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Cone penetration resistance of calcareous sand

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DOI: 10.1007/s10064-006-0061-2

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Bull Eng Geol Environ (2007) 66:59–70
DOI 10.1007/s10064-006-0061-2
ORIGINAL PAPER
Cone penetration resistance of calcareous sand
Fathi M. Shaqour
Received: 20 July 2005 / Accepted: 7 July 2006 / Published online: 5 September 2006

Springer-Verlag 2006
Abstract Calcareous sands form the foundation
soils/structural fill for most of the engineering works
in Kuwait, the Arabian Gulf countries and also act as
structural fill. In situ calcareous sands are stronger
than uncemented sand but lose much of their strength
when re-worked or on wetting. The paper reports
Dutch cone penetrometer tests on Jahra sand and
Gatch under dry, wet and saturated conditions, using
a specially designed sample box. The results showed
that the penetration resistance (both tip and friction)
of the uncemented sand increases upon wetting to an
optimum with about a 70% increase from the dry,
then decreases down to only 21% of the dry. With
the calcareous sand, wetting was found to reduce
the resistance in a directly proportional relationship,
with a loss of resistance of 20% recorded at 7% water
content and an 87% reduction when soaked. The
friction ratio increased with increasing moisture con-
tent in uncemented sand but reduced to 50% in
calcareous sands.
Keywords Cone penetration Æ Calcareous sands Æ
Water content Æ Aeolian sands
Résumé Les sables calcaires constituent les sols de
fondation ou les matériaux de remblai dans la plupart
des travaux de génie civil au Koweı̈t et dans les pays du
F. M. Shaqour (&)
P.O. Box 1278, Tla El-Ali, Amman 11953, Jordan
e-mail: shaqourf@yahoo.com
F. M. Shaqour
Department of Applied Geology and Environment,
University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan
Golfe arabique. La résistance des sables calcaires en
place dépend de leur degré de cimentation. Ils perdent
l’essentiel de leur résistance par remaniement ou
humidification. L’article présente des essais au péné-
tromètre hollandais, réalisés sur des sables de Jahra et
de Gatch, en conditions sèche, humide et saturée,
utilisant une boı̂te d’échantillonnage spécifique. Les
résultats ont montré que la résistance de pénétration (à
la fois de pointe et de friction) des sables non cimentés
augmente avec l’humidité jusqu’à une valeur supéri-
eure de 70% à la valeur sèche, puis décroı̂t jusqu’à une
valeur représentant seulement 21% de la valeur sèche.
Quant aux sables calcaires, l’humidification a pour ef-
fet de réduire la résistance de façon directement pro-
portionnelle, avec une perte de résistance de 20% pour
une teneur en eau de 7% et une perte de résistance de
87% pour un sable saturé. Le coefficient de friction
augmente avec la teneur en eau pour les sables non
cimentés mais diminue jusqu’à 50% pour les sables
calcaires.
Mots clés Cône pénétrométrique Æ Sables calcaires Æ
Teneur en eau Æ Sables éoliens
Introduction
Calcareous cemented sands are common in the Middle
East and known by different terms. In Kuwait they are
known as Gatch, which is a local term derived from the
Persian language meaning white, while in Saudi Arabia
they are known as calcrete deposits—the more inter-
national term. In Jordan, they are known as caliche
deposits (Blake 1902; Brown 1956; Cooly 1961; John-
son 1967; Reeves 1976).
123
60
Geologically they develop by the deposition of car-
bonate and/or sulphate minerals within the pores of
previously deposited sand, which becomes cemented.
Generally the carbonate and sulphate cements increase
the strength of the sand. Being susceptible to dissolu-
tion and/or softening by the action of water, their ac-
tual strength properties are critical for geotechnical
purposes as these deposits are widely used for the
backfilling of trenches, road embankments and other
excavated construction sites (Al-Sanad and Shaqour
1990; Al-Sanad et al. 1991). The dissolution of the
cementing material results in a reduction in strength
(Shaqour 1990; Al-Sanad and Shaqour 1990).
Reworking of the cemented sands also reduces their
strength, as does wetting.
The geology of Kuwait City is generally character-
ised by uncemented aeolian sands, although these
contain some cemented bands (the above-mentioned
Gatch). Both deposits are used as foundation materials
as well as for backfilling excavated areas. As the
groundwater level is quite shallow in Kuwait City, the
soils may be subjected to groundwater level fluctua-
tions and possibly inundation by irrigation water
(Shaqour 1992, 2004).
The current study investigated the change of
strength of such deposits under different moisture
conditions (dry to saturated) using a Dutch cone pen-
etrometer. A local sand known as the Jahra sand was
selected to represent the uncemented deposits while a
slightly cemented type of Gatch was used to represent
calcareous sand.
Samples of uncemented (clean) sand and calcareous
sands were prepared under varying conditions (dry,
wet and saturated) using a specially designed sample
box and testing apparatus to simulate the conditions of
compacted fills when subjected to wetting or flooding,
in order to determine the strength changes that would
occur due to softening and/or dissolution of the
cementing carbonates. The naturally occurring calcar-
eous cemented sands were not included in this study
due to the difficulty of obtaining undisturbed samples
of an appropriate size. However, Shaqour (1990)
studied their behaviour under various conditions using
a miniature penetrometer and reported a significant
reduction in strength with wetting and soaking.
Background to cone penetration testing
The cone penetrometer test is now a reliable site
investigation tool, which allows the determination of
soil parameters that can be used in empirical formulae
in geotechnical engineering design. In addition, it is
123
F. M. Shaqour
becoming accepted as a useful tool for soil profiling
and the identification of soil types, although it cannot
completely replace boring and sampling.
The cone penetrometer started as a simple
mechanical device; the Swedish weight-sounding
device (Swedish State Railways Geotechnical Com-
mission 1922). This was followed by another mechan-
ical device developed in the Netherlands in which the
penetrating rod is separated from the soil via a tube,
with the possibility of pushing each individually to
determine the friction from the tip resistance (see
Begemann 1963). Begemann (1953) introduced a short
sleeve immediately above the point of the cone and
subsequently used sensors placed in the cone and the
sleeve to measure the cone resistance and sleeve fric-
tion. In 1965 he showed that the cone penetrometer
could produce quite accurate soil profiling by demon-
strating that course-grained soils give higher values of
cone resistance and sleeve friction than fine-grained
soils. This is illustrated in Fig. 1 and Table 1, although
it should be noted that the values given are site specific.
Other researchers developed a number of charts
for soil profiling based on the relationship between
friction ratio and cone resistance (Sanglerat et al. 1974;
Shmertmann 1978; Doglas and Oslen 1981; Vos 1982;
Jones and Rust 1982; Senesset et al. 1989; Eslami and
Fellenius 1996, 1997). All of these charts refer to the
main soil types—gravel, sand, silt and clay and/or
combinations of these such as silty clay, sandy silt and
so forth. However, none of the charts refers to the
calcareous sands typically found in desert areas as they
have generally been developed based on tests carried
out in specific sites located mainly in humid areas in
Europe or the USA.
Fig. 1 The Begemann original profiling chart (Begemann 1965)
Cone penetration resistance of calcareous sand
Table 1 Suggested values of friction ratios for different soil
types (Begemman 1965)
Soil type Friction ratio
Coarse sand with gravel through fine sand 1.2–1.6%
Silty sand 1.6–2.2%
Silty sandy clayey soils 2.2–3.2%
Clay and loam, and loam soils 3.2–4.1%
Clay 4.1–7.0%
Peat >7%
Nature and geotechnical characteristics
of the tested soils
Nature of the tested soils
As noted above, the two main soil types used in shal-
low foundations in Kuwait are uncemented sand and
Gatch. They are mainly formed of quartz sand (unce-
mented clean sand) but this is occasionally cemented
with carbonates or sulphates to form irregular zones
with different environmental, geotechnical and hydro-
logical implications (Shaqour 1992). They belong to
what is known as the Kuwait Group, which ranges in
age from the Late Oligocene to the Pleistocene (Owen
and Naser 1958).
The source of calcium carbonate in the calcrete
deposits is not well understood but the calcrete
deposits vary both laterally and vertically according to
mode of formation, parent material and physical
properties (Sulaimi 1988). Several classifications have
been proposed, most of which have concentrated on
either genesis, mineralogy or soil fabric, depending on
the purpose of classification (Netterberg 1980; Netter-
berg and Caiger 1983).
In Kuwait, a typical soil profile includes upper and
lower uncemented soils with an intervening cemented
horizon, which occurs in irregular and lenticular bands;
Fig. 2 shows a profile through such typical deposits.
Geotechnical characteristics of the tested soils
Mechanical sieve analysis and other index tests were
carried out (Table 2). As can be seen from Fig. 3, both
types of sand had a wide range of grain sizes.
In order to investigate strength changes resulting
from such factors as variable moisture content and
dissolution of cementing materials, a series of Dutch
cone penetration tests were undertaken on
1.2 · 1.2 · 1.0 m samples held in a 5 mm thick steel
box, using a Fugro machine capable of producing a
standard penetration rate of about 2 mm per second
and a travel distance of 1,200 mm.
61
The Jahra sand and Gatch samples were compacted
in seven 150 mm thick layers using a hand compactor
to achieve maximum density of the tested materials.
The maximum density obtained was 1.8 Mg/m3 for the
Jahra sand and 1.76 Mg/m3 for the Gatch, both giving
relative compactions of greater than 95% hence satis-
fying the requirements for engineered fill. The wet
samples of both types of sand had a moisture content
of 7%. The saturated samples were prepared by
allowing water to flow through compacted layers, al-
though 50 mm of gravel was laid down at the bottom of
the box to allow homogeneous and laminar upward
flow of water through the sample. Initially water was
introduced from the side inlet but piping and distur-
bance of the sample was observed and hence a net of
perforated pipes was fixed at the bottom of the box
which was covered by a clean gravel layer prior to the
sand being placed and compacted in layers. The water
was then introduced very slowly from a small water
reservoir fixed at the top of the box; the water level
being monitored via a transparent pipe fixed at the side
of the box. With this method it took about a week for
the water level to reach the top of the sample.
Test procedure and test results
The results of the tests are given in Tables 3 and 4.
Two dry uncemented samples showed only a very
slight dilation (a fraction of a millimetre). The results
show quite high resistance of an average of 5,000 kPa,
as illustrated in Fig. 4a. The figure shows that the
resistance increased almost linearly with depth down to
600 mm where the recorded tip resistance was about
4,500 kPa, then increased to about 5,000 kPa at
700 mm depth and to 5,500 at 800 mm depth, before
increasing due to the bottom boundary effect. The
corresponding friction resistances were 20, 30 and
40 kPa respectively with friction ratios of 0.44, 0.6 and
0.73% respectively (Fig. 4b).
Two wet Jahra samples were similarly prepared and
tested; as seen in Fig. 5a, the results indicated higher
resistance than for the dry samples. Wet uncemented
sand samples showed a similar trend of higher resis-
tance values; 7,000 kPa were recorded at a depth of
600 mm, increasing slightly to about 7,500 kPa at
800 mm depth. This resistance is about 40% greater
than that of the dry Jahra sand and is attributed to the
developed suction and a slight cohesion. This is con-
sistent with the friction resistance values, which were
increased by 60% over the dry sand friction resistance
(Fig. 5b).
123
62 F. M. Shaqour

Fig. 2 Columnar section

showing types of calcareous
sands (Gatch)

The results of the penetration resistance tests on the samples when the tip and friction resistances dropped
two saturated samples are presented in Fig. 6a, b. The to 1,000 kPa and only 10 kPa respectively at a depth of
results show lower resistance for the dry than the wet 600 mm.
In order to investigate the effect of soaking followed
Table 2 Index geotechnical properties of the tested uncemented by draining (as might take place in reality by the effect
sand (Jahra) and calcareous sand (Gatch)
of irrigation water, groundwater level fluctuation or
Soil type Uncemented Calcareous flooding by burst water pipes), penetration resistance
Jahra sand sand (Gatch) tests were also undertaken on a soaked and then
Engineering property drained sample. The results are presented in Fig. 7.
Gravel content (%) 0.0 0.0 The results of the tests on dry, wet and saturated
Sand content (%) 95 80 Gatch samples, similarly prepared and tested, are given
Silt and clay content (%) 5 20 in Figs. 8, 9 and 10. A considerable reduction in pen-
Carbonate content 0.0 10
(clay size) (%) etration resistance of the Gatch samples with satura-
Liquid limit (%) 5 15 tion was noted. The tip resistance of the dry Gatch
Plastic limit (%) NP NP reached about 500 kPa at 500 mm depth and then
Maximum dry density (Mg/m3) 1.83 1.91 stayed almost constant down to 700 mm, after which
(Standard compaction test)
Optimum moisture content (%) 10.5 10 the bottom boundary effect was evident. This indicates
(Standard compaction test) a reduction of about 40% from that of the wet unce-
Specific gravity 2.64 2.67 mented sand. The friction resistance was about 50 kPa
Void ratio 0.6 0.5 at 600 mm depth. The friction ratio is about 1%.

123
Cone penetration resistance of calcareous sand
Fig. 3 Grain size distribution
of uncemented sand (a) and
Gatch (b )
The wet Gatch showed slightly lower values of both
tip and friction resistance, 4,000 and 35 kPa were re-
corded for tip and friction resistance respectively, with
a loss of about 20% due to wetting. Although these
results are in contrast to the uncemented sand, the
soaked Gatch samples experienced a high reduction in
resistance quite similar to that recorded for the soaked
uncemented sand.
Discussion of test results
The dry dense Jahra sand showed a relatively high
penetration resistance in the range of 4,000 kPa. The
wet uncemented sand (7% water content) showed an
even higher resistance of about 175% that of the dry
sand, due to the development of suction and cohesion.
Soaked samples, which were tested submerged, had
very low resistance—only some 20% of that of the dry
samples. This is attributed to the development of pore
pressure during testing which reduces the strength of
the soil. Soaked and then drained samples had a lower
strength than the dry samples, but higher than that of
the saturated samples. This could be explained by the
63
possible wash out of the fine particles during draining,
resulting in the creation of small voids and hence re-
duced resistance.
Friction resistance was generally very low relative to
the tip resistance, within the range of only 0.5–1% or
less in the case of the soaked samples. Figure 11 pre-
sents a comparison of the penetration resistance of the
dense uncemented sand under dry, wet, drained and
soaked conditions.
Dry dense Gatch samples prepared with a maximum
density of 1.76 Mg/m3 had a resistance some 1.3 times
higher than that of the dry uncemented sand, despite
the fact that their density was some 0.04 Mg/m3 more.
This suggests the presence of carbonates in the sandy
soils improves their strength properties. Wetting and
soaking the Gatch reduced its resistance to about 50
and 25% respectively. The introduction of water to the
Gatch sample resulted in slight swelling (approxi-
mately 5 mm or 0.5%) which could be enough to cre-
ate voids and reduce the resistance. As with the
uncemented sand, the friction resistance of the Gatch
was reduced in both the wet and soaked samples.
Figure 12 presents a comparison of the penetration tip
resistance for dry, wet and saturated Gatch samples.
123
64 F. M. Shaqour

Table 3 Results of penetration resistance tests of both uncemented and calcareous sands
Depth (cm) Dry Jahra Wet Jahra Soaked Drained Jahra Saturated Jahra Dry Gatch Wet Gatch Saturated Gatch

Tip resistance
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
10 322 825 475 240 1,237 1158 244
20 1,077 2,114 769 415 2,922 2924 359
30 1,718 3,509 811 507 3,613 2970 445
40 2,533 4,425 751 553 4,142 3232 535
50 3,371 5,971 926 755 4,934 3754 580
60 4,126 7,280 1,101 843 5,036 3973 611
70 4,784 7,830 1,193 926 5,112 4431 694
80 5,683 8,309 1,529 1,018 5,699 4851 728
90 6838 8,862 2,128 1,096 6,666 5345 784
95 7,317 – 2,667 1,667 8,625 6015 893
Friction resistance
0 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
10 0.48 0.96 0.96 0.00 2.16 6.73 1.94
20 2.88 5.77 2.77 1.44 4.56 14.16 5.25
30 7.69 11.54 4.81 1.92 16.59 27.40 12.98
40 12.03 27.90 5.77 2.88 28.14 27.60 16.84
50 15.88 30.31 5.77 5.29 32.48 29.82 20.20
60 21.64 58.69 6.73 8.18 44.02 30.50 29.34
70 28.39 74.09 8.66 10.58 46.42 32.07 32.23
80 41.37 76.98 10.58 12.03 47.39 34.56 33.76
90 53.40 86.60 12.51 13.95 47.97 34.99 33.09
95 61.58 – 15.39 14.58 63.99 36.58 34.23
Friction ratio
0 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
10 0.002 0.001 0.002 0.000 0.002 0.006 0.008
20 0.003 0.003 0.004 0.006 0.002 0.007 0.017
30 0.005 0.003 0.006 0.004 0.005 0.009 0.029
40 0.005 0.006 0.008 0.005 0.007 0.009 0.032
50 0.005 0.005 0.006 0.007 0.007 0.008 0.035
60 0.005 0.008 0.006 0.010 0.009 0.008 0.048
70 0.006 0.009 0.006 0.011 0.009 0.007 0.046
80 0.007 0.009 0.007 0.012 0.008 0.007 0.046
90 0.008 0.001 0.007 0.013 0.007 0.007 0.043
95 0.008 – 0.006 0.009 0.007 0.006 0.039

Table 4 Comparison of cone penetration test results (tip and friction); and friction ratios of both uncemented and calcareous sands, at
different moisture conditions
Soil type (1) Cone (2) Friction (3) Friction (1), (2) and (3) weighted to clean sand
resistance (kPa) resistance (kPa) ratio (%)
(1) Cone resist (2) Fric. resist (3) Fric. ratio

Dry clean sand 3,704 19.5 0.53 1.0 1.0 1.0

Wet clean sand (7% MC) 6,377 47.8 0.75 1.72 2.45 1.42
Drained clean sand (14% MC) 993 6.8 0.69 0.27 0.35 1.3
Saturated clean sand 769 6.7 0.87 0.21 0.34 1.64
Dry calcareous sand 4,806 37.8 0.79 1.3 1.94 1.49
Wet calcareous sand 3,848 30 0.78 1.04 1.54 1.47
Saturated calcareous sand 605 24.7 0.41 0.16 1.27 0.77
Note The resistances are taken as averages of those at depths 400, 500, 600 and 700 mm

Generally the reduction in resistance was greater in
the Gatch than in the uncemented sand, although in
both cases soaking gave the worse results (Fig. 13).
Friction ratios generally ranged from 0.5 to 1.5%,
except for the saturated Gatch where the ratio was up
to 6%. Although the friction ratio for the Gatch was
only slightly higher than for the dry uncemented sand,
the Gatch samples had a lower density hence a direct
comparison cannot be made. The high friction ratio of
the soaked Gatch could be attributed to the presence

123
Cone penetration resistance of calcareous sand 65

Fig. 4 Cone penetration test

results (tip and friction) of dry
uncemented Jahra sand

Fig. 5 Cone penetration test

results (tip and friction) of
wet uncemented Jahra sand

of calcium carbonate fines, which would have given a Conclusions

cohesion to the material. The friction ratio of Gatch
increases with increasing moisture content due to a
faster rate of increase of friction resistance than that
of tip resistance. However, further investigation is
required to confirm this.
The uncemented sand showed high penetration resis-
tance under dry conditions, which further increased
when wetted to about 7% moisture content due to the
development of suction and a slight cohesion.

123
66 F. M. Shaqour

Fig. 6 Cone penetration

resistance test results (tip and
friction) of saturated
uncemented Jahra sand

Fig. 7 Cone penetration

resistance test results (tip and
friction) of ‘‘soaked and
drained’’ uncemented Jahra
sand

Increasing the moisture content, however, resulted in a
considerable reduction in penetration resistance, to
almost a quarter of that of dry sand (for 14% moisture
content) and one-fifth for saturated samples. A similar
trend was observed for friction resistance, but for
friction ratio increased values were obtained with
increasing moisture content, with the highest ratio
found for the saturated samples.
The lower density dry calcareous sand had a higher
penetration resistance than the dry uncemented sand,
indicating a calcareous content improves the strength
of the sand.

123
Cone penetration resistance of calcareous sand 67

Fig. 8 Cone penetration

resistance test results (tip and
friction) of dry calcareous
sand (Gatch)

Fig. 9 Cone penetration

resistance test results (tip and
friction) of wet calcareous
sand (Gatch)

The friction resistance of the dry calcareous sand
was double that of the uncemented sand due to the
increased cohesion related to the carbonate material.
However, it was still less than that of wet uncemented
sand, suggesting that, at the scale of testing, the suction
developed due to wetting outweighs the additional
strength provided by the presence of carbonate fines.
The friction ratio of dry calcareous sand is higher
than that of dry uncemented sand; however in contrast
to the uncemented sand, it decreases with wetting.
The resistance of the dry calcareous sand decreases
with increasing moisture content, while in the case of
the uncemented sand, wetting results in an increase in
resistance until approximately the optimum moisture

123
68 F. M. Shaqour

Fig. 10 Cone penetration

resistance test results (tip and
friction) of saturated
calcareous sand (Gatch)

Fig. 11 Comparison of cone

penetration resistance (tip
and friction) of uncemented
sand under dry, wet, saturated
and drained conditions

content, after which it decreases with increasing
moisture content. This indicates that the softening
effect of the calcareous material upon wetting is
greater than the developed suction.
The tip resistance of the wet calcareous sand is
almost the same as that of dry uncemented sand, with
higher friction resistance and a friction ratio of about
50%.
Although the friction resistance of the saturated
uncemented sand is very low (about 25% of that of the
calcareous sand), its friction ratio is double that of
saturated calcareous sand.

123
Cone penetration resistance of calcareous sand 69

Fig. 12 Comparison of cone

penetration resistance (tip
and friction) of calcareous
sand under dry, wet and
saturated conditions

Fig. 13 Cone penetration

resistance (tip and friction) of
both uncemented and
calcareous sands under dry,
wet, saturated and drained
conditions

It is not realistic to use the low penetration resis-
tance and friction ratios for soil identification/profil-
ing. However the cone resistance and sleeve friction
results indicated the soils range between loose and
dense on Schmertmann’s (1978) chart, although the
samples were prepared as dense sand. This implies
that the model samples do not represent actual
conditions and their results are only valid for com-
parison purposes.
Further work is needed to study the behaviour of
calcareous sands in their natural (undisturbed) and
reworked conditions to better understand their geo-
technical behaviour under various conditions of wet-
ting and drying.

123
70
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