KYAMBOGO UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL AND BUILDING ENGINEERING
BACHELOR OF ENGINEERING IN CIVIL AND BUILDING ENGINEERING

CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS
PRATICALS
S/No.

NAME

REG No.

ATHIYO MARTIN

14/U/1049/ECD/PD

AKAMPURIA MACKLEAN

14/U/1087/ECE/PE

BAJURIZI TOMSON

14/U/1051/ECD/PD

DRANIA DOREEN

14/U/1096/ECE/PE

GWAKA MARTIN

14/U/7083/ECE/PE

MWESIGWA JOSHUA

14/U/7188/ECE/PE

OYERE MORRIS

14/U/1139/ECE/PE

ONYANG DENIS

14/U/1134/ECE/PE

BASOOME FRANCIS

14/U/1051/ECE/PE

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SIGNATURE

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We wish to thank Mr. Paul Ocheng for the efforts and dedication that he put in ensuring that the
laboratory sessions for Construction Materials were achieved. In the same regard, we are grateful
for skills and knowledge he imparted to us.
We also wish to thank the Department of Civil and Building Engineering and the University at
large for incorporating Construction Materials in our course, such an important back bone for
ambitious young and vibrant Engineers ready to bring change in Uganda.
Furthermore, we wish to thank the various groups and class at large for their cooperation and
participation they put in this course unit. Our prayer is that may God reward their efforts and
endeavors.
Finally, we are grateful to our sponsors, parents and guardians for facilitating our studies, may
God bless them all.

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DEDICATION
We the under stated declare that this report is authentic and has never been submitted to any
institution of higher learning or been copied to the best of our knowledge.

S/No.

NAME

REG No.

ATHIYO MARTIN

14/U/1049/ECD/PD

AKAMPURIA MACKLEAN

14/U/1087/ECE/PE

BAJURIZI TOMSON

14/U/1051/ECD/PD

DRANIA DOREEN

14/U/1096/ECE/PE

GWAKA MARTIN

14/U/7083/ECE/PE

MWESIGWA JOSHUA

14/U/7188/ECE/PE

OYERE MORRIS

14/U/1139/ECE/PE

ONYANG DENIS

14/U/1134/ECE/PE

BASOOME FRANCIS

14/U/1091/ECE/PE

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SIGNATURE

INTRODUCTION
This is a report on the Tests done on Soil Samples which were picked from the West end Play
Ground for Moisture Content and Specific Gravity.
Before the Tests were done on the Soil Samples, various Lectures were conducted by Mr. Paul
Ocheng to equip us with necessary Laboratory Practical skills on the various Tests on Soil and
the Types of Sampling done on Soil.
After all the theoretical skills had comprehended by students, we were tasked to get Samples (the
Undisturbed Samples at different depths, that is at 800mm and 1400mm and then carry out
experiments of the Moisture Content and Specific Gravity on the Soil Sample as discussed
below.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT............................................................................................................1
DEDICATION................................................................................................................................3
INTRODUCTION.........................................................................................................................4
DETERMINATION OF MOISTURE ....5
SPECIFIC GRAVITY .7
CHALLENGES 8
RECOMMENDATIONS .9
REFERENCES 10
APENDICES....11

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KYAMBOGO
UNIVERSIT
Y
MATERIALS
LAB

TEST NO. 1.1 MOISTURE CONTENT

Objective

To determine the amount of water present in a soil expressed as a percentage of

the mass of dry soil.
Main Principles
The moisture content of soil is assumed to be the amount of water within the
pore space between the soil grains which is removable by oven drying at a
temperature not exceeding 110oc. The moisture content has a profound effect on
the soil behavior.

The oven drying method is regarded as standard laboratory practice.

References
BS 1377: Part2: 1990
Required equipment
1)
2)
3)

a drying oven with temperature of 105oc to 110oc

a balance readable to 0.1g
a moisture tin

Test Procedure
Step 1:

Obtaining the
Sample
The sample was obtained from the West end Play Ground
a Forest.
The Sample was then picked at different depths (i.e. at
b 800mm and 1400mm respectively).
The Sample was obtained extracted from the ground by
c excavation using a pick axe and shovel

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The Sample was then wrapped carefully in a polythene bag

to preserve the moisture content; and taken to the
d Laboratory to determine the Moisture Content.

Step 2:

A Clean and dry container was obtained

Step 3:

A representative sample was placed in the container

Step4:

The container with the sample was immediately weighed

and recorded as (m1): and placed in the oven to dry at 105oc
for at least 16-24 hours.

Step 5:

After drying, the container and its contents were removed

and allowed to cool for 1 to 2minutes and weighed as (m2).

Step 6:

The empty container was then cleaned, dried and weighed as

M3

Calculations
The Calculation of the Moisture content of the soil specimen w, as a percentage
of the dry soil mass to the nearest 0.1% was obtained from the equation:
W=[(M1-M2)/(M2-M3)]x 100%
where
M3 is the mass of the container (in g)
M1 is the mass of the container and wet soil (g)
M2 is the mass of the container and dry soil (g)
Tabulation of Results
Refer to Table 1 (attached)

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EXPERIMENT TO DETERMINE SPECIFIC GRAVITY OF SOILS

(Density Bottle Method)
Definition.
Specific Gravity of a material is defined as the ratio of the weight of a given
volume of that material to the weight of unequal volume of water in a soil
sample.
Apparatus.

2mm BS Sieve

Weighing Balance

Density Bottles

Drying oven at a temperature between 105oc to

110oc

Metal trays
Procedure:
1)

air dried representative sample of about 3kgs was sieved through a 2mm BS
Sieve and about 50g of the soil sample passing the sieve was obtained.

2) A cleaned and dry density bottle with a stopper was weighed to obtain W1.
3) 50gs of the sample was transferred into the bottle and the stopper replaced
and its weight recorded as W2
4) Distilled water was then added into the bottle just enough to cover the sample
in the bottle.
4) The stopper was replaced on the bottle and shaken for about 30minutes and
was allowed to settle for about 24 hours, after which it was shaken again for 15
30 minutes.
5) The stopper was removed and more water was added to fill the bottle, the
stopper was replaced, and the bottle wiped off excess water and its weight
recorded as W3.

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CHALLENGES:
Lack of enough laboratory equipment to conduct Practical work.
Lack of enough time allocated for Practical work.
Limited exposure for practical skills

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RECOMMENDATIONS
We suggest that the Department should fully equip the Laboratory with enough apparatus for
students to be able to over the challenge of inadequacy of the equipment in the Laboratory.
Besides that, the faulty machines can be salvaged to buy new ones.
The fact that the Practical require enough time for them to be conducted, it is our desire that we
wish to suggest to the Department to allocate enough time for the practical.
Furthermore, we wish that study trips should be incorporated in the time table and in that regard,
process of attaining an introductory letter to conduct a study should be streamlined.
Lastly, for efficiency of Students in the Laboratory, different groups should be allocated different
time for the practical in order cut down on congestion by students. This could also improve on
skills of students since they would get enough time to use the equipment.

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REFERENCES
1. Lecture Notes by Mugisa Daudi (2015)
2. Central Materials Lab Tanzania (2000)

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APPENDICES
1. Appendix 1: Field Photos Obtaining Field samples
2. Appendix 2: Table 1: Moisture Content
3. Appendix 3: Table 2: Specific Gravity

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