The Presence and Influence of Fissures in the Boulder Clays

of West Central Scotland

Department of Civil Engineering, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G4 ONG, Scotlnnd
Received May 21, 1974
Accepted September 6, 1974
The recent urban and rural developments in west central Scotland have involved the execution
of much more widespread, and often deeper, excavations than previously undertaken in the
boulder clays of the area. A number of failures in deep trenches and slope excavations have
occurred, whose character appeared to be influenced by the presence of macrofabric features. A
detailed field study has confirmed the presence of fissures and showed that they exhibit definite
preferred orientation patterns. The influence of these fissure patterns on undrained shear strength
and consolidation properties have been assessed using test specimens ranging from 76 to 254 mm
diameter and correlations between observed laboratory anisotropic behavior and behavior in
excavations have been suggested.
Les rtcents developpements urbains et ruraux du centre ouest de I'Ecosse ont ntcessitt
I'extcution d'excavations beaucoup plus Ctendues et souvent plus profondes qu'auparavant dans
les argiles a blocaux de la rtgion. Un certain nombre de ruptures de tranchtes profondes et de
talus d'excavations se sont produites, dont le caractere semblait influenct par des facteurs relies a
la macro fabrique du mattriau. Une Ctude ditaillte sur le terrain a confirm6 la prtsence de fissures
et a montrt que I'arrangement de ces fissures suivait une orientation prtftrentielle marqute.
L'influence des ces rtseaux de fissures sur la rtsistance au cisaillement non drain6 et sur les
proprietts en consolidation de I'argile a i t 6 ivalute partir d'essais sur des tchantillons de
diamhtre variant entre 76 et 254 mm, et des corrtlations entre le comportement anisotrope
observt en laboratoire et le comportement des excavations ont kt6 suggtrtes.
[Traduit par la Revue]

Introduction
In recent years, some failures have occurred
in trenches and slopes cut into boulder clay in
the west central valley of Scotland. This relatively recent build up of problems may be
explained by the fact that in urban areas, such
as the City of Glasgow, the earliest development
was confined to the low lying areas around the
River Clyde, then in the early 1800's expansion
took place into the surrounding hills which are
composed of glacial till and sometimes bedrock
(Price 1971 ) . These developments were
gradual, and generally in sympathy with the
topography. Main roads, railways, and canals
were all constructed around and between the
many glacial drumlins which were then used to
accommodate housing and commercial building developments.
In the last 10 to 15 years the City has been
subjected to major redevelopment on a vast
scale. A new urban road system based on traffic
flow patterns is being built, and widespread
commercial and municipal office and housing
regeneration and redeployment is well underway. Geological considerations, however, inCan. Geotech. J., I?., 84 (1975)

fluence only the engineering details of these

developments, such as inclination of slopes,
length of piles etc., but not the overall plan.
The balance between topography and urban
development has therefore been upset. Similarly in the rural areas, new major roadworks
have been undertaken on the basis of linking
or by-passing urban areas with maximum restrictions on road grade, curvature, and the
like. A collision between the topographic considerations and the traffic flow considerations
has inevitably occurred in these areas also.
Thus as a result of the development works
many excavations have been undertaken. In
the deeper trench excavations in boulder clay
failures have occurred on the long sides and
could thus be reasonably attributed to insufficient shoring. But there were also some failures noted in the ends of trenches where the
sides remained reasonably stable. In a number
of cut slopes in the same soils relatively shallow
failures occurred and in some slopes which
were opposite sides of an excavation at the
same inclination, one failed, whilst the other
remained stable. A study of aerial photographs

McGOWN AND RADWAN: FISSURES IN BOULDER CLAYS

of the area revealed such one sided failures in

cut slopes to be relatively common in new
cuttings and that they could also be found in
old railway cuttings. A possible explanation for
these was that the soils contained a macrofabric which influenced their behavior. As
macrofabric might be influencing many properties, a detailed field and laboratory study
was undertaken at Strathclyde University into
the geological derivation and engineering propertics of boulder clays in west central Scotland.

Geological Background of Glacial Deposits

The central belt of Scotland is one of the
areas in the British Isles where a well developed
drumlin field can be found. In fact the area
is overlain by not one, but a number of drumlin
sets, the result of the successive arrival of the
same glaciation from different directions
(George 1958). Thus the drumlin orientation
in any relatively small area may be complex.
As the solid geology of the central belt of
Scotland is highly variable then so the tills,
which are in the main locally derived, are
found to be variable in their lithology. Color
changes are quite common but two distinct
colors of till are typically found: ( i ) red till
derived from various old red sandstones and
barren red coal measure sandstones and (ii)
grey black till dcrivecl from carboniferous shales
and sandstones and calciferous sandstones.
Engineering tests do not make a great deal
of distinction between any of the tills in the
region. The variability within any one till being
as great as any diffcrencc between tills. Thus
the tills in the area have been trcated as one
soil for the purposes of indicating their general
geotechnical properties.
General Geotechnical Properties
A typical ~noisture content and plasticity
profile for the boulder clay is shown in Fig. 1.
Generally a weathered zone exists in some 2 m
depth but this can vary in some tills from 1 to
3 in. Bencath this the properties are much more
uniform. The average moisture content of the
unwcathercd till is 12.3% with a standard
deviation of 2.2%. The moisture content of
the weathered till is much more variable with
a mean of 20.5% and standard deviation of
7.2%, indeed use of this material in engineering works can often prove to be problematic

Description
of soil

Water

Top Soil

Weat hered
Boulder
clay

D a r k Grey
Boulder
Clay

W = w a t e r conten
W L = liquid l i m i t
W P = plastic l i m i t

F I G . 1 . Geotechnical properties o f boulder clay

from North Hanover St., Glasgow.

(McGown and Iley 1973). The variation in

bulk density of the tills is similar to that of
the moisture content with a mean of 2.26 t/m"
for the unweathered till and 2.04 t/m"or
the
weathered till. The plasticity characteristics, as
shown in Fig. 2, are close to the limits suggested by Casagrande ( 1947) and Alderman
(1959) and within those suggested by Busbridge (1968) and Anderson (1972). The
plasticity characteristics of the weathered tills
are usually much less than the unweathered
tills.
The boulder clays are typically very well
graded with particle sizes ranging from massive
boulders down to clay sizes, Fig. 3.

Field Investigations of Macrofabric

(i) Nature of Fissures
It must be emphasized at the outset that
various types of macrofabric features are to
be found in boulder clay. Sand layers or lenses
are quite common and major shear planes have
been noted in some boulder clays in the Glas-

CAN. GEOTECH. J. VOL. 12, 1975

60

50

(ALDERMAN)

Upper L i m i t of G l a c i a l C l a y s

40

(CASAGRANOE)

wer L i m i t of Glacial Clays

30

L i m i t s for GI

L o w e r L i m i t of Boulder Clay

20

L i m i t for Glasgow and West Scotland T i l l

(ANDERSON)

10

0
0

10

20

30

40

50

Liquid

FIG.2. Plasticity chart

I Loa

Settling V e l o c i t y

clay
'~raction

1
1

- Cm

Per s e c

F i n e I ~ e d i u m lC o a r s e
Si ~t F r a c t i o n

FIG. 3.

showing the ranges reported

70

60

for glacial

BS Sieve N u m b e r

Fine

80

90

100

L i m i t , WL%

1 Medium 1 C o a r s e
Sand F r a c t i o n

deposits.

Aperture

1
1

Fine
M e d i u m Coarse
~ravbl ~ractibn

Grading curves for samples from Glasgow.

Size i n i n c h e s

__L

McGOWN AND RAQWAN: FISSURES IN BOULDER CLAYS

gow area. However, the feature, or better, the

set of features which are of particular interest
in this study are the fine cracks and joints
which on very close examination are apparent
in the boulder clays.
There are basically two types of fissures to
be seen in the soils so far studied. Firstly, near
vertical fissures which are often very tight and
need to be pulled apart, Fig. 4. The reason for
this is that stones in the boulder clay often act
as reinforcement bars linking the intact clay on
either side of the fissure, Fig. 5. Secondly, there
are near horizontal fissures, which may also be
found inclined at low dip angles, which are generally coated by a thin layer of silt or silty clay,
Fig. 6. The distinct difference between the near
vertical and horizontal fissures is quite striking.
Rarely are the vertical fissures coated in silty
materials like the horizontal fissure, although
they may be coated in weathering products.
Having so recognized the presence of fissures
in the boulder clay the need existed to quantify
their orientation and distribution. This has been
carried out in the manner described by Fookes
and Denness (1969) with some modification
to accommodate the particular nature of the
very well graded till as described by McGown
et al. (1974).
(ii) Measurement of Orientation and
Distribzltion of Fissures
The basic field measurements are simple,
consisting of digging several cavities into the
till, each cavity having a total volume of 1 m3.
The soil is excavated by picking out, very carefully, small pieces of soil using a fine spatula

FIG. 4. Vertical fissures.

FIG.5. Stone across vertical fissures.

FIG. 6. Near horizontal fissures.

and a pointed knife. Where a fissure is encountered the strike of the fissure is established,
the orientation of the strike and the magnitude
of the dip is measured. From this data alone
it is possible to establish the spatial orientation
of fissures.
Several types of plots for presenting orientation data are available but the type used is the
equal angle lower hemisphere plot. This is
considered the most suitable as it gives true
angular relationships and, with the large number of fissure readings, 200 to 500 in each
cavity, it does not become inaccurate nor imprecise like other types of diagrams (Denness
1969). The data are analyzed and drawn out
by computer and a typical data output is as
shown in Fig. 7a. From this a very much simplified plot may be drawn, Fig. 7b, to indicate
approximate relative orientations of dominant

CAN. GEOTECH. J. VOL. 12, 1975

Fig. 9, in terms of their asperity (roughness)

and texture nature of coating, weathered,
silkensided etc., after McGown et al. (1974).
(iii) Geotechnical Extent of Fissure Data
Data has been obtained from boulder clay
drumlins over a wide area in west central scotland. In the various areas, drumlins in close
proximity to one another have been investigated
to establish local variations in the nature and
characteristics of the fissures in boulder clav.
In all of these investigations fissures were
found and their spatial distribution and orientation were generally very similar. The two
types of fissures; near vertical, clean or
weathered. fissures and near horizontal. sediment covered, fissures were in evidence in all
cases. The near horizontal fissures comprised
one set, whilst the vertical fissures comprised
two or sometimes four sets, in pairs lying
conjugately on either side of the direction of
glacial movement. The fissure pattern in the
boulder clay was not therefore random but
possessed definite prcferred orientations. Also
ihe intensity of fis&ring was found to increase
towards the surface with an approximate average spacing 148 mm at depth and 64 mm near
the surface.
Appreciative of the relatively small geographical extent of the study area, a survey of
the literature has been undertaken and reports
of fissuring in other geographical areas have
been found, Table 1. Although fissures appear
to have been identified in these other boulder
clays, the only quantitative data on fissure
orientating and distribution are for Scottish
boulder clay (McGown et al. 1974; McGown
and Radwan 1974).
J

FIG.7. (a). Contoured polar diagram representing fissures from North Hanover St., Glasgow. (b)
Stereogram of main fissure sets, North Hanover St.,
Glasgow.

fissure sets using typical fissures for each set.

To establish spatial distribution it is necessary to relate the position of the fissures to
one another. The method adopted is to set out
reference axes at the corner of the cavity dug
into the slope and to measure the size and
distance of the fissures to these axes. The data
so obtained can then be processed and spacing,
in the reference directions, can be obtained,
Fig. 8.
To comdete the data from field measurements the &face of the fissures are described,

Laboratory Investigation of Influence of

Macrofabric on Engineering Properties
(i) Site Investigation and Testing Techniques
In connection with the redevelopment works,
a large number of site investigations have been
carried out using open drive U4 (102 mm
nominal diameter) sampling. Tests have been
performed on 38 mm diameter specimens in
triaxial and unconfined compression strength
tests and on 76 mm diameter consolidation test
specimens. These investigation techniques are
generally inappropriate and very widely scattered results are obtained.

McGOWN AND RADWAN: FISSURES IN BOULDER CLAYS

4verage Vol.
bept hl

CAVITY

ml
X- Axis

CO-ORDINATES

of M i n i n t u m

Y- Axis

Element Block

Ave S P.

= l84mm
3 280 000
cu.mm

820
CU.

Spacing- m m

000
mm

Soacing -mm

FIG. 8. Fissure spacing in boulder clay from North Hanover St., Glasgow.
TABLE
1. References on fissuring in boulder clays
Author

Features studied

Area of study

Chamberlin, T. C. 1895
Richter, K. 1929
Wentworth, C. K., and Delo, D. M. 1931
Biilow, K. V. 1939
Harrison, P. W. 1957
Elson, J. A. 1960
Penny, L. F., and Catt, J. A. 1967
Westgate, J. A. 1969
Kaczynski, R., and Wysokinski, L. 1970
Krajewska-Pininska, J. 1970
Boulton, G. S. 1970
Flint, R. F. 1971
Rowe, P. W. 1972
Kazi, A., and Knill, J. L. 1973
Pusch, R. 1973
McGown, A. et al. 1974

Sub-horizontal joints/deposition
Divisional planeslshear layers/compaction
Sub-horizontal joints/deposition
Latent and visible shear layerslground moraine
Fabriclstone orientation joints
Deposition/structure/fissility/joints
Jointslstone orientation/fold
Fracture/colurnnar structure
Strength/discontinuities
Strengthlwater contentlfissures
Deposition/fracture/tectonic shear
Joints/structure/fabric
Fissures/permeability
Fissures/orientation/stress conditions
Macrofa bric/microfabric/fissures/permeability
Macrofabric/fissures/strength anisotropy1
orientation
Slope stability/fissuring

Greenland
Germany
United States
Germany
United States
Canada
England
Canada
Poland
Poland
Norway
United States
England
England
Sweden

McGown, A., and Radwan, A. M. 1974

As a first attempt to overcome the spread

of shear strength results, 102 mm diameter test
specimens from U4's were used with lubricated
end platens to check the influence of specimen
size. Little increase in strength was found although the scatter was reduced in most cases
investigated. This was attributed to the more
representative size of the 102 mm diameter

Scotland
Scotland

specimens in relation to the size of particles

contained in the boulder clays.
For consolidation testing, difficulty of preparing 76 mm diameter specimens was usually
experienced and a great deal of selection of
test specimens was involved. Larger diameter
testing thus made easier the task of specimen
preparation and certainly made the test speci-

CAN. GEOTECH. J. VOL. 12. 1975

BFissure Set

Em

IE

I,

F1

Asperity

Coating

e ear

::]Near

Horizontal
Vertical

mm

Stains

Fissures

N a t u r e of Fissure Surface

FIG.9. Surface properties of fissures from North

Hanover St., Glasgow.

mens more representative in size in terms of

size of particles in the till.
Thus the need to use larger diameter test
specimens was appreciated and put into practise
in the Strathclyde University test programme.
In fact, tests were carried out on 102, 152,
255 mm diameter strength test specimens and
152, 254 mm diameter consolidation test specimens. These specimens were taken from 102,
154, 225, and 254 mm diameter samples taken
in boreholes or test pits and from blocks.
It must be emphasized that the intention of
this approach was to take more representative
samples and to test them in a more representative manner from the point of view of test
specimen size in relation to the size of the

constituent particles. The influence of the presence of a macrofabric (fissures) was not fully
analyzed at this point, and in any case, taking
larger samples was considered to cover this,
assuming previous investigations into the relationship of the presence of fissures to engineering properties were acceptable and applicable
to boulder clay (Bishop and Little 1967;
Marsland 1971 ) .
(ii) Consolidation Properties
If the fissures lie in definite directions and if
the fissures have different permeabilities then
anisotropy (directional dependency) of all
properties controlled by permeability will result. Measurement of this is a major task and
the first step is to determine the size of representative specimens for testing. This is in fact
the stage reached at Strathclyde. Various sizes
of vertical samples (102, 152, 254 mm diameter samples) have been taken and tested at
various specimen sizes using the standard
76 mm oedometer and 76, 154, and 254 mm
Rowe cells.
From the e-log p curves of the same soil
tested at different specimen sizes, Fig. 10, it is
possible to conclude that the compression behavior is not directly influenced by macrofabric, hence by specimen size, and providing
careful sampling is carried out, sample size is
not significant either. The influence of different
size specimens on the rate on consolidation has,
however, not been found to be a constant. In
some cases 152 and 254 mm diameter specimens are significantly different whilst in others
they are not, or indeed, they can be in juxtaposition, Fig. 11. Nevertheless, in general the
152 and 254 mm diameter specimens give
much higher coefficients of consolidation than
the standard 76 mm specimen and this is particularly so at the lower consolidation pressures. It appears, therefore, that 254 mm
diameter specimens, or at least 152 mm diameter specimens, should be tested for consolidation data and that a reasonable number of
samples will still be required to account for
the variability between specimens which is
evidenced in the consolidation data so far measured. Also, the importance of sample size and
so by inference the importance of the macrofabric would appear to become greater at consolidation pressures at or below the overburden

McGOWN AND RADWAN: FISSURES IN BOULDER CLAYS

Effective
' S't r e s~s ,

( l o g scale) ( A f t e r ~nderson1973)

FIG. 10. Void ratio - log effective stress curves for different size specimens from Grassyards Road, Kilmarnock.

stress. Indirect measurements of the coefficient

of permeability at different effective pressures
clearly illustrates this, Fig. 12, and may be
explained by the fissures opening up at pressures less than overburden and closing up at
stresses in excess of this pressure. At pressures
higher than overburden, vertically oriented
boulder clay specimens therefore act very much
like a homogeneous intact clay.
For directions other than vertical, behavior
is likely to have the same general character as
previously described, but will vary in actual

values of permeability etc., principally according to the intensity of fissures in the particular
direction tested, the nature of the fissures surfaces and lastly with the confining pressure.

(iii) Shear Strength Under Undrained

Conditions
The test procedure adopted for this aspect
of the investigation was established by
McGown et al. (1974) using triaxial testing
with lubricated end platens and height to diameter ratios of 1:1. The strain rates used were

CAN. GEOTECH. J. VOL. 12, 1975

Effective

Stress, k d m 2

( A f t e r Anderson 1973)

FIG. 11. Variation of the coefficient of consolidation with applied effective stress for
different size specimens from Craufurdland, Kilmarnock.

selected to give equalization of pore water pressure in the test specimens.

As with consolidation measurements it is
essential to establish the size of specimen
necessary for testing in shear strength determinations. Previous investigations such as
Bishop and Little (1967), Lo (1970), and
Marsland (1971 ) have established the general
form of sample size against measured strength.
In Scottish boulder clays similar investigations
have been carried out and as is shown in Fig.
13, a very similar trend to previously reported
results is obtained. This investigatory technique
has, however, been extended by testing specimens in different directions and the range of
these measurements is also given in Fig. 13.

As can be seen, the minimum strengths measurable from this in any direction at any size
were very much lower than the vertical strength
measurements and close to the fissure strength.
The explanation for this is that during testing
in particular directions formation of the shear
plane was occurring along a plane or set of
planes of weakness, that is shearing along fissures which have definite preferred orientations.
Fig. 14a and b are lower hemisphere plots
of the strengths measured in different directions
using 102 and 225 mm diameter test specimens, respectively.
The average vertical strength has been taken
as unity and the relative strengths only are
given for the various directions. From this, the

McGOWN AND RADWAN: FISSURES IN BOULDER CLAYS

Sample

Settlement

pore water pressure

6 - 1 A --0.-

A--a--

It

6-2

B--0---

-C

50

100
Effective

150

200

Pressure

-0-

6-2

250
(P')

300

350

400

k~/m'

FIG.12. Variation of the coefficient of permeability with applied effective stress for specimens from North Hanover St., Glasgow.

directions in which strengths are less or greater

than vertical strength are to be seen and it is to
be noted that for a large number of horizontal
directions the strength is close to the vertical
strength hence strength anisotropy, vertical to
horizontal alone, is not great, but there are
particular orientations which are much weaker
than the vertical (0.6 x vertical) and other
directions which are much stronger (1.4 X
vertical).
This particular form of directional strength

dependency is very much controlled by the

orientation and the nature of the sets of the
fissures in the boulder clay. This complex asswiation of fissures orientation and directional
strength is presently being investigated at
Strathclyde.

Behavior of Slopes
Slope failure may occur due to deficiency of
one or more of the strength components within
the soil mass but the type generally found in

94

CAN. GEOTECH. J. VOL. 12. 1975

1.2

1.0
C

*
m

.
w

j;

-,m

0.8

*.

c
0
d
.

;0.6
C

zu

2
*
.y.

0.4

.-0
#
.

0.2

10

10

10

A r e a of P o t e n t i a l F a i l u r e P l a n e

6
10

7
10

- rnm 2

FIG.13. Strength size relation of blue London clay and boulder clay from Strathclyde
University drumli;, Glalasgow.

boulder clay is structure type failure (Hagerman 1966). In structure type failure, 'blocks'
of soil fail as units and the failure is generally
quite shallow initially but can progress to
greater depth and extend with time. The
controlling factor is the orientation of the cut
slope to the basal surface of the block. In the
case of boulder clays these basal surfaces are
the near horizontal fissures with the sides of
the block bounded by the near vertical fissures.
Depending on relative orientation of fissures
and slopes then a critical situation may arise.
Figure 15 shows a cross section of a cavity
cut into a slope and the possibility of slip out
of the cut surface is obvious. Figure 16 shows
the fissure orientation at Hurlford, Ayrshire
with the controlling basal fissure set shown as
F1 and the slope shown as S. There is a measure of sympathy between the two, hence a
partial failure occurred, as shown in Fig. 17.
At Hanover Street in central Glasgow the F1
fissure was never more in sympathy than at
right angles to the orientation of the slope
surface hence no failure was evident, Fig. 7.
But at a site to the north of Glasgow, the condi-

tion was much more critical. As can be seen

in Fig. 18 the F1 set of fissures and the
slope (S) were sympathetically oriented and
failure occurred in this cutting in several places
although on the one side only, Fig. 19. The
opposite slope was stable with basal fissure set
F1 inclined into the slopes.
All failures of this nature happen very
quickly after cutting and stress relief. The complex total and effective stress analysis of these
failures is still under consideration.

Conclusions
Some instabilities of cuttings in the boulder
clays in west central Scotland have been shown
to be directly attributable to the presence of
fissures in the soil. These fissures have from
field investigations been shown to exhibit
definite preferred orientations and to be of
two distinct types. The first are near horizontal
fissures, often coated in silt or silty clay, and
the second are near vertical fissures either
clean or weathered and held tight by the action
of stones cutting across them. The deviation
of the coated fissures from the horizontal

McGOWN AND RADWAN: FISSURES IN BOULDER CLAYS

( a E p e c i m . Diam

FIG. 16. Stereogram of main fissure sets from

Hurlford, Ayrshire.

( A f t e r MCGown e t a l 1 9 7 4 )

FIG. 14. Stereographic projection showing directional dependency of undrained strength, Hurlford,
Ayrshire.

FIG. 17. Partial slope failure, Hurlford, Ayrshire.

FIG.IS. Cross section in cavity.

greatly influences the stability of cutting slopes,

the stability being at its minimum when the
slope and fissures are sympathetically oriented.
The laboratory studies carried out in parallel

with the field investigations have proven that

the compressibility characteristics of the boulder clays are not greatly influenced by the presence of fissures, but that the permeability and
related properties are, particularly at stresses
below present overburden. Thus in conditions
of stress relief, such as in trench or slope excavations, the mass permeability of those boulder clays can be expected to significantly increase. In Scottish meteorological conditions
this will very quickly lead to moisture content
increase along the fissures and probably softening with consequent strength reductions.
Laboratory undrained strength determinations have shown that the boulder clays have
quite definite anisotropic strength properties,

CAN. GEOTECH. J. VOL. 12, 1975

influence of fissures on the directional permeabilitv of stress relieved soils around excavations 6 a s yet to be considered. everth he less, the
present study has revealed the presence and
nature of the fissures in the Scottish boulder
clays and inferred some of the engineering
implications of these. As many other investigators have previously observed the presence
of fissures in boulder clays from other widespread geographical locations, it is suggested
that the findings of this study could be applicable to many boulder clays in areas other than
west central Scotland.

FIG. 18. Stereogram of main fissure sets from

North of Glasgow.

FIG.19.
gow.

Extensive slope failure, North of Glas-

with a range of strength of 0.6-1.4 x vertical

strength. The directions of maximum and
minimum strengths are determined by the fissure set orientations and closely related to the
strength along the fissures. Thus previous shear
strength test specimens are now seen to be inadequate as are any strength anisotropy investigations based only on vertical and horizontal
specimens in these boulder clays. The possibility
of moisture content increase along fissures on
stress relief is also now seen to be a critical factor
in overall strength anisotropy in these soils.
Further study will be required before the
disposition of fissures in tills is fully understobd and can become predictable. Also the

Acknowledgments
The authors wish to acknowledge the permission to publish data given by Mr. J. F.
Clark, Mr. D. Hossain. Acknowledgment is
also made of the financial assistance given to
the project and personnel by the Natural Environment Research Council and the University
of Assiut, Egypt.
ALDERMAN,
J. K. 1959. The geotechnical properties of
glacial deposits of North West England. Ph.D. thesis,
Univ. Manchester, Manchester, Engl.
ANDERSON,
W. F. 1972. Thegeotechnical properties of the
till of the Glasgow region and the development of a
constant rate of expansion pressure meter suitable for
measuring the undrained strength and deformation
characteristics of this till. Ph.D. thesis, Univ.
Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland.
BISHOP,A. W., and LITTLE,A. L. 1967. The influence of
the size and orientation of the sample on the apparent
strength of the London clay at Maldon, Essex. Proc.
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