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https://hdl.handle.net/11681/21360| Title: | The unified soil classification system. Volume 2, Appendix A, Characteristics of soil groups pertaining to embankments and foundations |
| Authors: | United States. Army. Office of the Chief of Engineers. U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station. |
| Keywords: | Soil Embankments Foundations Seepage |
| Publisher: | U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station Engineer Research and Development Center (U.S.) |
| Description: | Technical memorandum Introduction: The major properties of a soil proposed for use in an embankment or foundation that are of concern to the design or construction engineer are its strength, permeability, and consolidation and compaction characteristics. Other features may be investigated for a specific problem, but in general some or all of the properties mentioned above are of primary importance in an earth embankment or foundation project of any magnitude. It is common practice to evaluate the properties of the soils in question by means of laboratory or field tests and to use the results of such tests as a basis for design and construction. The factors that influence strength, consolidation, and other characteristics are numerous and some of them are not completely understood; consequently, it is impractical to evaluate these features by means of a general soils classification. However, the soil groups in a given classification do have reasonably similar behavior characteristics, and while such information is not sufficient for design purposes, it will give the engineer an indication of the behavior of a soil when used as a component in construction. This is especially true in the preliminary examination for a project when neither time nor money for a detailed soils testing program is available. It should be borne in mind by engineers using the classification that only generalized characteristics of the soil groups are included therein, and they should be used primarily as a guide and not as the complete answer to a problem. For example, it is possible to design and construct an earth embankment of almost any type of soil and upon practically any foundation; this is in accordance with the worth-while principle of utilizing the materials available for construction. However, when a choice of materials is possible, certain of the available soils may be better suited to the job than others. It is on this basis that the behavior characteristics of soils represented in the following paragraphs and on the classification sheet. The use to which a structure is to be put is often the principal deciding factor in the selection of soil types as well as the type of protective measures that will be utilized. Since each structure is a special problem within itself, it is impossible to cover all possible considerations in the brief description of pertinent soil characteristics contained in this appendix. |
| Rights: | Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. |
| URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/11681/21360 |
| Appears in Collections: | Technical Memorandum |
Files in This Item:
| File | Description | Size | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WES-Technical-Memorandum-No.3-357-Volume-2.pdf | 901.07 kB | Adobe PDF |  View/Open |