The Soils and Rocks exploration needs

Borehole quantity
In order to determine the physical-mechanical characteristics of the materials of the
subgrade, research will be carried out by means of exploratory wells or pits of 1.5 m of
minimum depth; the minimum number of boreholes per kilometre will be in accordance
with Table 4.1. Of Peruvian manual.

In our project according to the traffic volume 4500 ADT and the type of highway, from
of table 4.1 is obtained the number of boreholes that is 4x4x2=32.

Resilient modulus and CBR test quantity

From the strata found in each of the pigeons samples will be obtained Representative,
which must be described and identified by a card with the location of the calicata (with
coordinates UTM - WGS84), sample number and depth and then placed in polyethylene
bags for transfer to the laboratory. Also during the execution of the field investigations
will be kept a record in which the thickness of each of the subsoil strata, their gradation
characteristics and the compactness of each of the materials will be recorded. Likewise,
representative samples of the subgrade will be extracted for tests of Resilience Modules
(MRs) or CBR tests to correlate them with Mr. equations, the number of tests will depend
on the type of road (see Table 4.2).
From table 4.2 was obtained the cuantitive of samples: Mr. and CBR totally for all the
highway.

Fundamental properties and the test standards (MTC, ASTM and/or AASHTO standards)
Fundamental properties
Granulometry: represents the size distribution of the aggregate through sieving according
to technical specifications (Test MTC EM 107). From which it is possible to estimate,
with greater or less approximation, the other properties that could be of interest.
According to the size of the soil particles, the following terms are defined: in the table 4.5
in Peruvian manual.
Plasticity: it is the property of stability that represents the soils to a certain limit of
humidity without disintegrating, therefore the plasticity of a soil depends, not of the thick
elements that it contains, but only of its fine elements. The granulometric analysis does
not allow to appreciate this characteristic, reason why it is necessary to determine the
Limits of Atterberg.
Liquid Limit (LL), when the soil passes from the semi-liquid state to a plastic state And
can be molded.
Plastic Limit (LP), when the soil passes from a plastic state to a state Semisolid and
breaks.
Contraction limit (retraction), when the soil passes from a semi-solid state to a solid state
and stops contracting when losing moisture.
In addition to LL and LP, one characteristic to obtain is the IP plasticity index (MTC EM
111 test) which is defined as the difference between LL and LP:
IP = LL LP
The classification of soil according the plasticity index is shown in Table 4.6 of Peruvian
manual.
Sand Equivalent: It is the relative proportion of the content of harmful fine dust or clay
material in soils or fine aggregates (test MTC EM 114). It is the test that gives results
similar to those obtained by determining the Atterberg boundaries, although less precise.
It has the advantage of being very fast and easy to carry out.
The value of Sand Equivalent (EA) is indicative of soil plasticity: in the Table 4.7 of
Peruvian manual.
Group Index: is a standard AASHTO-standard index used to classify soils, based largely
on the Atterberg boundaries. The group index of a soil is defined by the formula:
IG = 0.2 (a) + 0.005 (ac) + 0.01(bd)
Where:
a = F-35 (F = Percentage fraction passing sieve No. 200 -74 microns).
Expressed by a positive integer between 1 and 40.
b = F-15 (F = Percentage fraction passing sieve No. 200 -74 microns).
Expressed by a positive integer between 1 and 40.
c = LL-40 (LL = net limit). Expressed by an integer between 0 and 20.
d = IP-10 (IP = plastic index). Expressed by an integer between 0 and 20 or more.
The Group Index is a positive integer value, between 0 and 20 or more.
When the calculated GI is negative, it is reported as zero. A zero index means a very good
soil and an index 20, a soil that cannot be used for roads. The classification of soils
according to the group index is shown in the table 4.8 of Peruvian manual.
a. Natural Humidity: Another important feature of soils is their natural moisture; since
the resistance of the subgrade soils, especially of the fines, is directly associated with
the conditions of humidity and density that these soils present.

The determination of the natural humidity (MTC EM 108 test) will allow to compare
with the optimum humidity that will be obtained in the Proctor tests to obtain soil CBR
(MTC EM 132 test). If the natural humidity is equal to or less than the optimum
humidity, the Designer will propose the normal compaction of the soil and the
contribution of the adequate amount of water. If the natural humidity is higher than the
 optimum humidity and depending on the soil saturation, it will be proposed, increase
the compaction energy, aerate the soil, or replace the saturated material.

b. Classification of soils: Depending on the characteristics of the soil, it is possible to

estimate the behavior of soils with sufficient approximation, especially with the
knowledge of granulometry, plasticity and group index; and then classify the soils.

The classification of the soils will be done under the system shown in table 4.9.
This classification allows predicting the approximate behavior of soils, which will help
to delimit the homogeneous sectors from the geotechnical point of view.

The following is a correlation of the two classification systems AASHTO and ASTM
(SUCS): see table 4.9 of Peruvian manual.

c. CBR tests: (MTC EM 132 test), once the soils have been classified by the AASHTO
and SUCS systems, for roads contemplated in this manual, a stratigraphic profile will
be elaborated for each homogeneous sector or section under study, from which The
test program will be determined to establish the CBR which is the soil support value,
which will be referred to 95% of the MDS (Maximum Dry Density) and a load
penetration of 2.54 mm.
Correlate CBR and Mr
Mr (psi) = 2555 x CBR0.64

d. Resilient Module: The MTC E 128 standard (AASHTO T274) will be used to execute
the resilient modulus test, the Resilience Module is a measure of the elastic property
of soils, recognizing certain non-linear characteristics. The resilience module can be
used directly in the design of flexible pavements; And, for the design of rigid or
concrete pavements, it must be converted to the reaction module of the subgrade (value
k).

The test standards

With the samples extracted from the pits performed, the following laboratory tests will
be carried out:
Standard Sieve Analysis ASTM D-422, MTC E107
Liquid Limit ASTM D-4318, MTC E110
Plastic Limit ASTM D-4318, MTC E111
Moisture Content ASTM D-2216, MTC E108
SUCS Classification ASTM D-2487
Content Sulfates ASTM D-516
Content Chlorides ASTM D-512
Total Soluble Sales Content MTC - E219
AASHTO M-145 Classification
Special Tests
California Bearing Ratio ASTM D-1883, MTC-E132, or Resilient Soil modulus
AASHTO T 274, MTC-E128
Modified Proctor ASTM D-1557, MTC-E115
Sand Equivalent ASTM D-2419, MTC-E114
ASTM D-4546 Free Expansion Test
Potential Collapsibility ASTM D-5333
Uniaxial Consolidation ASTM D-2435