Quicksand is consisting of fine granular materials that has been saturated with water.

It
is not any special type of sand, but it is a condition of zero effective stress in
cohesionless soils.
Quick sand can not support the weight of man or animal and it behaves like a liquid with
a unit weight about twice that of water.

You're much more likely to run (or step) into quicksand near riverbanks, beaches, lake
shorelines, underground springs and marshes.
Special Case of Quicksand- Liquefaction
Soil Liquefaction describes a phenomenon whereby a saturated or partially
saturated soil substantially loses strength and stiffness in response to an applied stress

The shear strength of cohesionless soil depends upon the effective stress. The shear
strength is give by

Where

= effective stress.

= angle of shearing resistance.

The effective stress is reduced due to upward movement of flow of water. When the
head causing upward flow is increased, a stage is reached when the effective stress is
reduced to zero. The condition so developed is known as quick sand condition. It is the
condition when the upward water pressure gradient and water flow reduce the effective
stress. Sandy soils may lose their shear strength, and the soil may behave as a fluid.
The critical gradient is exceeded, the soil moves upward, and the soil surface
appears to be boiling. The quick condition is also known as boiling condition.

Quick condition can occur in:

-cofferdam
- layered soil sequence where the individual beds have different permeabilities.

Fun Fact:

Quicksand is denser than water and the human body is less dense than quicksand,
which means you can actually floatmore easily in quicksand than a swimming pool. If