BRITISH SOIL CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM (BS 5930 : 1981)

Laboratory identification
Group Subgroup
MAJOR DIVISION % fines Liquid limit Name
symbol symbol
(< 0.06 mm) (%)
Slightly silty GW GW Well graded GRAVEL
GRAVELS or G 0-5
slightly clayey GP GPu GPg Poorly grade/Uniform/
GRAVEL Gap graded GRAVEL
More than Well graded/Poorly graded
50% of Silty GRAVEL G-M GWM GPM
Silty GRAVEL
coarse
G-F 5 - 15
material is of
Well graded/Poorly graded
gravel size Clayey GRAVEL G-C GWC GPC
(coarser than Clayey GRAVEL
Less than 35% of the material is finer than 0.06mm

2mm) Very silty Very silty GRAVEL

GM
GRAVEL GML, etc (Subdivide as for GC)
GF 15 - 35
Very clayey Very Clayey GRAVEL
GC
COARSE GRAINED SOILS

GRAVEL GCL < 35 (Clay of low plasticity,

GCI 35 - 50 Intermediate plasticity,
GCH 50 - 70 High plasticity,
GCV 70 - 90 Very high plasticity, or
GCE > 90 Extremely high plasticity)
Slightly silty SW SW Well graded SAND
SANDS or S 0-5
Slightly clayey SP SPu SPg Poorly graded/Uniform/
More than SAND Gap graded SAND
50% of Well graded/Poorly graded
Silty SAND S-M SWM SPM
coarse Silty SAND
material is of S-F 5 - 15
sand size Well graded/Poorly graded
(finer than Clayey SAND S-C SWC SPC
Clayey SAND
2mm) Very silty Very Silty SAND
SM
SAND SML, etc (Subdivide as for SC)
SF 15 - 35
Very clayey Very Clayey SAND
SC
SAND SCL < 35 (Clay of Low plasticity,
SCI 35 - 50 Intermediate plasticity,
SCH 50 - 70 High plasticity,
SCV 70 - 90 Very high plasticity, or
SCE > 90 Extremely high plasticity)
Gravelly SILT
Gravelly SILT MG
Gravelly MLG, etc (Subdivide as for CG)
More than 35% of the material is finer than 0.06mm

or Sandy FG
SILTS Gravelly CLAY of
Gravelly CLAY CG
and CLG < 35 Low plasticity,
CLAYS CIG 35 - 50 Intermediate plasticity,
CHG 50 - 70 High plasticity,
(35 to 65% CVG 70 - 90 Very high plasticity, or
FINE GRAINED SOILS

fines) CEG > 90 Extremely high plasticity

Sandy SILT
Sandy SILT MS
MLS, etc (Subdivide as for CG)
FS
Sandy CLAY
Sandy CLAY CS
CLS, etc (Subdivide as for CG)
SILT
SILT M
SILTS ML, etc (Subdivide as for C)
and F
CLAYS CLAY of
CLAY C
CL < 35 Low plasticity,
(65 to 100% CI 35 - 50 Intermediate Plasticity,
fines) CH 50 - 70 High plasticity.
CV 70 - 90 Very high plasticity, or
CE > 90 Extremely high plasticity
Organic Descriptive letter 'O' suffixed to any group Organic matter suspected to be a significant constituent
Soils or sub-group symbol Example : MHO - Organic SILT of High plasticity
Peat Pt Peat soils consists predominantly of plant remains which may be fibrous or amorphous
 PLASTICITY CHART
BRITISH SOIL CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM (BS5930:1981)

70
CE
60
CV
A-line
50

ME
40 CH

30 MV
CI

Plasticity Index, PI (%)

20

CL
10 MH
6 MI
ML
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120

Liquid Limit, LL (%)

 UNIFIED SOIL CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM (USCS)
GROUP TYPICAL
MAJOR DIVISION CLASSIFICATION CRITERIA
SYMBOLS NAMES

Well-graded gravels and gravel-sand Cu greater than 4

GW
mixtures, little or no fines Cz between 1 and 3
Clean
Gravels
Poorly-graded gravels and gravel-
GP Not meeting both criteria for GW
sand mixtures, little or no fines

Silty gravels, gravel-sand -silt Atterberg limits plot below "A" line or

GRAVELS
GM

GM, GC, SM. SC

Gravels mixtures Plasticity index less than 4 Atterberg limits plotting in hatched

GW, GP, SW, SP

with area are borderline classifications

Borderline classification
Fines Clayey gravels, gravels-sand-clay Atterberg limits plot above "A" line and requiring use of dual symbols

requiring use of dual symbols

GC

retained on no. 4 sieve (4.75 mm)

mixtures Plasticity index greater than 7

50% or more of the coarse fraction

Well-graded sands and gravelly Cu greater than 4
SW
sands, little or no fines Cz between 1 and 3
Clean
Sands
Poorly-graded sands and gravelly

COARSE-GRAINED SOILS
SP Not meeting both criteria for SW
sands, little or no fines

mm)
Classification on basis of percentage of fines

SANDS
Atterberg limits plot below "A" line or
SM Silty sands, sand-silt mixtures
Sands Plasticity index less than 4 Atterberg limits plotting in hatched

More than 50% retained on no. 200 Sieve (75mm sieve)

Less than 5% passes No. 200 sieve
More than 12% pass no. 200 sieve
with area are borderline classifications

5% to 12% pass no. 200 sieve

Fines Atterberg limits plot above "A" line and requiring use of dual symbols

More than 50% of the coarse

SC Clayey sands, sand-clay mixtures

fraction passes no. 4 sieve (4.75

Plasticity index greater than 7

Inorganic silts, very fine sands, rock 60

ML
flour, silty or clayey fine sands.
Inorganics clays of low to medium 50
CL plasticity,gravelly clays, sandy clays, CH
silty clays, lean clays. 40

50% or less
A-line

Liquid limit
Organic silts and organic silty clays
OL

SILTS AND CLAYS

of low plasticity 30 CL or OL
Inorganic silts, micaceous or MH
MH diatomaceous fine sands or silts, 20
Plasticity Index, PI (%)

elastic silts
10

FINE-GRAINED SOILS
Inrorganic clays of high plasticity, fat 7
CH ML or OL
clays
0

Liquid limit
greater than 50%
Organic clays of medium to high 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

50% or more passes no. 200 Sieve (75mm sieve)

OH

SILTS AND CLAYS

plasticity Liquid Limit, LL (%)

Peat, muck, and other highly

Highly organic soils PT Visual-Manual Identification, see ASTM Designation D 2488
organic soils