3

Identification and Classification of Soils

CHAPTER HIGHLIGHTS

Field identification of soils – Engineering classification of soils: Purpose of classification, Unified soil classification system, Indian soil classification system, AASHTO soil classification system, Textural soil classification system

3.1 INTRODUCTION

It is necessary to have a standard language for a careful description and classification of a soil. In principle, soil description is different from soil classification.

A soil description should include the material characteristics (viz., primary characteristics: particle size distribution and plasticity; secondary characteristics: colour, shape, texture, and composition) and the in situ soil mass (viz., firmness or strength, ...

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