PRINCIPLES AND TECHNIQUES OF SOIL IDENTIFICATION

THE ACCURATE COMPLETE IDENTIFICATION OF SOILS IS THE FIRST AND MOST FUNDAMENTAL STEP IN ALL SOIL INVESTIGATIONS. IDENTIFICATION NOT ONLY REFERS TO THE PHYSICAL TECHNIQUES OF IDENTIFYING SOILS, BUT ALSO TO THE CAREFUL, SYSTEMATIC AND PRECISE WRITTEN AND SPOKEN IDENTIFICATIONS OF SOILS TO CONVEY DEFINITE AND SIGNIFICANT INFORMATION ON SOIL CHARACTER. AN APPRAISAL OF THE CLASSIFICATION AND IDENTIFICATION APPROACHES IS MADE TO SHOW THE FUNDAMENTAL IMPORTANCE AND POSSIBILITES OF THE IDENTIFICATION APPROACH. IDENTICATION PLACES THE EMPHASIS ON RECOGNIZING AND ESTABLISHING THE IDENTITY AND INDIVIDUALITY OF SOILS, AND ON IDENTIFYING ACCURATELY AND COMPLETELY THE INHERENT CHARACTERISTICS OF EACH SOIL. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SOIL MATERIAL, WHICH DETERMINE BEHAVIOR, AND BY WHICH SOILS MAY BE IDENTIFIED, ARE COMPOSITION AND INHERENT CHARACTER REGARDING PROPORTIONS AND GRADATIONS OF THE GRANULAR GRAVEL, SAND AND SILT COMPONENTS, AND THE PROPORTION, PLASTICITY AND CLAY QUALITIES OF THE CLAY COMPONENT. THE IDENTIFICATION APPROACH RECOGNIZES THE INHERENTLY VARIABLE AND COMPLEX CHARACTER OF SOILS AND NATURAL SITUATIONS. SOIL BEHAVIOR MUST BE CONSIDERED IN RELATION TO THE SPECIFIC CONDITIONS THAT CONTROL IN A SITUATION. THE PRINCIPLES OF SOIL IDENTIFICATION AND A SIGNIFICANT NAMING AND IDENTIFICATION OF SOILS ARE DISCUSSED FOR GRANULAR SOILS AND CLAY-SOILS. INTERPRETATIVE RATINGS OF SOILS ARE GIVEN REGARDING FUNDAMENTAL BEHAVIOR CHARACTERISTICS IN ORDER TO GIVE POINT TO THE PRINCIPLES AND TECHNIQUES OF SOIL IDENTIFICATION. THE TECHNIQUES OF SOIL IDENTIFICATION BY VISUAL AND MANUAL METHODS ARE PRESENTED IN TABLES OF IDENTIFICATION TECHNIQUES FOR THREE BASIC SOIL TYPES: (1) COMPOSITE GRANULAR SOILS WITH LESS THAN FIVE PERCENT SILT; (2) COMPOSITE GRANULAR SOILS WITH MORE THAN FIVE PERCENT SILT; AND (3) COMPOSITE CLAY-SOILS. IDENTIFICATION TECH- NIQUES ARE ILLUSTRATED FOR EACH TYPE. /AUTHOR/

• Record URL:
  https://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrbproceedings/29/29-029.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Vol 29, pp 402-433, 3 FIG, 17 TAB Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved
• Authors:
  • Burmister, D M
• Publication Date: 1950

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Monograph Title: Proceedings of the Twenty-Ninth Annual Meeting of the Highway Research Board Held at Washington, D.C. December 13-16, 1949.
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Board Proceedings
  • Volume: 29
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Clay; Granular soils; Identification systems; Materials selection; Properties of materials; Soil tests; Soil types; Soils
• Uncontrolled Terms: Site investigation; Soil classification
• Old TRIS Terms: Identification (Soils); Soil characteristics
• Subject Areas: Geotechnology; Highways; Materials;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00229995
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Jul 25 1971 12:00AM