PONJESLY COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
NAGERCOIL-629003.
SOIL MECHANICS LABORATORY
PONJESLY COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
NAGERCOIL-629003.
SOIL MECHANICS LABORATORY
STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE
PONJESLY COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
NAGERCOIL-629003.
PONJESLY COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
NAGERCOIL-629003.
PONJESLY COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
NAGERCOIL-629003.
SOIL MECHANICS LABORATORY
PONJESLY COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
NAGERCOIL-629003.
SOIL MECHANICS LABORATORY
PONJESLY COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
NAGERCOIL-629003.
SOIL MECHANICS LABORATORY
PONJESLY COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
NAGERCOIL-629003.
SOIL MECHANICS LABORATORY
PONJESLY COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
NAGERCOIL-629003.
SOIL MECHANICS LABORATORY
PONJESLY COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
NAGERCOIL-629003.
SOIL MECHANICS LABORATORY
PONJESLY COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
NAGERCOIL-629003.
SOIL MECHANICS LABORATORY
PONJESLY COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
NAGERCOIL-629003.
SOIL MECHANICS LABORATORY
PONJESLY COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
NAGERCOIL-629003.
SOIL MECHANICS LABORATORY
STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE
Name of the Experiment CONSTANT HEAD PERMEABILITY TEST
Purpose Coefficient of permeability is used to assess drainage characteristics
of soil, to predict rate of settlement founded on soil bed.
Scope Permeability is useful in solving problems involving yield of water
bearing strata, seepage through earthen dams, stability of earthen
dams, and embankments of canal bank affected by seepage,
settlement etc. The falling head method of determining permeability
is used for soil with low discharge, whereas the constant head
permeability test is used for coarse-grained soils with a reasonable
discharge in a given time. Usually, permeability of soils is
determined by two methods: 1. Constant head Permeability method
2. Falling Head Permeability method.
Responsibility Faculty i/c of the facility, HOD/CIVIL
PROCEDURE
1. For the constant head arrangement, the specimen shall be connected through the top inlet to
the constant head reservoir.
2. Open the bottom outlet.
3. Establish steady flow of water.
4. The quantity of flow for a convenient time interval may be collected.
5. Repeat three times for the same interval.
Constant head permeability test is suitable for Cohesionless (Coarse and medium Sands)
soils.
Magnitudes of permeability:
High permeability: k > 10-1 cm/sec
Medium permeability: k 10-1 cm/sec
Low permeability: k < 10-1 cm/sec
General values of permeability for different types of soils are given below:
[Link] : 10-2 to 1 cm/sec
b. Sand : 1 to 10-3 cm/sec
c. Silt : 10-3 to 10-6 cm/sec
d. Clay : less than10-6 cm/sec
e. Fly Ash : 1× 10 -4 to 5× 10 -4cm/sec
Precautions to be followed:
Careful reading should be noted.
Record to be Maintained:
Maintain observation readings and record.
PONJESLY COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
NAGERCOIL-629003.
SOIL MECHANICS LABORATORY
STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE
Name of the Experiment SAND REPLACEMENT (INSITU-DENSITY)
METHOD
Purpose To determine the in-situ density of soil. The in-situ density is
defined as the density of soil measured at its actual depth on the
field.
Scope In-situ density of the soil is needed for the determination of
following:
• Bearing capacity of soils
• Stability analysis of slopes and earth retaining structures
• Determination of pressures on underlying strata for the calculation
of settlement and the design of underground structures Where soil
compaction is required (projects like embankment and earth dam
construction), sand replacement method can be used as a quality
control test to evaluate the degree of compaction.
Responsibility Faculty i/c of the facility, HOD/CIVIL
PROCEDURE
Weight of Sand Occupying the Cone of the Sand Pouring Apparatus
1. Pour sand into the sand pouring apparatus with valve closed and determine weight of
apparatus filled with sand (W1).
2. Place the apparatus on a smooth glass plate and open the valve to fill the conical portion. After
the sand stops running from apparatus, close the valve sharply, and weight the remaining sand
with the apparatus (W2).
3. The weight (W1 – W2) represents the weight of sand required to fill the cone of the apparatus.
Density of Sand
1. Fill the Sand Pouring Apparatus again with valve closed and determine weight of apparatus
filled with sand (W3).
2. Place the sand pouring apparatus concentrically on top of the calibrating cylinder. Open the
shutter and allow the sand to drain out. When no further movement of sand takes place in the
apparatus, close the shutter and weight the apparatus with remaining sand (W4).
3. The weight (W3-W4) represents the quantity of sand used in filling calibrating cylinder as
well as cone of the apparatus.
4. Weight of sand required to fill the calibrating cylinder can be calculated as [(W3-W4) – (W1 –
PONJESLY COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
NAGERCOIL-629003.
W2)].
5. Volume (Vc) of the cylinder may be determined either by measuring its internal dimensions
or by filling it with water and determining the volume of water required to fill the cylinder.
6. Density of sand can be computed using mass of sand filled in cylinder and volume (Vc ) of the
cylinder.
Density of Soil
1. Prepare the surface of the location to be tested so that it is a level plane. Keep the soil tray
firmly on the surface.
2. Excavate with hand tools a hole with diameter equal to that of the hole of the plate and about
10 cm in depth with smooth walls and rounded bottom edges.
3. Place the extracted soil from hole in a container being careful to avoid losing any material and
determine the weight of extracted soil.
4. Place the already weighed sand pouring apparatus filled with sand (W5) on the hole of the
tray. Open the valve and after the sand has stopped flowing close the valve.
5. Weigh the apparatus with remaining sand (W6) and determine the weight of sand occupying
the cavity [(W6-W5) - (W1-W2)].
6. Take three representative sample from the extracted soil for moisture content determination.
Precautions to be followed:
Careful reading should be noted for each trial.
Record to be Maintained:
Maintain observation readings and record.
SOIL MECHANICS LABORATORY
STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE
PONJESLY COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
NAGERCOIL-629003.
Name of the Experiment SPECIFIC GRAVITY OF SOIL SOLIDS
Purpose To determine the specific gravity of soil solids.
Scope The specific gravity of a soil is used in relating a weight of soil to its
volume and in calculation of phase relationship, i.e. the relative
volume of solids to water and air in a given volume soil. The
specific gravity is used in the computations of most of the
laboratory tests, and is needed in nearly all pressure, settlement, and
stability problems in soil engineering.
Responsibility Faculty i/c of the facility, HOD/CIVIL
PROCEDURE
[Link] weigh ‘W1’ the specific gravity bottle.
2. Transfer the oven dried soil sample to the specific gravity bottle (about 50gm when the 250ml
volumetric flask is used, about 10-20gm when 50cc stoppered bottle is used or 100gm when
500ml pyconometer is used).
3. Weigh the bottle ‘W2’ again with the soil.
4. Add distilled water to fill the bottle to fill about three fourths.
5. Remove the entrapped air either by subjecting the contents to a partial vacuum or by boiling
gently in a sand bath till the air bubbles cease to appear while occasionally rolling the bottle to
assist in removal of air.
6. Then cool to room temperature and fill the bottle with distilled water up to the mark and clean
and dry the outside surface with a clean, dry cloth and note down the temperature.
7. Determine the weight of the bottle with water and soil, ‘W3’.
8. Then remove the soil and water from the bottle and clean it.
9. Again weigh ‘W4’ after filling with distilled water up to the mark and drying outside
10. From data obtained determine specific gravity of the soil.
Precautions to be followed:
Careful reading should be noted for each trial.
Record to be Maintained:
Maintain observation readings and record.
SOIL MECHANICS LABORATORY
STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE
PONJESLY COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
NAGERCOIL-629003.
Name of the Experiment VANE SHEAR APPARATUS
Purpose To determine the shear strength ( particularly un-drained shear
strength)
Scope This test is an in-situ geotechnical investigation technique that is
employed to determine the undrained shear strength of fully
saturated clay without any disturbance.
Responsibility Faculty i/c of the facility, HOD/CIVIL
PROCEDURE
a. Firstly, the vane shear apparatus is thoroughly cleaned. For the better movement of the
handles, grease may be applied to the lead screw.
b. The container for the specimen which is generally about 75mm in height and 37.5mm in
diameter is taken and the specimen is duly placed on it.
c. Then, using the screws, the soil at the top and the base of the vane shear test apparatus is
thoroughly levelled.
d. The vane is then gradually lowered into the soil specimen until the top of the vane is
immersed up to a depth of about 10 to 20mm into the specimen.
e. The initial reading is noted i.e. the reading of pointer on the circular graduated scale.
f. Then, the vane is rotated inside the soil specimen applying torque at the rate of 0.1 degree per
second.
g. The final reading is noted when the specimen fails. When the specimen fails, the pointer in the
graduated circle will move slightly backwards and the test must be stopped.
h. The angle of torque is determined as the difference between the final and initial reading.
i. The test procedure is repeated using two or three specimen sample so that the average value
can be obtained.
j. The diameter and height of the vane are measured using vernier callipers.
k. The sensitivity of the soil sample can be determined by repeating the same test procedure on
the remoulded soil. Remoulded soil is the soil specimen after the rapid stirring of the soil in the
above-mentioned test.
The sensitivity of soil = undisturbed shear strength/remoulded shear strength
Precautions to be followed:
Careful reading should be noted for each trial.
Record to be Maintained:
Maintain observation readings and record.