- Paper - 26

Elarabi, H and Elfaki, A., Correlation between Laboratory and Field Permeability Test of Soils
in Khartoum New International Airport Area, Technical Notes, BRR Journal, BRRI, U. of K.,
Vol. 11, Dec. 2011.

Correlation between Laboratory and Field Permeability Test of Soils in Khartoum

New International Airport Area

Hussien Elarabi1 , Ahmed A. E. Elfaki2

ABSTRACT:
It is well known that Permeability affects the performance of a structure by percolation of water, through the
interconnected voids of soil pavement. It causes a number of soil engineering problems such as settlement of
buildings, yield of wells, seepage through and below the earth structures. In this paper, laboratory and field
permeability tests, based on the principles of falling head test, were conducted on different boreholes in Khartoum
New International Airport (KNIA), to study the correlation between the laboratory and the field permeability
values. The main objective was to assess whether the field permeability values could be estimated from laboratory
permeability values or any other physical properties deduced in the laboratory. The results show that there was a
significant difference between the laboratory permeability measured in the lab and the field permeability values.
The reason behind this discrepancy was further investigated and explained in the study. Nevertheless, there was a
very good correlation between the laboratory permeability (KL), and the ratio field/laboratory permeability
(Kf/KL). Also there was a good relationship between field permeability values and some parameters estimated
from laboratory and field test.
:
(+, - . , 0!* " "! # %& ' ( *
, > ( @ ? ( A B +, ' C > . ( . + %& * 9 ,- , 6 ! 2! .4 5
.( ( ? ( F% +, G , ,@ 2H 5 " > ( Boreholes)
+, %& .. . ? > 0*? % ( L( ( ? L(F * J (6 K L(( 2 +, ' C ,-
L ,( & J 6 .P?! C Q> .(R % &S C! + A?T AJ U ,F , ( ? ( L( ( (! % & G NO
V ? ( WX ( 2F F% ,B O .( kf/kL ratio) . Q . ? ( > *! 6 ( 2F F% ! +
.. ? . Q> - *J L Q ( Y

1. Introduction seepage of water through or under a structure to be estimated and

Permeability is one of the most intriguing properties of materials
that engineers must deal with. A material is porous if it contains
interstices. The porous material is permeable if the interstices are
interconnected or continuous. The property of a soil which permits
flow of water (or any other liquid) through it, is called
permeability. In other words, the permeability is the ease with
which liquid can flow through it (1).
Knowledge of the permeability characteristic of soil is
required for many construction projects in which drainage is an
important feature. In many applications the use of a flow net
analysis together with permeability data, enable the rate of
seepage pressures to be calculated. Permeability is a major
parameter used in the design and assessment of landfill sites and
the investigation of contaminated ground (2).
2. Area of Study
The field permeability tests were performed at Khartoum New
International Airport Project (KNIA). Fig. (1).
The Project is located in Khartoum state near Jabal Awlia. The
area stand out majestically in the wide flat plains, south of
Omdurman city, south west of Jabel Awlia hydraulic dam on
White Nile.

1 Associate Professor at Building and Road Research Institute, University of Khartoum

2 Lecturer at Faculty of Engineering, University of Sinnar

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 Fig. (2) Location of the KNIA

Table (1) locations of performed tests at KNIA

Date of Elevation Coordinates Casing

BH No.
Test (m) X Y dia.(mm)
Fig. (1): location of study BHS2 05/06/2005 265 262157 2020380 76.2
BZ5 31/05/2005 224 248152 2147117 76.2
The study area bounded by the White Nile in the east, low hills to
BE2 24/05/2005 292 381414 2056549 76.2
the west, southern boundary is Mundra Mountain, and in the north
BZ4 31/05/2005 229 246233 2135950 76.2
small sand dunes and short trees were found. The area is
BTER5 06/05/2005 251 263218 2018888 76.2
accessible by unpaved road from Omudrman .The climate is poor
BTER1 04/06/2005 296 298039 2013672 76.2
savanna, which characterized by hot rainy summer and dry winter
BZ1 31/05/2005 221 243850 2105967 76.2
(The rain extends from July till October, winter normally starts on
BHOT 04/06/2005 254 277032 2012890 76.2
November and ends at March). The area is classified as poor 02/06/2005 - 325850 2004367 76.2
BCAR2
savanna covered with short trees and shrubs. The population lives 02/06/2005 264 303441 2006522 76.2
BCAR4
in small scattered villages, water resource is ground water, Fig. BC2 28/05/2005 299 383187 2058215 76.2
(2) and Table (1) BE1 28/05/2005 299 383187 2058215 76.2
BX2 28/05/2005 287 390409 2059799 76.2
3. Previous work BGAS1 02/06/2005 - 256424 2058525 76.2
BA1 31/05/2005 237 250596 2087620 76.2
Previous work on permeability of soils, Cary et al1 1943 (3)
BADM1 02/06/2005 280 376413 2055829 76.2
reported extremely wide variations in the permeabilities of glacial
till- gravel mixtures for the core of mud mountain dam with small
Strohm et al. 1967 (4) discovered that when well- graded mixtures
variation in placement water content. A mixture of 20% Silt and
of sand and gravel contained as little as 5% of fines (sizes smaller
80% gravel had permeability 5*10-4 cm/sec at a water content of
than a No. 200 sieve) high compactive efforts reduced the
14% but only 5*10-7 cm/sec at 16%, a change of 1000 times with
variation in water content of only 2%.

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effective porosities nearly to zero and the permeability to less than
0.01% of those at moderate densities. 2.5
2
1.5

Kf E -04
4. Methodology and preparation of samples 1
0.5
In this paper sixteen permeability field tests carried out at KNIA 0
were analyzed and presented. All carried permeability tests are -0.5 y = -0.110x + 2.961
-1
falling head type. -1.5 R = 0.895
Disturbed soil samples were taken from the depth where the field -2
permeability tests were carried out. The soil samples were kept in 0 4 8 12 16 20 24 28 32 36
PI%
plastic bags and transported to the BRRI laboratories.
All physical properties tests were carried out on sample brought Fig 3 Field permeability vs. plasticity index
from site KNIA. These tests include Liquid Limit, Plastic Limit,
Plasticity Index and Grain size. Atterberg limits and grain size
distribution were performed to classify the soil and to correlate
some parameters with field permeability. The effect of these
2.5
parameters on the permeability value was observed. The samples
2
used for permeability tests were compacted in a standard 1.5
Kf E -04

compaction test to approximately 98 percent of maximum 1

theoretical density (5), (6). 0.5
0 y = 0.030x - 0.499
The coefficient of permeability obtained from laboratory tests
-0.5 R = 0.631
were correlated with the field values at KNIA. -1
5. Correlation of Field Permeability and 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Gravel Content %
Physical properties
Fig 4 Field permeability vs. Gravel contents.
Plasticity Index describing the range of water content over which a
soil was plastic. Greater values of %passing No. 200 sieve
indicated that the fine contents increases in the material.
Field permeability (Kf) is plotted against plasticity index (PI) for
all samples. A clear linear relation is simulated and presented in 2.5
Fig. 3. Generally, the field permeability increases with the 2 y = -0.047x + 2.052
R = 0.698
Kf E -04

decrease of the plasticity index. Statistical analysis made on the 1.5

data produced a good value of coefficient of determination 1

0.5
(R2=0.895).
0
Acceptable relationship is found for (Kf) vs. gravel contents & the -0.5
%passing No.200 (R2 = 0.631 and 0.698 respectively). Fig.4 -1
shows that the higher the field permeability is the higher the gravel 0 6 12 18 24 30 36 42 48 54
Pass No 200 %
contents, while Fig.5 indicates that the field permeability
decreases with the increase of the %passing No.200. Fig 5 Field permeability vs. Fines contents.

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 6. Correlation of Laboratory and Field
Permeability Values
All laboratory permeability tested samples were compacted in a
standard compaction test to approximately 98% of maximum
theoretical density. Table 2 summarizes the field and laboratory
permeability values. Fig. 6 illustrates the comparison of these
measured permeability values. A large variation between the
permeability values measured in the field and those in the
laboratory was observed.
These results show that there was a significant difference between
the field and laboratory permeability values. The field
Fig. 6 comparison between Field and laboratory permeability
permeability values are always much higher than the laboratory
permeability values. This higher field permeability can be
explained in terms of water flow in the field. Unlike laboratory
tests, the in-situ flow is not confined to one-dimensional flow. 1.0E-07
Water can flow in any direction (vertical and/or horizontal).
1.0E-06
Likewise the laboratory specimens did not contain a representative
Kf (cm/s)

proportion of joints and fissures in the soil or rocky materials 1.0E-05

tested. Laboratory permeability tested materials are disturbed, and
1.0E-04
a specimen represents only a limited portion of the investigated
material. 1.0E-03
1.0E-04 1.0E-06 1.0E-08 1.0E-10
Therefore, it would be expected that the field permeability values KL(cm/s)
should be higher than the laboratory permeability values since
Fig. 7 Field vs. Laboratory permeability
both are estimated based on the falling head permeability test
principles.
During some field tests in this study, water was observed to come
up through the layers a few centimetres away from the borehole.
This could be due to the horizontal flow of water in the underlying
layers.
Fig. 7 shows the relationship between the field permeability and
the laboratory permeability values for different borehole tested in
this study. No meaningful correlation among the field permeability
and the laboratory permeability values was observed. The
correlation between the laboratory permeability (KL) and the ratio
Kf/KL is shown in Fig.8.
The laboratory permeability has very good power relationship Fig. 8 Correlation between laboratory permeability KL and ratio
of field and laboratory permeability Kf/kL
with the ratio Kf/KL (R2=0.75). Generally, the ratio Kf/KL

decreases with the increase of the laboratory permeability.

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Table 2 Correlation of Field and Laboratory Permeability Values decreases with the increase of the %passing No.200 BS
at KNIA area Sieve contents.
There is a significant difference between the
Field Lab. permeability values obtained from the laboratory tests
kf /kL
BH permeability Permeability
ratio and the field tests using the same principles of
k(cm/s) K (cm/s)
measurement. The field permeability values are

1.82E+04 considerably higher than the laboratory permeability

BHS2 1.82E-05 1.00E-09
values.
BZ5 3.68248E-05 2.19E-09 1.68E+04
Statistical relations were deducted in this study to
BE2 1.38862E-05 5.69E-08 2.44E+02
calculate the value of field permeability from the kf/kL
BZ4 6.12418E-05 1.00E-09 6.12E+04 ratio, plasticity index (PI), Gravel contents, and or fine
BTER5 2.2203E-06 1.00E-09 2.22E+03 contents.
BTER1 3.28993E-05 3.32E-07 9.90E+01 From results it can be seen that the coefficient of

BZ1 1.82167E-06 2.25E-07 8.08E+00 permeability determined from laboratory tests may
6.08E+02 differ from field one due to the reason that small soil
BHOT 6.07699E-07 1.00E-09
2.90E+01 specimens may not be representative to the overall field
BCAR2 1.82693E-05 6.31E-07
conditions.
BCAR4 1.36901E-05 1.96E-08 6.99E+02
BC2 5.22663E-06 2.54E-07 2.05E+01
BE1 1.83E-05 1.17E-06 1.57E+01 8. References
BX2 0.000492286 4.08E-05 1.21E+01 (1) Arora. K. R, "Soil Mechanics and Foundation

BGAS1 3.22863E-06 1.35E-06 2.39E+00 Engineering", Fifth Edition. Published by: Jain .A.K.,

8.29E+01 2001
BA1 0.000133569 1.61E-06
1.97E+03 (2) Harry R. cedergren, "Seepage, Drainage, And Flow
BADM1 0.000158953 8.05E-08
Impermeable =1.0E-9 nets", Third Edition, 1989
(3) Cary, A. S., Boyd H. Walter, and Howard T. Harstad,
"Permeability of Mud Mountain Dam Core Material",
7. Conclusions
Transactions of A.S.C.E., Vol.108, pp. 719-728, 1943
The following conclusions can be drawn as an outcome of this
(4) Strohm, W.E., E. H. Nettles, and C.C. Calhoun, "Study
study:
of Drainage characteristics of Base Course Materials",
The physical parameters may be used to estimate the
Highway Research Record No.203, Highway Research
field permeability. In this paper four parameters include:
Board (now Transportation Research Board), 1967
the plasticity index, gravel content, fines content (%pass
(5) Loudon, A. G., "The Computation of Permeability from
No. 200 BS sieve), and laboratory permeability (KL) are
Simple Soil Tests", Geotechnique, Vol. 3, No. 4, pp
investigated.
165-183. Available from: Technical Information Center,
The experimental study deduced some relationships
U. S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station, P.
between the field permeability and the plasticity index
O. Box 631, Vicksburg, MS 39180-0631, 1957
(R2=0.895), gravel content (R2=0.631), fines content
(6) U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, "Engineering and
(%pass No. 200 BS sieve) (R2 =0.698), and laboratory
design-Laboratory soils testing", publication number - E
permeability (KL). Generally, the field permeability
M 1110-2-1906, 1970
increases with the decrease of the plasticity index and
the increase of gravel contents, while field permeability

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