Just like other construction materials soils has its own scientific analysis with regards to its abilities on

dealing with forces. Being the oldest construction and probably engineering material soil is one of the
most complex fields in civil engineering to the point that when it comes to the factor of safety in
design whatever has direct contact with soils, e.g. foundations, or soil based constructions, e.g.
embankments, requires a significantly higher safety factor compare with other construction materials,
i.e. the uncertainty in soil analysis and design is higher. These is most likely resulted from the way soil
originates.
Usage of soil as the main element of construction goes back to the first civilization when Sumerian
built Ur, first city in the history, on south of Mesopotamia near the mouth of Euphrates River. They
used bricks to build their first houses and earlier they built embankments and dams to direct the water
for irrigation. The Western history of recognition the soil as a main element goes back to Romans, in
the first century B.C., when their engineers used the trial and error experiences to construct
foundations.
After all today soil and rock are still one of the most important materials used in construction. It is
used or on its natural state or with improvements, such as compaction, reinforcement and etc., as the
main component such as in dams, embankments and highways or as supporter element in every
construction, i.e. foundation support.
All soils originate directly or indirectly from rocks and these are classified according to their mode of
formation. By a combination of physical and chemical processes rock masses are reduced to particles
ranging in size down to 0.001 mm. Soils result when collections of these particles are re-deposited,
often in bodies of water, and are compressed and consolidated by further depositions above.
The nature of the subsequent soil depends not only on its parent rocks, but also on the processes and
conditions of disintegration, transport and deposition and on time.

The properties of clay minerals

are important, in particular their very flaky nature.

Understanding the formation and nature of soils is an important precursor to understanding their
engineering properties and their behavior under load.
Soils are, in the main, naturally occurring materials. Engineers and builders who use soils have to
take them as they find them; soils cannot be manufactured to order in the way of other materials,
such as steel and concrete.

Soils are also highly variable and complex materials, possessing

engineering properties that may have a wide range of possible values. Thus, at the start of any design
process soils must be accurately and systematically described; classification is part of description. The
main components of soil description are:
The nature of the soil:
The state of the soil:
The fabric of the soil:

shape, size and distribution of particles

density, relative density, water content
homogeneity or layer sequences, cementing

Physical Properties of Soils:

The basic physical properties of soils are those required to define its physical state.

The three

constituent phases (solid, liquid and gas) must be quantified and relationships between them
expressed in numerical terms to enable changes in physical state be measured. A soil model is used
in which the solid phases (rock or mineral particles) has one unit of volume; the volumes and masses
of the water and content are then related to this unit solid volume. Density or unit weight and water
content are important measures of physical state.
Soil Mechanics:
Soil Mechanics is the numerical science using principles of engineering mechanics such as fluid
mechanics or mechanics of materials that was first used by Coulomb, 1773, a member of French Royal
Engineers, to solve soil problems. It studies and defines mainly terms such as, shear strength,
permeability, angle of friction, Critical state, effective stress, consolidation, slope stability, earth
pressure and etc. that the website will focus on their definitions as well as their applications on todays
civil engineering.

The term "soil" can have different meanings, depending upon the field in which it is considered.
To a geologist, it is the material in the relative thin zone of the Earth's surface within which roots
occur, and which are formed as the products of past surface processes. The rest of the crust is
grouped under the term "rock".
To a pedologist, it is the substance existing on the surface, which supports plant life.
To an engineer, it is a material that can be:

built on: foundations of buildings, bridges

built in: basements, culverts, tunnels

built with: embankments, roads, dams

supported: retaining walls

Soil Mechanics is a discipline of Civil Engineering involving the study of soil, its behaviour and
application as an engineering material.
Soil Mechanics is the application of laws of mechanics and hydraulics to engineering problems
dealing with sediments and other unconsolidated accumulations of solid particles, which are
produced by the mechanical and chemical disintegration of rocks, regardless of whether or not they
contain an admixture of organic constituents.
Soil consists of a multiphase aggregation of solid particles, water, and air. This fundamental
composition gives rise to unique engineering properties, and the description of its mechanical
behavior requires some of the most classic principles of engineering mechanics.
Engineers are concerned with soil's mechanical properties: permeability, stiffness, and strength.
These depend primarily on the nature of the soil grains, the current stress, the water content and unit
weight.
n the Earth's surface, rocks extend upto as much as 20 km depth. The major rock types are
categorized as igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic.

Igneous rocks: formed from crystalline bodies of cooled magma.

Sedimentary rocks: formed from layers of cemented sediments.

Metamorphic rocks: formed by the alteration of existing rocks due to heat from igneous
intrusions or pressure due to crustal movement.

Soils are formed from materials that have resulted from the disintegration of rocks by various
processes of physical and chemical weathering. The nature and structure of a given soil depends on
the processes and conditions that formed it:

Breakdown of parent rock: weathering, decomposition, erosion.

Transportation to site of final deposition: gravity, flowing water, ice, wind.

Environment of final deposition: flood plain, river terrace, glacial moraine, lacustrine or
marine.

Subsequent conditions of loading and drainage: little or no surcharge, heavy surcharge

due to ice or overlying deposits, change from saline to freshwater, leaching, contamination.

All soils originate, directly or indirectly, from different rock types.

Soils as they are found in different regions can be classified into two broad categories:
(1) Residual soils
(2) Transported soils

Residual Soils
Residual soils are found at the same location where they have been formed. Generally, the depth of
residual soils varies from 5 to 20 m.
Chemical weathering rate is greater in warm, humid regions than in cold, dry regions causing a
faster breakdown of rocks. Accumulation of residual soils takes place as the rate of rock
decomposition exceeds the rate of erosion or transportation of the weathered material. In humid
regions, the presence of surface vegetation reduces the possibility of soil transportation.
As leaching action due to percolating surface water decreases with depth, there is a corresponding
decrease in the degree of chemical weathering from the ground surface downwards. This results in a
gradual reduction of residual soil formation with depth, until unaltered rock is found.
Residual soils comprise of a wide range of particle sizes, shapes and composition.

Transported Soils
Weathered rock materials can be moved from their original site to new locations by one or more of the transportation
agencies to form transported soils. Tranported soils are classified based on the mode of transportation and
the finaldeposition environment.
(a) Soils that are carried and deposited by rivers are called alluvial deposits.
(b) Soils that are deposited by flowing water or surface runoff while entering a lake are called lacustrine
deposits.Atlernate layers are formed in different seasons depending on flow rate.
(c) If the deposits are made by rivers in sea water, they are called marine deposits. Marine deposits contain both
particulate material brought from the shore as well as organic remnants of marine life forms.
(d) Melting of a glacier causes the deposition of all the materials scoured by it leading to formation of glacial deposits.
(e) Soil particles carried by wind and subsequently deposited are known as aeolian deposits.

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It is necessary to adopt a formal system of soil description and classification in order to describe the
various materials found in ground investigation. Such a system must be meaningful and concise in
an engineering context, so that engineers will be able to understand and interpret.
It is important to distinguish between description and classification:
Description of soil is a statement that describes the physical nature and state of the soil. It can be
a description of a sample, or a soil in situ. It is arrived at by using visual examination, simple tests,
observation of site conditions, geological history, etc.

Classification of soil 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: permeability, stiffness, strength. The class to which a soil
belongs can be used in its description.
The aim of a classification system is to establish a set of conditions which will allow useful
comparisons to be made between different soils. The system must be simple. The relevant criteria
for classifying soils are the size distributionof particles and the plasticity of the soil.

Importance of shear strength of soil

The knowledge of shear strength is very important some of the uses are provided below:

In the design of foundations the evaluation of bearing capacity is dependent on the shear strength.

For the design of embankments for dams, roads, pavements, excavations, levees etc. The analysis of the
stability of the slope is done using shear strength.

In the design of earth retaining structures like retaining walls, sheetpile coffer dams, bulks heads, and other
underground structures etc.
The shear strength of a soil mass is essentially made up of:

Due to the interlocking of the grains the structural resistance of the movement of the soil is very essential.

An other important component is the frictional resistance between the individual soil grains at their contact
point on sliding.

The resistance due to the forces which hold the particles together or the cohesion.
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The following properties of soil are taken into consideration while dealing with soil as a construction
material.

Cohesion

Angle of internal friction

Capillarity

Permeability

Elasticity

Compressibility

1. COHESION
It is the internal molecular attraction which resists the rupture or shear of a material. Cohesion is
derived in the fine grained soils from the water films which bind together the individual particles in
the soil mass. Cohesion is the property of the fine grained soil with particle size below 0.002 mm.
cohesion of a soil decreases as the moisture content increases. Cohesion is greater in well
compacted clays and it is independent the of external load applied.

2. ANGLE OF INTERNAL FRICTION

The resistance in sliding of grain particles of a soil mass depends upon the angle of internal friction.
It is usually considered that the value of the angle of internal friction is almost independent of the
normal pressure but varies with the degree of packing of the particles, i.e. with the density. The soils
subjected to the higher normal stresses will have lower moisture contents and higher bulk densities
at failure than those subjected to lower normal stresses and the angle of internal friction may thus
change. The true angle of internal friction of clay is seldom zero and may be as much as 26 0. The
angle of internal friction fro granular soils may vary in between 280 to 500.

3. CAPILLARITY
It is the ability of soil to transmit moisture in all directions regardless of any gravitational force. Water
rises up through soil pores due to capillary attraction. The maximum theoretical height of capillary
rise depends upon the pressure which tends to force the water into the soil, and this force increases
as the size of the soil particles decreases. The capillary rise in a soil when wet may equal as much
as 4 to 5 times the height of capillary rise in the same soil when dry.
Coarse gravel has no capillary rise; coarse sand has up to 30 cm; fine sand and soils have capillary
rise up to 1.2 m but dry sand have very little capillarity.
Clays may have capillary rise up to 0.9 to 1.2 m but pure clays have very low value.

4. PERMEABILITY
Permeability of a soil is the rate at which water flows through it under action of hydraulic gradient.
The passage of moisture through the inter-spaces or pores of the soil is called percolation. Soils
having porous enough for percolation to occur are termed pervious or permeable, while those
which do not permit the passage of water are termed impervious or impermeable. The rate of
flow is directly proportional to the head of water.
Permeability is a property of soil mass and not of individual particles. The permeability of cohesive
soil is, in general, very small. Knowledge of permeability is required not only for seepage, drainage
and ground water problems but also for the rate of settlement of structures on saturated soils.

5. ELASTICITY
A soil is said to be elastic when it suffers a reduction in volume (or is changed shape & bulk) while
the load is applied, but recovers its initial volume immediately when the load is removed. The most
important characteristic of the elastic behavior of soil is that no matter how many repetitions of load
are applied to it, provided that the stress set up in the soil do not exceed the yield stress, the soil
does not become permanently deformed. This elastic behavior is characteristic of peat.

6. COMPRESSIBILITY
Gravels, sands & silts are incompressible, i.e. if a moist mass of those materials is subjected to
compression; they suffer no significant volume change. Clays are compressible, i.e. if a moist mass
of clay is subjected to compression, moisture & air may be expelled, resulting in a reduction in
volume which is not immediately recovered when the compression load is withdrawn. The decrease
in volume per unit increase of pressure is defined as the compressibility of soil, and a measure of the
rate at which consolidation proceeds is given by the co-efficient of consolidation of the soil.
Compressibility of sand & silt varies with density & compressibility of clay varies directly with water
content & inversely with cohesive strength.
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