 )(𝑫𝟔𝟎 )

Computing Cu

(𝑫𝟔𝟎 )
𝑪𝒄 = = 𝟏𝟓. 𝟏𝟑𝟔𝟏𝟗𝟎𝟏𝟖
(𝑫𝟏𝟎 )

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Page | 14
Discussion of results

Page | 15
Conclusion & Recommendation

Soil classification is a dynamic subject, from the structure of the system itself, to the

definitions of classes, and finally in the application in the field. Soil classification can be

approached from the perspective of soil as a material and soil as a resource.

We concluded that the classification of soil sample is dependent on the datum of the

preceding laboratories. This report shows the classification of soil using AASHTO and

USCS. Classifying soils depends greatly on two experiments: the particle size distribution

and the Atterberg limits. Using these two experiments we identify the classification of our

soil sample.

Engineers, typically geotechnical engineers, classify soils according to their

engineering properties as they relate to use for foundation support or building material.

Modern engineering classification systems are designed to allow an easy transition from field

observations to basic predictions of soil engineering properties and behaviors.

The group recommend that to easily classify the soil base on the AASHTO (American

Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials) and USCS (Unified Soil Classification

System) tabulate the sieve percent finer and the Atterberg limits. And make sure to identify the

proper information that must be known for each system.

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References

 Fundamentals of Geotechnical Engineering, Soil Mechanics (Philippine Edition) Author:

Braja M. Das

 https://www.google.com.ph/search?q=classification+of+highway+subgrade+materials&t

bm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=pOQBky00BBKNUM%253A%252CzewzpZZgy16id

M%252C_&usg=AI4_TQsnMsoORnai5qFttBuqmW91VbHQ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiJk

5by56zeAhWaUd4KHdP3AMQQ9QEwC3oECAQQBA#imgrc=R-XDXSFHaKDMXM:

 https://www.google.com.ph/search?q=plasticity+chart&oq=plasticity&aqs=chrome.1.69i

57j0l5.4679j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

 https://www.google.com.ph/search?biw=911&bih=438&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=6aXXW-

OCEsqgb2vIa4Dg&q=flowchart+group+names++for+inorganic+silty+and+clayey+soils

&oq=flowchart+group+names++for+inorganic+silty+and+clayey+soils&gs_l=img.3...72

0097.750920.0.751139.62.60.1.0.0.0.326.6942.0j46j3j1.50.0....0...1c.1.64.img..11.18.309

1.0..0j35i39k1j0i67k1j0i10i67k1j0i8i10i30k1j0i8i30k1.0.MKRGsbfvY8I#imgrc=hYlIbB

DwxF8YSM:

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Appendix

Group Members

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