Assigment 1: Index Properties & Plasticity Characteristics

Submission date: 26/07/2019

Q.1 A cohesive soil sample was taken from an SPT and Returned to the laboratory in a
glass jar. It was found to weigh 140.5 grams. The sample was then placed in a container
of V= 500 cm3 and 423 cm3 of water were added to fill the container. What was the unit
weight of the soil in kN/m3?
Q.2 A contractor has compacted the base course for a new road and found that the
mean value of the test samples shows w = 14.6 %, Gs = 2.81, and ϒ = 18.2 kN/m3. The
specification require that e ≤ 0.80. Has the contractor complied with the
specifications?
Q.3 Show that at saturation the moisture (water) content is
Wsat = γw (1/γd - 1/γs)
Q.4 A geotechnical laboratory reported these results of five samples taken from a single
boring. Determine which are not correctly reported, if any.
Sample # 1: w = 30 %, ϒd = 18 kN/m3, ϒs = 27 kN/m3
Sample # 2: w = 20 %, ϒd = 18 kN/m3, ϒs = 27 kN/m3
Sample # 3: w = 10 %, ϒd = 16 kN/m3, ϒs = 26 kN/m3
Sample # 4: w = 22 %, ϒd = 17 kN/m3, ϒs = 28 kN/m3
Sample # 5: w = 22 %, ϒd = 18 kN/m3, ϒs = 27 kN/m3

Q.5 The moist unit weight of a soil is 16.5 kN/m3. Given that the w = 15% and Gs = 2.70,
Find:
1. Dry unit weight ϒd,
2. The porosity n,
3. The degree of saturation S, and
4. The mass of water in kgm/m3 that must be added to reach full saturation.
Q.6 A soil has an “in-situ” (in-place) voids ratio e0 = 1.87, Wn = 60%, and Gs= 2.75. What
are the ϒmoist and Sr ?
Q.7 Determine the weight of water (in kN) that must be added to a cubic meter of soil
to attain a 95% degree of saturation, if the dry unit weight is 17.5 kN/m3, its moisture is
4%, the specific gravity of solids is 2.65 and the soil entirely made up of a clean quartz
sand.
Q.8 You have been hired as the project Engineer to build 600 housing units
surrounding four lakes. Since the original ground is low, you will use the limestone
excavated from the lake to fill the land in order to build roads and housing pads, Your
estimated fill requirements are 700000 m3, with a dry density equivalent to a voids
ration e = 0.46. The “ in-situ” limestone extracted from the lakes has an e = 0.39,
whereas the limestone dumped into trucks has an e = 0.70. How many truckloads will
you need, if each truck carries 10 m3?
Q.9 A soil sample of 26.2 g was placed in a 1050 oven for 24 hours. The dry mass of the
sample turned out to be 19.5 g. What is the water content?
Q.10 A saturated soil sample has water content of24.2% and the specific gravity of the
soil grains is 2.73. What are the dry and saturated unit weights?
Q.11 The unit weight of a dry sandy snit is 15.5 kN/m3. The specific gravity of the soil
grains is 2.64. If the soil becomes saturated, at the same void ratio, what would be the
water content and unit weight?
Q.12 5 kg of soil is at natural water content of 3%. How much water would you add to
the above soil to bring the water content to 12%?
Q.13 A soil excavated from a borrow area is being used to construct an embankment.
The void ratio of the in situ soil at the borrow area is 1.14, and it is required that the soil
in the embankment be compacted to a void ratio of 0.70. With 200,000 m3 of soil
removed from the borrow area, how many cubic meters of embankment can be made?
Q.14 A saturated, undisturbed clay sample collected below the water table has a wet
mass of 651 g. The volume of the sample was determined to be 390 ml3. When dried in
the oven for 24 hours, the sample has a mass of 4 16 g. What is the specific gravity of
the soil grains?
Q.15 In the construction process, the trucks dump the soil at the site, then the soil is
spread and broken up. Water is then sprinkled to bring the water content to 15%. Finally,
the soil is compacted to a dry unit weight of 17.1 kN/m3. Assuming each load is to the
full capacity determine,
A. how many truckloads are required to construct the fill?
B. What would be the volume of the pit in the borrow area?
C. How many litres of water should be added to a truckload?