2.

2 SOIL
Soil is the mixture of minerals, organic matter, gases, liquids and a myriad of organisms
that can support plant life.
There are basically three types of soil:

Clay soil particles are very small and compact. Gardens with these types of soil particles
dont work well because the air has a hard time getting to the roots. The soil absorbs and holds
water and creates a drainage problem. This adversely affects healthy root and plant growth.

Sandy soil particles are large. The water and nutrients (particularly nitrogen) quickly
drain away from the plant root zone. Sandy soil is the opposite of clay soil.

Silt soil is made up of fine particles. Like clay the soil holds water but doesnt have good
aeration around the roots.
2.2.1 Soil Compaction is the densification of a soil by expulsion of air and forcing the
soil particles closer together. The laboratory test to investigate the maximum dry unit weight and
the optimum water content is the Proctor test. (Muni Budhu, 2011)
2.2.1.1 PROCTOR COMPACTION TESTASTM D 1140 AND ASTM D 1557
A laboratory test called the standard Proctor test was developed to deliver a standard
amount of mechanical energy (compactive effort) to determine the maximum dry unit weight of
a soil. In the standard Proctor test, a dry soil specimen is mixed with water and compacted in a
cylindrical mold of volume 9.4431024 m3 (standard Proctor mold) by repeated blows from the
mass of a hammer, 2.5 kg, falling freely from a height of 305 mm. The soil is compacted in three
layers, each of which is subjected to 25 blows.
The energy imparted by the hammer is

Ecomp =mh g

hd
N N
V b l

where mh is the mass of the hammer, g is the acceleration due to gravity, hd

is the height of

fall of the hammer, V is the volume of compacted soil, Nb is the number of blows, and Nl is the
number of layers. Thus, the compaction energy of the standard Proctor test is

Ecomp =2.5 9.8

0.305
kJ
25 3 103=594 3
4
9.44 10
m

2.2.2 Permeability is a measure of a soil's or rock's ability to transmit a fluid, usually

water. Flow of water through soils is governed by Darcys law, which states that the velocity is
proportional to the hydraulic gradient. The proportionality constant is the hydraulic conductivity.
The hydraulic conductivity depends on soil type, particle size, pore fluid properties, void ratio,
pore size, homogeneity, layering and fissuring, and entrapped gases. In coarse-grained soils the
hydraulic conductivity is determined using a constant- head test, while for fi ne-grained soils a
falling-head test is used. (Muni Budhu, 2011)
2.2.2.1 Constant-Head Test
The constant-head test is used to determine the hydraulic conductivity of coarse-grained
soils. Water is allowed to flow through a cylindrical sample of soil under a constant head (h). The
outflow (Q) is collected in a graduated cylinder at a convenient duration (t).

With reference to the Figure, H=h and i= H / L=h/l

The flow rate through the soil is qz = Q/t, where Q is the total quantity of water collected in the
measuring cylinder over time t.
k z=

q z QL
=
Ai tAh

where kz is the hydraulic conductivity in the vertical direction and A is the cross-sectional area.
The viscosity of the fluid, which is a function of temperature, influences the value of kz. The
experimental value (kTC) is corrected to a baseline temperature of 20C using
k 20 C =k T C
where

T C
=k T C RT
20 C

is the dynamic viscosity of water, T is the temperature in C at which the

measurement was made, and Rt = TC/

calculated from

20C

is the temperature correction factor that can be

RT = 2.42 - 0.475 ln(T)

2.2.2.2 Falling-Head Test

The falling-head test is used for fine-grained soils because the flow of water through
these soils is too slow to get reasonable measurements from the constant-head test. A compacted
soil sample or a sample extracted from the field is placed in a metal or acrylic cylinder. Porous
stones are positioned at the top and bottom faces of the sample to prevent its disintegration and
to allow water to percolate through it. Water flows through the sample from a standpipe attached
to the top of the cylinder. The head of water (h) changes with time as flow occurs through the
soil. At different times, the head of water is recorded. Let dh be the drop in head over a time
period dt.

The velocity or rate of head loss in the tube is

V =dh /dt
and the inflow of water to the soil is

(q z )=av=a

dh
dt

where a is the cross-sectional area of the tube. We now appeal to Darcys law to get the outflow:
qz

where A is the cross-sectional area, L is the length of the soil sample, and h is the head of water
at any time t. The continuity condition requires that (qz)in = (qz)out. Therefore,
a

dh
h
= Ak
dt
l

By separating the variables (h and t) and integrating between the appropriate limits, the last
equation becomes
t2

h2

Ak
dh
dt=

aL t
h
h
and the solution for k in the vertical direction is
k =k z=

h
aL
ln ( 2 )
A (t 2t 1)
h1