CHAPTER 1 SOIL DESCRIPTION AND CLASSIFICATION

The purpose of the sheets in this section is to provide quick reference guides to the description of soils and rocks in sufficient detail to cover most situations. The sheets follow BS 5930 recommendations except where otherwise stated. However, to avoid including too much detail, they are not comprehensive, and are not intended to replace the BS or other source documents, which should be referred to for special situations or in case of doubt.

June 2004

BROAD CLASSIFICATION OF SOIL ACCORDING TO ORIGIN

June 2004 Sheet 1 of

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Classification

Process of formation Chemical weathering of parent rock with little or no movement of particles.

Nature of deposits

Residual

Product of complete weathering is typically a clay whose type depends mainly on the weathering process. Products of partial weathering are more stony and depend more on rock type. Soil becomes more compact, more stony and less weathered with increasing depth.

Alluvial

Materials transported Vary from finest clays to very coarse gravel and boulders. Soils usually and deposited by show pronounced stratification. River gravels are usually rounded. water action. Materials transported Includes screes, avalanches, landslips, hillside creep, downwash by gravity. material and solifluxion deposits. Varies from clays to boulders. Material is usually heterogeneous with a side range of particle sizes. Often termed hill wash or head deposits. Materials transported and deposited by glacial ice or by melt waters from glaciers. Glacial Till (previously called Boulder Clay) and moraine deposits usually have broad gradings ranging from clay to boulders. Grain size in the outwash material decreases with distance from the source of melt water. Stratification in moraines and till is usually heterogeneous but outwash deposits give rise to laminated (varved) silt and clay in glacial lakes. Grains are typically angular or sub-angular.

Colluvial

Glacial, periglacial, fluvio-glacial

Aeolian or loessian

Materials transported Highly uniform gradation with indistinct or no stratification. Typically silt and deposited by or fine sand sized but sometimes the surface is covered by a single wind. layer of pebbles. Loess typically has a secondary structure of vertical cracks, joints and root holes. Formed in place by growth and decay of plants. Peats are dark coloured, fibrous or amorphous and highly compressible. Mixtures of fine sediment and organic matter produce organic silts and clays.

Organic

Volcanic

Ash and pumice Silt-sized particles along with larger volcanic debris. Particles are deposited in volcanic highly angular and often vesicular. Weathering produces a highly eruptions. plastic, sometimes expansive, clay. The weathered consolidated deposits sometimes form a light, easily-worked stone. Materials precipitated or evaporated from solutions of high salt content. Forms cemented soils or soft sedimentary rocks. Includes oolites precipitated from calcium in sea water and gypsum precipitated from sulphate-rich playa lakes in deserts. Evaporites may form as a hard crust just below the surface in arid regions.

Evaporites

DESCRIBING A SOIL Descriptions should include all or some of the items listed in the headings below. By working from left to right across the columns below and noting the properties of a soil sample, a useful description of the soil on a standardised format will be obtained. Shear strength / relative density Discontinuities and bedding Spacing (mm) Grey > 2000 2000 - 600 600 - 200 200 - 60 60 - 20 < 20 Breaks into blocks along unpolished discontinuities. Breaks into blocks along polished discontinuities. Spacing (mm) Brown Colour

EXAMPLES Loose brown very sandy subangular fine to coarse sandstone GRAVEL with small pockets of soft grey clay. Soft laminated dark blue sandy CLAY. MADE GROUND (Stiff orange-brown CLAY with scattered brick fragments). Composite soil types Example descriptions Coarse-grained soils Slightly sandy Particle shape, composition Type of particle PARTICLE Boulders Cobbles SIZE (mm) >200 60-200 ...with shells Seen complete only in pits or exposures. ...with scattered Often difficult to recover whole cobbles and boulders from boreholes. ...with layers or lenses Easily visible; particle shape of fine sand. can be described; grading can be described. ...with some shell fragments. Visible to naked eye; no cohesion when dry; grading can be described. Gravel is fine to coarse, of sandstone and brick fragments. Visual identification Inclusions, stratum name

June 2004

SAND AND GRAVEL Discontinuities SPT N Very loose < 4 Can be dug by spade. Very widely 50mm square peg easily Widely Loose 4-10 driven.* Medium Closely Medium dense 10-30 Very closely Extremely closely Needs pick for Dense 30-50 excavation. 50mm square peg hard to Very dense > 50 drive.* Fissured *Sands/gravels can be classed as Loose or Compact on the basis of these characteristics but this is no longer recommended by BS5930. SILT Uncompact Easily moulded or crushed in the fingers. Compact Can be moulded or crushed by strong pressure in the fingers. CLAYS cu (kPa) Can be squeezed out Very soft < 20 between fingers. Moulded by light finger Soft 20-40 pressure. Moulded by strong Firm 40-75 finger pressure. Can be indented by Stiff 75-150 thumb. Can be indented by Very stiff 150-300 thumb nail. Hard > 300 Can be scratched by thumb nail.

Blue-grey Sandy Mottled Very sandy yellow and brown SAND and GRAVEL Dark green etc.

Angular Subangular Subrounded < 5% Rounded Flat 5 - 20% Elongated Irregular > 20% Rough Smooth 50% Polished Sandstone Limestone Granite Brick

SOIL DESCRIPTIONS

Gravel

coarse medium fine coarse medium fine

20-60 6-20 2-6 0.6-2.0 0.2-0.6 0.06-0.2

Sand

Sheared

Example descriptions Fine-grained soils Slightly sandy < 35%

Bedding Very thickly bedded Thickly bedded Medium bedded Thinly bedded Very thinly bedded Thickly laminated Thinly laminated

> 2000 2000 - 600 600 - 200 200 - 60 60 - 20 20 - 6 <6

Sandy Very sandy

Calcareous shaley Glauconitic 35 - 65% Micaceous etc. > 65%

Silt

coarse medium fine

Little plasticity & marked dilatancy; slightly granular or 0.02-0.06 silky feel; disintegrates in 0.006-0.02 water; lumps dry quickly; 0.002-0.006 cohesion but can be powdered easily.

...with rare / occasional / numerous / frequent / abundant... (RECENT DEPOSITS) (ALLUVIUM) (TOPSOIL) (LONDON CLAY) (WEATHERED BRACKLESHAM CLAY) (GLACIAL TILL) etc.

Silt/clay

0.006 - 0.001 Dry lumps can be powdered but not broken; disintegrates slowly in water; smooth feel; plasticity but no dilatancy; sticks to fingers and dries slowly; shrinks and usually cracks on drying.

Clay Other terms Stratified Heterogeneous Intact Weathered (See 1-5 for a fuller description of weathering.)

<0.002

Sheet

Note: Pure silt is rarely encountered, and silty soils are usually more accurately described as clay or silt/clay (or silty clay, though this is not recommended by BS 5930), especially where a consistency is given. Grey, Slightly organic / organic / black, very organic, etc etc.

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ORGANIC SOILS Firm Fibres easily compressed together. Fibrous Spongy Very compressible, open texture. Pseudo-fibrous Plastic Mouldable. Smears fingers. Amorphous

of

Plant remains recognisable, some strength. Plant remains recognisable, strength lost. Recognisable plant remains absent.

Organic soils are typically clays that contain finely divided or discrete particles of organic matter, often with distinctive smell. Peat is predominantly plant remains, distinctive smell, low density.

Note: this table is based on Table 13 of BS 5930 : 1999. For full details see the BS.

B.S. SOIL CLASSIFICATION

June 2004 Sheet 1 of THIS TABLE TO BE READ IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE NOTES AND EXPLANATIONS GIVEN ON SHEET 2. SOIL GROUPS GRAVELS (>50% of coarse material is of gravel size - >2mm) Slightly silty or clayey GRAVEL DESCRIPTION AND IDENTIFICATION G Well graded GRAVEL GW SUB-GROUPS Uniformly graded GP Gap graded Well graded G-M Poorly graded Well graded G-C Poorly graded LIQUID LIMIT

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FINES (%<0.06 mm)

GPu Poorly graded GRAVEL GPg GWM Silty GRAVEL GW Silty or clayey GPM G-F GWC GRAVEL Clayey GRAVEL GC GPC GML Very silty GRAVEL GM Subdivisions as for GC As GC etc. GCL Low plasticity fines <35 Very silty or clayey GCI Intermediate plasticity fines 35-50 15-35 GF GRAVEL GCH 50-70 Very clayey GRAVEL GC High plasticity fines GCV 70-90 Very high plasticity fines Extremely high plasticity fines GCE >90 Well graded SAND SW Slightly silty or SPu Uniformly graded 0-5 S Poorly graded SAND clayey SAND SP Gap graded SPg Well graded SWM Silty SAND Silty or clayey S-M Poorly graded SPM 5-15 S-F Well graded SWC SAND Clayey SAND S-C Poorly graded SPC SML Very silty SAND SM Subdivisions as for SC As SC etc. Low plasticity fines SCL <35 Very silty or clayey Intermediate plasticity fines SCI 35-50 SF SAND SCH 50-70 15-35 Very clayey SAND SC High plasticity fines Very high plasticity fines SCV 70-90 Extremely high plasticity fines SCE >90 MLG As CG As for CG Gravelly SILT MG etc. Low plasticity CLG <35 Gravelly SILT or Intermediate plasticity CIG 35-50 FG gravelly CLAY* CHG 50-70 Gravelly CLAY CG High plasticity Very high plasticity CVG 70-90 Extremely high plasticity CEG >90 MLS Sandy SILT MS As for CG As CG Sandy SILT or etc. FS CLS sandy CLAY* Sandy CLAY CS As for CG As CG etc. ML SILT M As for C As C etc. Low plasticity CL <35 Intermediate plasticity CI 35-50 SILT or CLAY F CH 50-70 CLAY C High plasticity Very high plasticity CV 70-90 Extremely high plasticity CE >90 ORGANIC SOILS Letter 'O' suffixed to any group or subgroup symbol. e.g. MHO - organic silt of high plasticity. PEAT Pt Peat soils consist predominantly of plant remains (fibrous or amorphous) * Gravelly if >50% coarse material is gravel sized: sandy if >50% coarse material is sand sized. COARSE SOILS (<35% fines) FINE SOILS (>35% fines) Gravelly or sandy SILTS and CLAYS (>65% fines) SILTS or CLAYS (3565% fines) SANDS (>50% of coarse material is of sand size - 0.06mm to 2.00mm)

B.S. SOIL CLASSIFICATION

April 2008 Sheet 2 of NOTES (1) It should be made clear whether the group classification is based on laboratory test results or simply on inspection of the soil.

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(2) Silt (M-soil), M, is material that plots below the A-line on a standard plasticity chart (see below). Fine soils of this type include diatomaceous soils, pumice and volcanic soils, and soils containing halloysite, in addition to silt-sized soils and rock flour. The alternative term, 'M-soil', is sometimes used to describe this group of soils, to avoid confusion with purely silt sized material. (3) The soil classification applies to material of gravel, sand, silt and clay sizes. Larger particles must be removed before classification and their proportions recorded separately. (4) Material is generally considered to be uniformly graded if it has a uniformity coefficient of less than 6, where the uniformity coefficient is defined as: U= D60 D10 where D60 is the 'sixty percent size', the maximum size of the smallest 60% of the material, and D10 is the '10 percent size', the maximum size of the smallest 10%, also known as the 'effective size'. (5) Classification of a soil plasticity, and the distinction between clay and silt, can be made using the plasticity chart given below.
60

CE CV
A-line (PI=0.73(LL-20))

50 Plasticity index (PI) - % 40

CH
CI

30

CL
20 10 6 0 0 10 20

ME & MV & OV MH & OH

SF & SC ML & OL
30

MI & OI
40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Liquid limit (LL) - %

(6) Visual distinction between silt and clay can be made by means of the 'dilatancy test', described below. If a pat of wet silt is shaken in the hand, water will appear on the surface and, if the pat is then pressed, the water will retreat into the silt, leaving a matt surface, because of an increase in volume. This property is known as dilatancy and is useful for distinguishing silt from clay. Fine sands also exhibit dilatancy but can be distinguished from silts by their particle size. If this sheet is viewed on the computer screen, values may be plotted on the graph above by entering them in the table opposite. Liquid Plasticity limit index 40 25 52 18 Liquid Plasticity Liquid limit index limit Plasticity index

A similar but more comprehensive plot, more suitable as a basis for specific projects and reporting, is available in appendix 8A.

ROCK DESCRIPTIONS
June 2004 Sheet 1 of

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ROCK DESCRIPTION BS 5930 requires a full factual description of the rock material and rock mass characteristics. The state of weathering must be described but not necessarily the weathering grade. However, weathering grades are useful for assessing engineering properties and giving foundation recommendations and should usually be included.* Material characteristics General information Strength, structure, colour, texture, grain size, ROCK TYPE. Additional information and minor constituents, (geological formation name). State of weathering*, e.g. changes in colour, strength and fracture state, degree of penetration of weathering from discontinuities (give measurement if possible) and information on weathering products (kaolinised, iron pans, calcretes, etc.). Rock mass characteristics* Distribution and condition of discontinuities described individually for each set, e.g. spacing, persistence, termination, dip, strike and dip directions, type, roughness (shape and texture), openness/aperture, surface infill, wall strength, etc.. * See Sheet 1-5 for weathering grades. ROCK STRENGTH Description Very weak Weak Moderately weak Moderately strong Strong Very strong Extremely strong. Is50^ (MPa) < 0.25 0.25 - 0.6 0.6 - 2.5 2.5 - 5 5 - 10 > 10 Uniaxial Field estimation compressive strength (UCS) < 1.25 Gravel-sized lumps can be crushed between fingers and thumb. 1.25 - 5 Gravel-sized lumps can be broken in half by heavy hand pressure. 5 - 12.5 12.5 - 50 50 - 100 100 - 200 > 200 On thin slabs, corners or edges can be broken off by heavy hand pressure. When held in the hand, rock can be broken by hammer blows. When resting on a solid surface, rock can be broken by hammer blows. Rock chipped by hammer blows. Rock rings on hammer blows. Broken only by sledge hammer.

^ Point load test results corrected to equivalent 50mm core. DISCONTINUITY/STRUCTURE DESCRIPTION Structure Size (mm) Discontinuity Very thickly > 2000 Very widely Thickly 600 - 2000 Widely Medium 200 - 600 Medium Thinly 60 - 200 Closely Very thinly 20 - 60 Very closely Thickly laminated 6 - 20 (narrow) Extremely Thinly closely laminated <6 (very narrow) Comments Spacing Persistence Termination Type Shape Texture Openness Surface Infill Wall strength Dip

Give description on left or detailed fracture log. Give measurement. Describe if visible. Bedding, joint, cleavage, foliation, veining. (Roughness large scale) Planar, curviplanar, undulose, irregular. (Roughness small scale) Smooth, rough, stepped, slickensided. Tight, open (give measurement). Stained, solution weathered. Sand, clay, spar fill (give description). Use index test, e.g. Schmidt rebound hammer. Give dip degrees and dip/strike direction if known.

CORE MECHANICAL MEASUREMENTS Total core recovery (TCR) Total core recovered as a percentage of core run length. Solid core recovered as a percentage of core run length. (Solid core is core with at least one full Solid core recovery (SCR) diameter (not necessarily full circumference), measured along core axis.) Rock quality designation (RQD) Solid core > 100mm recovered expressed as percentage of core run length. Number of fractures per metre or over an arbitrary length. May also be reported as fracture spacing (I f). Fracture index (FI) GRAIN SIZE Fine Medium < 60mm 60mm - 2mm Coarse > 2mm Refers to the average dimension of the dominant minerals or rock fragments.

CLASSIFICATION OF WEATHERED ROCK

August 2007 Sheet 1 of

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Residual soils are formed by the chemical decomposition of rocks with little or no transportation of particles. Probably the most common examples found in Britain are Chalk and Mercia Mudstone. Residual soils are very common in tropical and subtropical regions, where the end product of weathering is often a tropical red clay. In some cases, the weathered material may be re-cemented by subsequent chemical action, forming concretions. With these soils, plasticity and grading vary according to the pre-treatment of the material which, in many cases, forms a cemented or partly-cemented mass which breaks down on excavation and continues to break down on handling. For such materials, the concept of grading, when applied to the insitu state, has little meaning. There is often no distinct boundary between the soil and its parent rock, and it is convenient to classify residual soils in terms of the degree of weathering that has taken place. Numerous weathering classification systems have been proposed. The tables below and on the following sheet give examples of three systems; a general system, and systems applied specifically to Chalk and Mercia Mudstone. Published data is also available for other special types of weathered rock such as kaolinised granite. WEATHERING CLASSIFICATION FOR ROCKS - GENERAL The table and figure below give a classification originally proposed by Little1, later adopted by the British Geotechnical Society2, and now recommended in BS 59303 for rock masses that are moderately strong or stronger in the fresh state and are fairly uniform. (For rock masses that are weaker in the fresh state, or are not fairly uniform, BS 5930 gives alternative classification systems.) BS 5930 grade Eurocode 7 grade VI RESIDUALSOIL 5 No recognisable rock texture. May occur above or below any concretions. Surface layer contains humus and plant roots. V COMPLETELY WEATHERED 4 Rock completely decomposed by weathering but texture still recognisable. Can be excavated by hand. Slakes in water. Unsuitable for foundations of large structures. IV HIGHLY WEATHERED 3 (<50% rock). Rock so weakened by weathering that fairly large pieces can be broken and crumbled in the hands. Does not readily slake (disintegrate) when a dry sample is immersed in water. Sometimes recovered as core in careful rotary drilling. Erratic pressure from boulders makes unreliable foundation. III MODERATELY WEATHERED 2 (50-90% rock). Considerably weathered throughout. Possessing some strength - large pieces cannot be broken by hand. Reasonable core recovery. Often stained. Difficult to rip. Fairly good foundation material. II SLIGHTLY WEATHERED 1 (>90% rock). Distinctly weathered through much of the rock fabric, with slight joint staining. Strength approaches that of fresh rock. Requires explosives for excavation. Highly permeable through open joints. I FRESH ROCK 0 Unchanged from original rock, but may have some staining of joints, indicating water percolation.
1. The Engineering Classification of Residual Tropical Soils, A. L. Little, Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering (Mexica 1965) 2. The Logging of Rock Cores for Engineering Purposes British Geotechnical Society Engineering Group Working Party Group, Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology, vol. 3(1970) 3. BS 5930:1999 Code of practice for site investigations, Figure 19.

CLASSIFICATION OF WEATHERED ROCK

June 2004 CLASSIFICATION AND PRESUMED BEARING VALUES FOR HIGH POROSITY CHALK From Table 2 of BS 8004 : 1986 - "British Standard Code of practice for Foundations". Sheet 2 of

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Grade

Brief description

Presumed bearing value* - kPa (kN/m2) Determine by appropriate insitu and lab testing. 125 to 250 250 to 500 500 to 750 750 to 1000 1000 to 1500

VI V IV III II I

Extremely soft structureless chalk containing small lumps of intact chalk. Structureless remoulded chalk containing lumps of intact chalk. Dry chalk above the water table. Rubbly, partly weathered chalk with bedding and jointing. Joints 10mm to 60mm apart, open to 20mm, and often infilled with soft remoulded chalk and fragments. Rubbly to blocky unweathered chalk. Joints 60mm to 200mm apart, open to 3mm, and sometimes infilled with fragments. Blocky, medium-hard weak chalk. Joints more than 200mm apart and closed. As for grade II but hard (moderately weak) and brittle.

*Bearing capacity related to settlement can be obtained from a correlation between chalk grades, SPT N values and settlement - see the Bearing Capacity section for details.

WEATHERING SCHEME AND PRESUMED BEARING VALUES FOR MERCIA MUDSTONE (KEUPER MARL) From Table 3 of BS 8004 : 1986 - "British Standard Code of practice for Foundations". Degree of weathering Presumed bearing value* - kPa (kN/m2)

Zone Description

Notes

Fully weathered

IVb

Matrix only

Can be confused with solifluction or drift Determine by deposits, but contains no pebbles. Plastic appropriate insitu and slightly silty clay. May be fissured. laboratory testing. Little or no trace of original (zone I) structure, though may be fissured. Lower permeability than underlying layers. Water content of matrix greater than that of lithorelicts.

IVa

Matrix with occasional clay-stone pellets less than 3mm in diameter but more usually coarse sand size. Matrix with frequent lithorelicts up to 25mm. As weathering progresses lithorelicts become less angular. Unweathered blocks of weathered marl Mudstone (often fissured).

125 to 250

Partially weathered

III

250 to 500

II Unweathered I

Spheroidal weathering. Matrix starting to 500 to 750 encroach along joints: first indications of chemical weathering. Water content varies owing to depositional 750 to 1000 variations. See BS8004 pp 12-16

For more details on high porosity chalk and weathered Mercia Mudstone, especially foundation pressures, see BS 8004.