Different Types Of Soil Testing Used In Construction

Soil testing is a type of environmental testing California and it is a very important part of road and building construction. No construction project can proceed without ensuring the soil can support the structure. The purpose of soil testing for construction is to find out the suitability of the soil for the type of construction that should be done. The test also helps engineers to determine the presence of groundwater.

There are different types of soil testing done before a construction project can proceed. The types of testing depend on the soil properties. The design of the foundation is typically based on the report of the soil test. Some soil tests are conducted at the construction site whilst others are done in the lab.

Moisture content test

Moisture content tests are important for building construction. Several methods can be used to determine the moisture content of the soil. These methods include the calcium carbide method, oven drying method, pycnometer method, torsion balance method, radiation method, sand bath method and alcohol method. The oven-drying method is the most common method and it involves weighing the soil samples and drying the samples in an oven at about 110 degrees Celsius and weighing it again. The weight of water in the soil is determined by calculating the difference in the after and before weighs.

Specific gravity test

The ratio of the density of a substance to the density of water is the specific gravity of a substance. This can be determined in environmental testing labs using one of the various methods including gas jar method, density bottle method, measuring flask method and shrinkage limit method. Of these methods, the most commonly used methods in oil analysis are the pycno meter and density bottle methods.

Dry density test

The soil dry density is the soil particle weight in a given volume. Its value depends on the specific gravity of the soil and the void ratio. This value is often used to classify soil as loose, medium dense and dense. The dry density test of soil is done using water displacement, core cutter and sand replacement methods. Of these methods, the sand replacement method and the cure cutter method are the widely used methods.

Atterberg limits

This soil test is done on fine-grained soil. It is done to measure the critical water content of the soil. Three main limits determine the properties of a fine-grained soil: shrinkage limit, plastic limit and liquid limit. In the liquid limit test, Casagrande’s liquid limit device is used to determine the liquid limit of the soil. In a plastic limit test, water is made plastic by adding water to it. It is then turned into a ball shape which is put into a plate of glass and rolled into threads that are three millimeters in diameter. The procedure is repeated with less water and a new sample if the threads don’t break. This environmental testing California goes on until the thread breaks. This is the plastic limit of the soil.