Stockport College

H. E. School of Construction and the Built Environment

Higher National Certificate in Construction and the Built Environment
(Civil Engineering)
Engineering Geology and Soil Mechanics
Unit 32
Assignment No. 2:

Task One
A British Standard cone penetrometer test carried out on a sample of boulder clay gave the
following results:

Table 1
Cone penetration (mm) 15.9 17.1 19.4 20.9 22.8
Moisture content (%) 32.0 33.4 33.8 36.0 37.0

A) Use the attached laboratory sheet to determine the liquid limit.

B) A plastic limit test determined the plastic limit to be 17%. Use this result in conjunction with
your findings in (A) above to determine the plasticity index and hence classify the soil.
C) Briefly explain the laboratory test for determining the plastic limit for a fine ground soil.
(Criteria 2.4, 3.3 & M1.2)
Task Two
A sample of silty clay was found by immersion in mercury to have a volume of 15.98ml, whilst its
mass at natural moisture was 27.31g and the particle specific gravity was 2.7. After oven drying, the
sample had a mass of 25.93g. Calculate the following:
A) The bulk density and the dry density.
B) The moisture content.
C) The void ratio.
D) The porosity.
E) The degree of saturation.
(Criteria 2.3, D3.4)

Task Three
A) Explain with the aid of sketches how you would estimate the permeability of the soil in the
field.
B) In order to determine the average permeability of a bed of sand 13.3m thick overlying an
impermeable stratum, a well was sunk through the sand and a pumping test carried out.
After some time the discharge was 840kg/min and the drawdown in observation wells 15m
1
 and 30m from the pump were 1.6m and 1.3m respectively. If the original water table was
at a depth of 1.9m below ground level, find:
i- Sketch the pumping out test
ii- The permeability of the sand (in m/s) and
iii- An approximate value for the effective grain size if D10 = 0.17mm
(Criteria 3.1 & 3.2)
Task Four
The following results were obtained from a consolidation test on a sample of saturated clay, each
pressure increment having been maintained for 24 hours.

Table 2

Pressure (kN/m2) Thickness of sample after consolidation (mm)

0 20.0
50 19.65
100 19.52
200 19.35
400 19.15
800 18.95
0 19.25

After it had expanded for 24 hours the sample was removed from the apparatus and found to have
moisture content of 25 per cent. The particle specific gravity of the soil was 2.65.
A) Plot the void-ratio to effective pressure curve.
B) Determine the value of the coefficient of volume change for a pressure range of 250-350
kN/m2.
(Criteria 4.2/1 & M2.6)

Task Five
The following results were obtained from a series of undrained triaxial tests carried out on
undisturbed samples of a compacted soil. The load dial calibration factor is 1.7N per division.
2
Table 3

Test number Cell pressure (kN/m2) Load dial reading (divisions) at failure

1 200 211
2 400 242
3 600 301

Each sample, originally 76 mm long and 38 mm in diameter, experienced a vertical deformation of

5 mm.
A) Use the load dialled readings to calculate the axial load and the deviator stress ( 13) at
failure for each test.
B) Draw the Mohr circles for total stresses and hence the strength envelope to determine the
apparent cohesion and angle of internal friction of the soil sample.
C) Determine the Coulomb equation for the shear strength of the soil in terms of total stresses
given that = cu + tan u.
(Criteria 4.1& D3.7)
Task Six
A concrete dam with a base length of 24.4m holds back water to a height of 12.2m above its base.
The dam which is 457m wide sits on a stratum of soil 18.3m thick which overlies impermeable rock
bed. The base of the dam is horizontal and at the downstream end a sheet pile cut-off has been
driven to a depth of 6.1m. The coefficient of permeability of the soil is 4 x 10 -7 Construct the flow
net for the giving dam, hence determine the seepage loss through the soil in m3/day if there is a
head of 1.52m of water above the base of the downstream side.
(Criteria 4.2/2 & D3.5)