PAVEMENT MATERIALS

Module 1, Lecture 2 (Part 1)

Soil- Introduction and Characterization
NIKHIL SABOO
CIVIL ENGINEERING

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WHAT ARE WE GOING TO LEARN?
• NEED AND CONCEPTS RELATED TO PAVEMENT MATERIAL
CHARACTERIZATION
• INTRODUCTION TO SOIL AS A PAVEMENT MATERIAL
• PARTICLE SIZE DISTRIBUTION
• CONSISTENCY LIMITS
• CLASSIFICATION OF SOIL
• STRENGTH PROPERTIES OF SOIL
• EXPANSIVE SOILS
• INTRODUCTION TO STABILIZATION TECHNIQUES

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- Compaction
- Soil type
- Design?

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Introduction to Soil as a Pavement Material
• Soil is the natural material over which the pavement is constructed
• “Assemblage of mineral particles and/or organic matter in the form of a deposit but sometimes of
organic origin, which can be separated by gentle mechanical means and which includes valuable
amount of water and air (and sometimes other gases)”- CEN EN ISO 14688-I (2013)
• Soil can also consist of replaced man-made materials such as crushed rock, industrial slags, fly ash, etc.
• Primarily formed by disintegration of rocks or decomposition of vegetation
• Categories
• Residual
• Disintegration of parent material located below
• Generally inorganic
• Sedimentary
• Deposition of suspended materials from lakes, rivers and oceans
• Aeolian
• Materials transported, eroded and deposited by winds
• Sand dunes or calcitic silt: No cohesion
• Glacial
• Formed during glacier era

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Introduction to Soil as a Pavement Material
• Soil is generally a mixture of inorganic and organic matters
• Soils in which the inorganic ingredients of mineral materials are more than the amount of organic materials are called
inorganic soils, else they are called organic soils
• Organic soils typically have dark brown colour and characteristic smell
• Soil lacks homogeneity in terms of compaction, cohesion, particle size distribution, etc.

• Based on size (maximum particle size available in the mix):

• Boulders and cobbles: >75 mm
• Gravels (4.75-75 mm): Coarse (19-75 mm), Fine (4.75-19 mm)
• Sand (0.075-4.75): Coarse (2-4.75 mm), Medium (0.425-2 mm), Fine (0.075-0.425 mm)
• Silt: 0.002-0.075 mm
• Clay: <0.002 mm
▪ Boulders and cobbles, gravels, and sands are granular with no cohesion.
▪ Silt has some cohesion and has modest plasticity: inorganic/organic
▪ The above two categories have spherical shape
▪ Clay has flattened and elongated shape, high specific surface area, have chemical active surface
(attraction and adsorption of many positive ions)
▪ Clay has medium to high plasticity, high strength in dry state, high volume fluctuation due to change
in moisture content. Should be treated before using in foundation layers

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Introduction to Soil as a Pavement Material
• Soil may not exclusively belong to one category: silty-sand, sand-gravel etc.

• Few other names:

• Loam: clayey soil
• Loess: aeolian soil
• Peat: decomposed vegetation matter with high moisture content and compressive characteristics.
Not suitable for foundation layer

• Due to much complexity associated within different categories of soil, a thorough investigation should
be carried out

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Particle Size Distribution

• Particle Size Distribution: One of the most important physical characteristics of soil

• Sieving: Soil separated using different sieve size. Applicable for materials with less than 10%
passing 75 microns size
• Sedimentation: For materials passing 0.075 mm
• These particles have surface charge
• These particles can stick with each other, other particles and also with sieve

Particle Technology Labs Mathis et al.

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Particle Size Distribution
• Gradation curves gives an indication about the classification of soil,
and distribution of different sizes for adequacy of any layer
• It has a critical role on the mechanical behavior of soil
• It gives indication about the ability or possibility of moisture retention
and absorption
• Shape influences shear strength and permeability
• Typical shapes
• Well graded
• Gap graded
• Poorly/Uniformly graded Type of Cu Cc
• Uniformity can be quantified using uniformity coefficient (Cu) and gradation
coefficient of curvature (C c) Well graded >4 (gravel), >6 1-3
𝐷60 𝐷302
• 𝐶𝑢 = 𝐷10
𝐶𝑐 = 𝐷10×𝐷60
(sand)

Uniformly <4 <1

D10 , D30 and D60 corresponds to the size of soil particle graded
having 10%, 30% and 60% material passing

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Consistency Limits
Soil-Water Interaction

• Depending on the soil type (cohesive and cohesionless), the

change in volume in the soil mass, due to addition of water,
changes

• Few cohesive soils can show large change in volume due to

increase and decrease in water content

• Water act as densification agent for soils and provides

lubrication, which facilitates easy movement of particles
during compaction

• There is an optimum water content (depending on the type of

soil) where maximum compaction level can be achieved

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Consistency Limits
• Studying the consistency of cohesive soils, or knowing the percentage of soil sensitive to changes in moisture (in a
given soil mass) is important
• Consistency is the degree of firmness: very soft, soft, stiff, very stiff and hard
• Can be expressed using Atterberg Limits
• Liquid Limit (LL): Transition of soil from liquid state to plastic state
• Plastic Limit (PL): Plastic to semi-soild. Thread made of 3 mm dia crumbles
• Plasticity Index (PI): Difference between LL and PL. Important measure of plastic behavior of soil

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From book by VNS Murthy

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Consistency Limits Type of Pavement Layer LL PI

Bituminous Layer <4

WBM < 20 <6

Granular Base
Course WMM - -

Granular Subbase Course < 25 <6

Plasticity Index

Embankment and Subgrade < 50 < 25

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Classification of Soil
• Based on grain size the soil can be classified in different categories
• But soil is a mixture and the proportion of these categories may vary considerably
• How much silt a soil should have to be classified as silt?
• Combined names are given: based on the constituent that dominate the behavior
• Sandy-clay: has most properties of clay but consist of significant proportion of sand
• Soil classification is the process of grouping soils based on certain definite principles developed using
simple tests
• Field Tests
• Classification based on size and/or consistency limits

• Field Tests
• Visual observation of grain size
• Dry strength
• Shaking test
• Plasticity test
• Dispersion Test
• Smell and appearance

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Classification of Soil
• Classification based on size and/or consistency
limits
• Textural classification
• AASHTO soil classification system
• Unified soil classification system
• Indian soil classification system

• Textural:
Soil Fraction Diameter in mm
Gravel >2
Sand 2-0.05
Silt 0.05-0.002
Clay <0.002

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Classification of Soil
• Classification based on size and/or consistency limits
• Textural classification
• AASHTO soil classification system
• Unified soil classification system
• Indian soil classification system

• AASHTO:
• Soil classified from A1 to A7 with 12 sub-groups
• Classification done using particle size distribution, liquid limit and plasticity index
• Group index is calculated to rate the soil for use in subgrade. Higher the GI, poorer is the
quality of soil.
• 𝐺𝐼 = 0.2𝑎 + 0.005𝑎𝑐 + 0.01𝑏𝑑
• 𝑎 = 𝐹 − 35; 𝑏 = 𝐹 − 15; 𝑐 = 𝑤𝑙 − 40; 𝑑 = 𝐼𝑝 − 10
• F is the percentage passing 75 micron sieve. wl is the liquid limit of the sample, Ip is the
plasticity index
• Used in parenthesis with the classification

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 GI Type of soil
0-1 Good Soil
2-4 Fair Soil
5-9 Poor Soil
10-20 Very Poor Soil
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Classification of Soil
• Classification based on size and/or consistency limits
• Textural classification
• AASHTO soil classification system
• Unified soil classification system
• Indian soil classification system

• Unified:
• Coarse grained soils have more than 50% materials larger than 0.075 mm. Group symbol will include G or S. G if
more than 50% of the soil > 4.75 mm, else S
• Gravels and sands are GW, GP, SW, or SP if <5% material passes 0.075 mm sieve. W and P will be determined
using the value of Cu and Cc
• GM, GC, SM or SC if more than 12% finer than 0.075 mm. M and C decided from plasticity chart
• Use combined names (GW-GC, SW-SC, etc.) if 5-12 material passes 0.075 mm
• Fine grained soils have more than 50% materials finer than 0.075 mm. Group symbol will include M, C or O
• ML, OL or CL if wl < 50%
• MH, OH or CH if wl ≥ 50%

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18 Plasticity Index
Classification of Soil

35 50
• Classification based on size and/or consistency
limits
• Textural classification
• AASHTO soil classification system
• Unified soil classification system
• Indian soil classification system

Plasticity Index
OI or
CI
• Indian:
• Similar to USCS
• An additional intermediate plasticity group OI or
included (35 < wl < 50) OL or MI
ML

OL, OI, OH or Pt are unsuitable for pavements

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 A Case Study!
Liquid Limit Plasticity % Passing 75
Site CBR (%) Location Field Observation
(LL) Index (PI) µm Sieve
Coastal Tamil Sticky, slow draining, dark
A 42% 18 52% 3.5%
Nadu brown clay
Eastern Slightly silty, moderate
B 28% 9 22% 9.0%
Rajasthan strength, reddish-brown
Highly plastic, swells after
C 60% 30 68% 2.0% Chhattisgarh
rain, soft subgrade
Western Dry, granular, quick draining,
D 20% 4 8% 12.5%
Maharashtra low fines content

Q1. Classify the soil at each site according to the Indian Standard Soil Classification System (ISCS). Indicate whether the s oil is
coarse-grained or fine-grained, and specify the group symbol (e.g., CL, ML, SC, etc.).

Q2. Rate the soil for pavement construction

Q3. Suggest soil improvement, if any

Q4. Which site(s) will have overall best performance based on life-cycle? 20
Thank You

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