Assessment of Soil Type and Compactness / Strength

Good information about ground conditions is of vital importance for the design of any structure that interacts with the ground, such as ground support and
foundations. The table below gives guidance for the assessment of soils exposed in trial pits. Wherever possible this guidance should be used when preparing
design briefs to help ensure that the information supplied to the designer is suitable to allow the design to be completed accurately and efficiently.

Basic Soil Particle Assessment of Compactness / Strength

Visual Identity
Type Size, mm Term Field Test
BOULDERS Only seen complete in pits or exposures. Loose
Coarse

200
Soils
Very

By Inspection of voids and particle packing.

COBBLES Often difficult to recover from boreholes. Dense

60
Easily visible to naked eye; particle shape can be described; grading
coarse
can be described. Can be excavated with a spade; 50mm wooden peg can be
20 Loose
easily driven.
GRAVELS medium Well graded: wide range of particle sizes, well distributed.
6
Poorly graded: not well graded. May be uniform (size of most
Coarse Soils

fine particles lies between narrow limits) or gap graded (an intermediate
size of particle is markedly under-represented). Requires pick for excavation; 50mm wooden peg hard to
2 Dense
drive.
Visible to naked eye. Very little or no cohesion when dry grading
coarse
can be described.
0.6
SANDS medium Well graded: wide range of particle sizes, well distributed.
0.2 Poorly graded: not well graded. May be uniform (size of most Slightly Cemented Visual examination; pick removes soil in lumps which can be
particles lies between narrow limits) or gap graded (an intermediate abraded.
fine
size of particle is markedly under-represented).
0.06
coarse Very Soft Exudes between fingers when squeezed in hand.
0.02 Only coarse silt barely visible to naked eye; exhibits little plasticity
and marked dilatancy; slight granular or silky to the touch.
SILTS medium Soft or Loose Easily moulded or crushed between fingers.
Disintegrates in water; lumps dry quickly; possess cohesion but can
0.006 be powdered easily between fingers. Can be moulded or crushed by strong pressure between
fine Firm or Dense
Fine Soils

fingers.
0.002
Soft Moulded by light finger pressure.
Dry lumps can be broken but not powdered between fingers; they
also disintegrate under water but more slowly than silt; smooth to the
Firm Can be moulded by strong finger pressure.
CLAYS touch; exhibits plasticity but no dilatancy; sticks to fingers and dries
slowly; shrinks appreciably on drying usually showing cracks. High
plasticity show these properties to a greater degree than moderate Stiff Cannot be moulded by fingers. Can be indented by thumb.
plasticity clays.
Very Stiff Can be indented by thumbnail.
Organic Soils

ORGANIC CLAY Plastic Can be moulded in hands and smears fingers.

Varies Contains substantial amounts of organic vegetable matter.
SILT or SAND

Spongy Very compressible and open structure.

Predominantly plant remains usually dark brown or black in colour,
PEATS Varies
often with distinctive smell; low bulk density. Firm Fibres already compressed together.