Tri Pham

CEES 3364 Soil Mechanics

Professor Miller
HOMEWORK II

3.1. The geologic map of the University of Oklahoma is downloaded from the URL:
http://ogs.ou.edu/docs/OGQ/OGQ-29-color.pdf.
According to the Geologic Map of the Norman 7.5 Quadrangle, the ground of the university
consists of cover sand - subrounded, rounded, poorly to moderately sorted of very fine grained
sand to coarse-grained silt and clay (T.M. Stanley and G.W. Miller).
(a)Sewer lines: Sandy soil can be washed out causing cracks on pipe and expansive clay can
cause the sewer lines unstable.
(b) Streets and roads: Sandy soil is more susceptible to sinkholes and erosions.
(c) Low-rise commercial building: Clay swells with moisture or contract in dry weather, making
buildings unstable, causing cracks and bending of the foundations during the drought or
excessive rain.

3.6. Using the interactive soil map for Cleveland County, OK on

http://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov/app/WebSoilSurvey.aspx:
They give useful information about soil properties and their suitability on different types of
buildings and projects. For example, in building site and development local roads and street,
the area west of OU is Vanoss-Urban land-Norge complex, 0 to 3 percent slopes - low strength,
shrink-swell using this information, we can evaluate what kind of project we can appropriately
construct on the surface.

3.19. Building should be built on the beds dip into the hill since the gravity will pull the soil into
the hill, preventing sliding down the slopes and strengthening the foundations. We will need to
make sure the materials are not too compressible so the soils will not create shear strains on the
inward slope.

4.1.
Specific surface = (surface area) / (unit volume)
2
Specific surface ( m /kg ) = (surface area) / [(unit volume) * (mass density)]

 = 2.65 Mg/m^3 = 2,650 kg/m^3

(a) 10 mm on a side:

Specific surface =

10 mm

6(10 mm)2

2
Specific surface ( m /kg ) =

= 0.6/mm =

600/m
3
2650 kg /m

0.6
1000 mm
mm
1m

= 0.226

= 600/m

m2
kg

(b) 1 mm on a side:

Specific surface =

1 mm

6(1 mm)2

Specific surface ( m /kg ) =

= 6/mm =

6000/m
2650 kg /m3

6
1000 mm
mm
1m

= 2.26

= 6000/m

m2
kg

(c) 1 m on a side:

Specific surface =

1 m

6(1 m)2

Specific surface ( m /kg ) =

= 6/m =

610 6 /m
2650 kg /m 3

6
106 m
m
1m

6
= 610 /m

2
3m
2.26410
=
kg

(d) 1 nm on a side:

Specific surface =

1 nm

6(1 nm)2

= 6/nm =

6
109 mm
nm
1m

= 610 /m

Specific surface ( m /kg ) =

610 9 /m
2650 kg /m 3

m2
= 2.26410 kg
6

4.3.
(a) Smectite: 2:1 clay mineral, water-attractive with tetrahedral and octahedral sheets share
oxygens and hydroxyls to form a single layer
(b) Brucite: Octahedral sheets with hydroxyl filled anion positions and magnesium filled cation
positions.
(c) Gibbsite: 1:1 clay mineral - Octahedral sheets with hydroxyls filled anion positions and
aluminum filled 2/3 cation positions.
(h) Illite: 2:1 clay mineral with potassium ions between the layers and its more active due to less
potassium and isomorphous substitution.
(i) Mica: Similar in structure with montmorillonite with more potassium and more isomorphous
substitutions than illite.

4.4.
(a) Hydrogen bonds: Hydrogen atom (H+) in water molecules attracted to the oxygen (O 2-) or
hydroxyl groups (OH-) on the surface of clays.
(b) Covalent bond: Sharing electrons between atoms
(c) van der Waals forces: Weak attraction forces between molecules due to uneven distribution of
charges.

4.8. T will increase if the mixture of illite and kaolinite is deposited in saltwater.
For illite, the bonding between potassium and layers are strong so in saltwater, they become
more difficult for other cations to replace potassium ions T will remain the same.
For kaolinite, in saltwater, the clay will attract cations to its surface edges and flocculation will
occur.

4.11. We can add lime (CaO, Ca(OH)2) to the slurry so they can react with clay particles and
remove water molecules from the surface of clay particles to make the slurry contract and
become more stable.

4.14. Yes, a soil can have a low void ratio and a high density at the same time when it is
compacted, the void ratio will decrease while the density of the soil will increase.