WITH TNE NAME OF ALLAH THE

MOST BENIFICIENT & MERCIFUL

 Compaction
– The process of bringing the soil particles closer
to a dense state by mechanical means. The
voids are reduced by expulsion of air and the soil
particles are packed together, thereby increasing
its unit weight.

– There is no substantial change in the volume of

water in soil during compaction.

2
 Uses of soils as fill
• In the following cases, soil is used as
fill:
– Backfill of excavation i.e. foundation
– To develop made up soils for the building.
– As sub grade, sub base, for roads railways
and airfields.
– As an earthen dam.
– To develop site in a difficult terrain, where
substantial cutting and filling is required.

3
 Objectives of Compaction
• Increase the shear strength.
• Increased bearing capacity for foundation support.
• Reduce compressibility and smaller settlement of
buildings and lesser deformation of earth structures.
• Reduce permeability, leading to less seepage of
water.
• Improve stability and lower damage due to frost
action.
• Heavy/highway vs. building foundation compaction
operations.
• To reduce the degree of shrinkage and formation of
cracks on drying.
4
Factors affecting Compaction

Five factors affecting compaction

1. Physical & chemical properties
2. Moisture content
3. Method of compaction
4. Amount of compactive effort
5. Thickness of layer or “lift” being
compacted

5
 Compaction Consolidation

Reduction of volume of air alone Due to expulsion of water

Rolling, tamping or vibration Static load

Short time Time taking

For coarse grained and fine grained Mostly for fine grained

Compactive effort is must Not necessary

V. Pavement Design
B. California Bearing Ratio (CBR)
1. The California bearing ratio (CBR) is a penetration test
for evaluation of the mechanical strength of road
subgrades and basecourses. It was developed by the
California Department of Transportation.

2. The test is performed by measuring the

pressure required to penetrate a soil sample
with a plunger of standard area. The measured
pressure is then divided by the pressure
required to achieve an equal penetration on a
standard crushed rock material.
V. Pavement Design
B. California Bearing Ratio (CBR)
3. “The Test”

Take load readings at penetrations of:

“the result”
0.025” ……………70 psi
0.05”……………...115 psi
0.1”……………….220 psi
0.2”……………….300 psi
0.4”……………….320 psi

6” mold
“Achieve OM &MD”

Penetrations of 0.05” per minute

4. Plot the Data

350

300

250
Load on Piston (psi)

200

150

100

50

0
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45
Penetration (inches)
5. Determine the percent of compacted crushed stone values for the 0.1 and 0.2
penetration.
350

300

250

Load on Piston (psi)

200

150

100

50

0
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45
Penetration (inches)

“The Gold Standard” for CBR Example above:

for 0.1” of penetration, 1000 psi for 0.1” of penetration, 220 psi
for 0.2” of penetration, 1500 psi for 0.2” of penetration, 300 psi
The standard material for this test is
crushed California limestone
5. Determine the percent of compacted crushed stone values for the 0.1 and 0.2
penetration.
350

300
Example psi = CBR
Standard psi 250

Load on Piston (psi)

200

220 psi = .22, or 22%

150
1000 psi
300 psi = .20, or 20% 100

1500 psi 50

CBR of material = 22% 0

0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45
Penetration (inches)

“The Gold Standard” for CBR Example above:

for 0.1” of penetration, 1000 psi for 0.1” of penetration, 220 psi
for 0.2’ of penetration, 1500 psi for 0.2” of penetration, 300 psi
5. Determine the percent of compacted crushed stone values for the 0.1 and 0.2
penetration.

Example psi = CBR In General:

Standard psi •The harder the surface, the higher the CBR rating.
•A CBR of 3 equates to tilled farmland,
•A CBR of 4.75 equates to turf or moist clay,
220 psi = .22, or 22% •Moist sand may have a CBR of 10.
1000 psi •High quality crushed rock has a CBR over 80.
300 psi = .20, or 20% •The standard material for this test is crushed California
1500 psi limestone which has a value of 100.

CBR of material = 22%,

or “22”

“The Gold Standard” for CBR Example above:

for 0.1” of penetration, 1000 psi for 0.1” of penetration, 220 psi
for 0.2’ of penetration, 1500 psi for 0.2” of penetration, 300 psi
 Soil Compaction means
Soil Compaction can be achieved either
by static or dynamic loading:
1- Smooth-wheel rollers
2- Sheep foot rollers
3- Rubber-tired rollers
4- Vibratory Rollers
5- Vibro flotation

13
Soil Compaction in the Field:

5- Sheep foot Roller

1- Rammers

2- Vibratory Plates

6- Dynamic Compaction

3- Smooth Rollers

4- Rubber-Tire
Soil Compaction in the Lab:

1- Standard Proctor Test

2- Modified Proctor Test

Standard Proctor Test Modified Proctor Test

 115
114
113
112
111

gdry max 110

109
108
107
106
105
104
103
102
101
100
10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
Optimum
Water
Content
 6.4 Relative Compaction (R.C.)
Relative compaction or percent compaction

d filed
R.C.   100%
d max laboratory

Correlation between relative compaction (R.C.) and

the relative density Dr

It is a statistical
R.C.  80  0.2Dr result based on 47
soil samples.
As Dr = 0, R.C. is
80
Typical required R.C. = 90% ~ 95%
17
 5.1 Equipment
Smooth-wheel roller (drum) • 100% coverage under the
wheel
• Contact pressure up to 380 kPa
• Can be used on all soil types
except for rocky soils.
• Compactive effort: static weight
• The most common use of large
smooth wheel rollers is for
proof-rolling subgrades and
compacting asphalt pavement.

Holtz and Kovacs, 1981

18
 5.1 Equipment (Cont.)
Pneumatic (or rubber-tired) roller
• 80% coverage under the wheel
• Contact pressure up to 700 kPa
• Can be used for both granular
and fine-grained soils.
• Compactive effort: static weight
and kneading.
• Can be used for highway fills or
earth dam construction.
Holtz and Kovacs, 1981
19
 5.1 Equipment (Cont.)
Sheepsfoot rollers • Has many round or rectangular
shaped protrusions or “feet”
attached to a steel drum
• 8% ~ 12 % coverage
• Contact pressure is from 1400
to 7000 kPa
• It is best suited for clayed soils.
• Compactive effort: static weight
and kneading.

Holtz and Kovacs, 1981

20
 5.1 Equipment (Cont.)
Tamping foot roller • About 40% coverage
• Contact pressure is from 1400
to 8400 kPa
• It is best for compacting fine-
grained soils (silt and clay).
• Compactive effort: static weight
and kneading.

Holtz and Kovacs, 1981

21
 5.1 Equipment (Cont.)
Mesh (or grid pattern) roller
• 50% coverage
• Contact pressure is from 1400
to 6200 kPa
• It is ideally suited for
compacting rocky soils, gravels,
and sands. With high towing
speed, the material is vibrated,
crushed, and impacted.
• Compactive effort: static weight
and vibration.
Holtz and Kovacs, 1981
22
 5.1 Equipment (Cont.)
Vibrating drum on smooth-wheel roller • Vertical vibrator attached to
smooth wheel rollers.
• The best explanation of why
roller vibration causes
densification of granular soils is
that particle rearrangement
occurs due to cyclic
deformation of the soil
produced by the oscillations of
the roller.
• Compactive effort: static weight
and vibration.
• Suitable forHoltz
granular soils
and Kovacs, 1981
23
5.3 Dynamic Compaction
Dynamic compaction was first used in
Germany in the mid-1930’s.
The depth of influence D, in meters, of
soil undergoing compaction is
conservatively given by
D  ½ (Wh)1/2
W = mass of falling weight in metric tons.
h = drop height in meters

24
From Holtz and Kovacs, 1981
Dynamic Compaction:
Profile of Overlap
 5.4
Vibroflotation
Vibroflotation is a technique
for in situ densification of
thick layers of loose granular
soil deposits. It was
developed in Germany in the
1930s.

26
From Das,
1998
 5.4 Vibroflotation-Procedures

Stage1: The jet at the bottom of the Vibroflot is turned on and lowered into the
ground
Stage2: The water jet creates a quick condition in the soil. It allows the vibrating
unit to sink into the ground
Stage 3: Granular material is poured from the top of the hole. The water from the
lower jet is transferred to the jet at the top of the vibrating unit. This water carries
the granular material down the hole
Stage 4: The vibrating unit is gradually raised in about 0.3-m lifts and held
vibrating for about 30 seconds at each lift. This process compacts the soil to the27
desired unit weight.