TRANSPORT and ROAD

RESEARCH LABORATORY

Department of the Environment

Department of Transport

TRRL LABORATORY REPORT 1030

THE BRITISH; SOIL CLASSIFICATION SYSTEMi FOR ENGINEERING PURPOSES:

ITS DEVELOPMENT AND RELATION' TO OTHER COMPARABLE SYSTEMS

by

M J Dumbleton

Any views expressed in this Report are not necessarily those of the
Department of the Environment or of the Department of Transport

Tunnels and Underground Pipes Division

and Earthworks Sections
Structures Department
Transport and Road Research Laboratory
Crowthorne, Berkshire
1981
ISSN 0305-1293
Ownership of the Transport Research
Laboratory was transferred from the
Department of Transport to a subsidiary of
the Transport Research Foundation on I st
April 1996.

This report has been reproduced by

permission of the Controller of HMSO.
Extracts from the text may be reproduced,
except for commercial purposes, provided
the source is acknowledged.
 CONTENTS

Page

Abstract 1

1. Introduction 1

2. The classification of softs 2

2.1 General 2

2.2 Particle size ranges 2

2.3 The soil groups of the British Soil Classification System 3

2.4 Fine softs 4

2.4.1 Silts and clays 4

2.4.2 Gravelly and sandy silts and clays 5

2.5 Coarse soils 5

2.5.1 Gravels and sands 5

2.5.2 Fines content of gravels and sands 5

2.5.3 Type of grading o f gravels and sands 5

2.5.4 Hasticity of free components of gravels and sands 6

2.6 Materials containing boulder andcobble sized particles 6

2.6.1 Very coarse material 6

2.6.2 Mixtures of very coarse material and soil 6

2.7 Organic soils 7

3. Development of the British Soil Classification System for Engineering Purposes, BSCS 7

3.1 Antecedents 7

3.2 TheBSCS 7

3.3 Early forms of the BSCS 7

4. Development of the American Unified Soil Classification System, USCS, and 8

related systems

4.1 Influence of the BSCS

 Page

. Comparison o f the BSCS with the earlier British system and with comparable systems 9
in use in other countries

5.1 General 9

5.2 Comparison of particle size range limits and scales of fines 9

5.3 Comparison of type of grading and scales o f plasticity 10

5.3.1 Coarse soils 10

5.3.2 Fine soils 10

5.3.3 Organic soils 11

° Conclusions 11

7. Acknowledgements 12

8. References 12

© C R O W N C O P Y R I G H T 1981
Extracts f r o m the text may be reproduced, except for
commercial purposes, provided the source is acknowledged
 THE BRITISH SOIL CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM FOR ENGINEERING PURPOSES:
ITS DEVELOPMENT AND RELATION TO OTHER COMPARABLE SYSTEMS

ABSTRACT

This Report reviews the British Soil Classification System for Engineering
Purposes - BSCS - which has been introduced in the new British Standard
Code of Practice for Site Investigations, BS 5930: 1981. An account is
given of the development of the BSCS from the previous British system of
CP 2001, the reasons for changes are explained, and comparison is made
with similar systems in use in America, France, Germany, Switzerland and
Japan.

New features of the system are that it is metricated, its groups are
fully defined, description of the grading of coarse materials is improved,
fuller description is possible of coarse soils containing an appreciable
proportion of fines and of fine soils containing an appreciable proportion
of gravel or sand, the classification of fine soils is extended to provide for
materials of very high and extremely high plasticity, the presence o f
organic matter can be indicated in any type o f soil, and materials containing
boulders and cobbles can be classified.

The Report presents a chart and grading triangles further clarifying

the classification of soils, the fuller description of gravels and sands, and the
description of materials containing boulders and cobbles.

1. INTRODUCTION

It is widely considered that a sound description of the materials encountered is one o f the first requirements
of a site investigation, and more important for many purposes than much soil testing. A full soil description
includes information on the following items:

Mass characteristics (requires undisturbed samples, exposures or both)

- bedding
- discontinuities
- state o f weathering
- field strength or compactness and indication of moisture condition

Material characteristics (can be described from disturbed material)

- colour
- particle shape and composition
- soil name, based on grading and plasticity (main term in capitals, eg Sandy CLAY)
- soil classification: soil group symbol, eg CS

Geological formation, age and type or mode of formation.

Guidance on describing these characteristics is given in Section Eight of the revised British Standard Code
of Practice for Site Investigations, BS 5930:19811 and summarised in its Table 6.

This Report deals with the item Soil Classification in the above list. Clause 42 of the revised Code
introduces the British Soil Classification System for Engineering Purposes (BSCS), which is consistent
with the revised method of soil naming also given in the Code. This Report gives an account of the
development o f the BSCS, reviews the principles on which it is based, and relates it to comparable systems
in use in other countries.

2. T H E C L A S S I F I C A T I O N OF S O I L S "

2.1 General

The definitive text for the naming and classification of soils is that of the Code of Practice, where
naming and classification are described separately. In this Section they will be reviewed together, with a
greater emphasis on classification and the use o f soil group symbols. Table 1, Figure 1 and the triangular
diagrams of Figures 2, 3 and 4 summarise the BSCS system and are an adequate guide to it for most purposes.
The chart in Figure 5 is an alternative way of displaying the system, and indicates the tests used in the full
laboratory procedure.

The soil names used in the Code are based on the grading of the coarse material and the plasticity of
the finer material present. These characteristics are used because they can be measured readily with
reasonable precision, and estimated with sufficient accuracy for description purposes. They give a general
indication of the probable engineering properties of the disturbed material at any particular condition of
density and moisture content. The Code lays down definite meanings to the terms used in the naming of
soils, stating the limits of particle size and soil composition and plasticity to which they apply.

The classification o f soils using the British Soil Classification System employs the same terms as
those used in soil naming to lay down a system o f soil groups covering the whole range of soil- composition
and plasticity characteristics. In addition to its distinctive soil name, each Soil group in the classification
may also be represented by a soil group symbol comprising one or more descriptive letters. Soil group
symbols are useful for the concise representation of soils, such as in tables, on sections, and on graphical
borehole logs, but the full soil name should always be included in the accompanying text.

Laboratory and rapid procedures for naming and classifying soils are given in Clause 43 of the Code
and summarised in its Table 6. In the rapid or field procedure the size of particles, their relative proportions,
and the soil plasticity are estimated approximately with the aid o f visual inspection, manipulation and simple
tests for cohesion, plasticity, toughness and dilatancy. Operators should-check their results against the full
laboratory procedure from time to time to ensure that their judgement is sound. Exact agreement cannot
be expected.

2.2 Particle size ranges

The size ranges are those o f BS 13772, with the addition of boulders. The terms boulders and cobbles
are used here without any implications of particle shape:

2
Very coarse particles
boulder size over 200 mm
cobble size 2 0 0 - 6 0 mrn
Coarse particles
gravel size 6 0 - 2 mm (63 mm to 2 mm BS test sieve)
sand size 2 - 0 . 0 6 mm (2 mm to 63/~m BS test sieve)
Fine particles
silt size 0.06-0.002 mm
clay size under 0.002 m m

2.3 The soil groups of the British Soil Classification System

Soil classification is carried out on material nominally fine~ than 60 m m (ie passing the 63 m m test
sieve); very coarse material, consisting of boulders and cobbles, is picked out and its proportion o f the
whole is estimated and recorded (see Section 2.6).

The grading and plasticity characteristics are divided into a number of clearly defined ranges each
of which may be referred to by a descriptive name and a descriptive letter:

Very coarse components

Main terms: B BOULDERS
Cb COBBLES

Coarse components
Main terms: G GRAVEL
S SAND

Qualifying terms: W Well graded

P Poorly graded
- may be differentiated into Pu or Pg:
Pu uniform
Pg Gap graded

Fine components
Main terms: F FINE SOILS, FINES
- may be differentiated into M or C:
M SILT or M - SOIL
- of restricted plastic range (plots below the A-line)
C CLAY
- fully plastic (plots above the A-line)

Qualifying terms: L of low plasticity

I of intermediate plasticity
H of high plasticity
V of very high plasticity
E of extremely high plasticity
U of upper plasticity range
- incorporating groups I, H, V and E 3
Organic components
Main term: Pt PEAT
Qualifying term: O Organic
- may be suffixed to any other group

Table 1 shows how.the soil groups are formed from combinations of the ranges of characteristics, and
gives the names of the groups and the symbols that may be used to represent them. (Table 1 is based on
Table 8 o f the Code, but the division of Fine Soils into two at 65 per cent fines is corrected by extending
the double horizontal rules back into the second column from the left.) The letter describing the dominant
size fraction is placed first in the group symbol, eg Sandy CLAY CS, Very clayey SAND SC, Clayey SAND
S - C ('S dash C'). The soil group symbol is enclosed in brackets if laboratory methods have not been used
for identification, eg (SC). Classification may be carried out to a lesser or greater degree of sub-division,
according to requirements. When the field or rapid method is used, only the main soil groups need be
identified. The system may also be extended so long as the accompanying text makes clear the meaning
of the terms and symbols used - see for example Section 2.6.1, Very coarse material.

The role of the plasticity of the fines in the naming and classification of soils is further illustrated by
the Plasticity Chart Figure 1, (based on Figure 31 of the Code), and that of the coarse and very coarse
fractions by the Grading Triangles, Figures 2 to 4.

2.4 Fine soils

These contain over 35 per cent (about one.third) of fine particles, of silt and clay size, and therefore
up to 65 per cent (about two-thirds) o f coarse particles, of gravel and sand size; see Table 1 and Figure 2.

2.4.1 Silts and d a y s . These have 0 - 3 5 per cent of coarse particles, of gravel and sand sizes. They are
described as Silts or Clays according to the position in which their liquid limit and plasticity index, which
are measured on the fraction of soil passing the 425/am sieve, plot on the Plasticity Chart (Figure 1). This
nomenclature is arbitrary; factors related to the position in which a soil plots on the chart have been discussed
by Dumbleton and West 3.

CLAY C is material plotting above the A-line, and is fully plastic in relation to its liquid limit.

SILT or M - S O I L M is material plotting below the A-line, and has a restricted plastic range in relation
to its liquid limit, and relatively low cohesion. Fine soils of this type include clean silt-sized material and
rock floor, micaceous and diatomaceous soils, pumice and volcanic soils; and soils containing halloysite.
The alternative term M - S O I L avoids confusion with materials of predominantly silt size, which form only
part o f the group.

Organic soils (see Section 2.7) also usually plot below the A-line on the plasticity chart, when they
are designated Organic SILT MO.

The designation FINE SOIL or FINES F m a y be used in place of SILT M or CLAY C when it is not
possible or not required to distinguish between them.

The Plasticity Chart (Figure 1) shows how t'me soils and the t'me fraction of coarse soils can be
qualified according to the value o f the liquid limit, thus:
4
 of low plasticity
of intermediate plasticity
of high plasticity
of very high plasticity
of extremely high plasticity
L liquid limit under 35 per cent
I liquid limit 3 5 - 5 0 per cent
H liquid limit 5 0 - 7 0 per cent
V liquid limit 7 0 - 9 0 per cent
E liquid limit over 90 per cent

eg CLAY of intermediate plasticity CI.

2.4.2 G r a v e l l y a n d s a n d y silts a n d c l a y s . These have 3 5 - 6 5 per cent of coarse particles, of gravel

or sand size; see Table 1 and Figure 2. They are described as gravelly or sandy according to whether more
gravel or more sand particles are present, eg Sandy CLAY CS. As with Silts and Clays, the fine fraction
may be qualified according to the value of the liquid limit, eg Sandy CLAY of intermediate plasticity CIS.

2.5 Coarse soils

These contain under 35 per cent (about one-third) of f'me particles, ~f silt and clay size, and therefore
over 65 per cent (about two-thirds) of coarse particles, of gravel and sand size; see Table 1 and Figure 2.

2.5.1 Gravels and sands. GRAVEL G contains more material of gravel than o f sand size. SAND S
contains more material of sand than of gravel size. Gravels and Sands may be qualified according to the
proportion of sand or gravel sized material in the soil (see Figure 3):

Slightly sandy GRAVEL up to 5 per cent sand

Sandy GRAVEL 5 - 2 0 per cent sand
Very sandy GRAVEL over 20 per cent sand
GRAVEL/SAND about equal proportions
Very gravelly SAND over 20 per cent gravel
Gravelly SAND 2 0 - 5 per cent gravel
Slightly gravelly SAND up to 5 per cent gravel

2.5.2 Fines content of gravels and sands. Gravels and Sands may also be qualified according to
the amount of fine material present in the soil, as follows for Gravels and similarly for Sands (see Table 1
and Figure 2):

Slightly silty GRAVEL G up to 5 per cent silt

Slightly clayey GRAVEL G up to 5 per cent clay
Silty GRAVEL G-M 5 - 1 5 per cent silt
Clayey GRAVEL G-C 5 - 1 5 per cent clay
Very silty GRAVEL GM 15-35 per cent silt
Very clayey GRAVEL GC 15-35 per cent clay

2.5.3 Type of grading of gravels and sands. For Gravels and Sands with up to 15 per cent of fines
the type of grading may be indicated as follows:

Well-graded W - with a wide range of grain sizes present and well distributed,
eg Well graded GRAVEL GW, Well graded clayey GRAVEL GWC
Poorly graded P - not well graded,
eg Poorly graded SAND SP, Poorly graded clayey GRAVEL GPC
5
Poorly graded soils with up to 5 per cent of f'mes may be further divided as follows:

Uniform Pu - size of most particles lies between narrow limits,

eg Uniform SAND SPu
Gap-graded Pg - an intermediate size of particle is markedly under-represented,
eg Gap-graded GRAVEL GPg
Sample grading curves are given in Figure 32 of the Code.

2.5.4 Plasticity of fine components of gravels and sands. For Very silty or Very clayey gravels
and sands the plasticity o f the fine fraction may be indicated using the scale given in Section 2.4.1 (see
Figure 1), eg Very clayey GRAVEL (clay of high plasticity) GCH.

2.6 Materials containing boulder and cobble sized particles

2.6.1 V e r y c o a r s e m a t e r i a l . Table 1 applies to soil materials, of gravel, sand, silt and clay sizes.
Materials containing very coarse material, of boulder and cobble sizes, canusually be adequately described
only in excavations or exposures 4, The very coarse material must be removed before the classification of
the finer material, and its character and proportions recorded. It may be described as follows:

BOULDERS or BOULDER GRAVELS B have more boulder than cobble sized material
- they may be qualified Cobbly BOULDERS BCb
COBBLES or COBBLE GRAVELS Cb have more cobble than boulder sized material
- they m a y be qualified Bouldery COBBLES CbB

The symbols BCb and ChB are not given in the Code.

2.6.2 Mixtures of very coarse material and soil. Mixtures of very coarse material and soil (or freer
material in the words o f the Code) m a y be described as follows where the very coarse material is boulders,
and similarly for cobbles (see Figure 4):

BOULDERS with a little soil up to 5 per cent soil

BOULDERS with some soil 5 - 2 0 per cent soil
BOULDERS with much soil 2 0 - 5 0 per cent soil
SOIL with m a n y boulders 5 0 - 2 0 per cent boulders
SOIL with some boulders 2 0 - 5 per cent boulders
SOIL with occasional boulders up to 5 per cent boulders

The name of the soil should be given in full, eg Sandy GRAVEL with occasional boulders GS+B;
it can be added in brackets to the description when it is the minor component, eg COBBLES with some
soil (very silty SAND) Cb+SM. The plus sign is used to form symbols for mixtures of soil with boulder or
cobble sized particles; the relative proportions of the very coarse and soil particles are not indicated
beyond the major c o m p o n e n t being placed first.

6
2.7 Organic soils

Any group may be qualified as organic if organic matter is a significant constituent, in which case the
letter O is suffixed to the group symbol, eg Organic CLAY of high plasticity CHO, Organic Sandy CLAY
of high plasticity CHSO. The most important group of organic soils is that plotting below the A-line,
Organic SILT MO, and including most M-soils of high liquid limit and above.

3. DEVELOPMENT OF THE BRITISH SOIL CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM

FOR ENGINEERING PURPOSES, BSCS

3.1 Antecedents

The BSCS is a 'Casagrande type' system. The first of these was developed by A Casagrande for army
courses of construction and tentatively adopted in 1942 as the Cassagrande Classification for Airfields o f
the Corps of Engineers, US Army 5. It was published in Britain in Soils, Concrete and Bitumen (DSIR) 6
and Casagrande described the system in his paper of 19477 (see Table 2, Column 3).

In Britain the Civil Engineering Code o f Practice No. 1 (1950) Site Investigations, published in 19508,
contained a Soil Classification for Roads and Airfields based on Casagrande's system and incorporating his
suggested intermediate range of soil plasticity, I. Two corrigenda replacing pages 79 and 83 of the 1950 Code
were incorporated in the revised Code, BS Code of Practice CP 2001 (1957) 9 (see Table 2, Column 2). The
system was described in more detail in Soil Mechanics for Road Engineers (1952) 10 where it is referred to
as the Extended Casagrande Soil Classification.

3.2 The BSCS

Proposals for a revision of the soil classification system of CP 2001 (1957), to be known as the
British Soil Classification System for Engineering Purposes (BSCS), were put forward by the Transport and
Road Research Laboratory (LR 182) in 196811. The proposals were discussed and modified by the
committee that was revising the Code of Practice and in the course of its work an Informal Discussion was
held at the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1973, for which a text was distributed 12 and published 13, and
the discussion was reported 14. The comments received were taken into account by the Committee in
preparing its draft. A Draft for Public Comment of the Standard Code of Practice for Site Investigations,
including the revised draft of the British Soil Classification System, was issued by the British Standards
Institution in 197615. The form of the classification in the finally revised Code, published as BS 5930
in 19811, is virtually identical (Table 2, Column 1).

3.3 Early forms of the BSCS

Besides the preliminary publications o f 196811, 197312,13 and 197615 mentioned in the last
section, early forms of the BSCS have been reproduced elsewhere and should not be mistaken for the final
version of BS 5930: 1981.

The form of the BSCS in the 1968 paper (LR 182) 11 formed the basis of an RRL Leaflet (1970) 16,
a note in the PIARC World Congress report o f 197117, Dumbleton's discussion (1972) 18 of Ueshita
and Nonogaki's paper on soil classification 19 , and the description o f plasticity and grain size in 'The
preparation of maps and plans in terms of engineering geology' (Geological Society, 197220). Soane et
al (1971) 21 developed a computer program for the routine analysis o f data to classify soils on the

7
LR 182 (1968) form o f the BSCS. A1-Hussaini (1977) 22 reproduced its Table 6a, Soil Classification: Full
Laboratory Procedure for Coarse Soils.

The 1973 Informal Discussion paper 12'13 was used by Bell23 as the basis for his section on soil
classification (pp 1 - 7 ) , and he reproduced its Tables 1 and 2 as his Tables 1.2b and 1.2a respectively,
although he quoted the 1976 Draft 15 as reference. Thus the boundaries between the mahl groups of coarse
and time soils were given as 5, 20, 50 and 70 per cent fines in place of the 5, 15, 35 and 65 per cent of the
final version.

The BSCS table of the 1976 Draft 15 was reproduced by Lawrance 24'25, and is the basis of Table 1
o f the British Standard Code o f Practice for Earthworks, BS 6031:198126. It is given in a rearranged
form by Hartnup and Jarvis 27 and Jarvis et a128. Lawrance also gave grading triangles, consistent with
the f'mal version in one paper 24 but with the old 70 per cent limit in place of the 65 per cent limit in the
other 25.

4. DEVELOPMENT OF THE AMERICAN UNIFIED SOIL CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM,

USCS, AND RELATED SYSTEMS

The American system known as the Unified Soil Classification System (USCS), developed from Casagrande's
system of 19477 (see Section 3.1), was prepared by the Waterways Experimental Station, Vicksburg, in
collaboration with the Bureau of Reclamation, and published in 195329 (revised 196030). Its use was
described by Wagner (1957) 31. The system was re-drafted and published (first in 1966) by the ASTM as
the Standard Test Method for Classification of Soils for Engineering Purposes 32 (see Table 2, Column 4).
Systems based on the USCS include those of the German 33 and Swiss 34 standards organisations and that of
the French Laboratoire des Ponts et Chauss~es 35. Some of their characteristics are given in Table 4.

Liu 36, Yoder 37 and AI-Hussaini 22 compared the USCS with the other systems most commonly used
in the USA, those of the American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO) and of the Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA), and tables relating t!xe groups of the three systems were given22'36.
Liu concluded that the USCS was to be preferred as a general system of soil classification, and Yoder
recommended its adoption by the FAA in its work on airfield construction. AI-Hussaini considered that it
was the most widely used, logical, comprehensive and easily applied system, with simple and logical symbols,
and that the A-line was the best criterion to separate clay from silt, but he criticised some inconsistencies
and lack of adequate definition o f some o f the groups.

4.1 Influence of the BSCS

Basing their ideas on the proposals for a BSCS made in LR 18211, A1-Hussaini has made recommend-
ations for improvement and expansion o f the American USCS 22, and Ueshita and Nonogaki 19 made
recommendations that resulted in the adoption of the Japanese USCS 38. These two systems are outlined
in Tables 3 and 4 and discussed in Section 5.

8
 5. COMPARISON OF THE BSCS W I T H THE E A R L I E R B R I TI S H SYSTEM A N D W I T H
COMPARABLE SYSTEMS IN USE IN OTHER COUNTRIES

5.1 General

This section discusses the innovations of the BSCS of 19811, and relates it to the earlier British system
(CP 2001 (1957)) and to other systems derived from that of Casagrande (Tables 2 - 4 ) . Table 3 relates the
BSCS to systems that it has influenced.

The main ways in which the new BSCS system (Table 2, Column 1) differs from the earlier British
system of CP 2001 (1957) (Column 2) are as follows:

- the particle and recommended sieve sizes are expressed in metric terms consistent with BS 1377: 1975.
- the soil groups and their boundaries are fully defined, and ambiguities are removed (the old system
was only semi-quantitative and many of the boundaries were undefined or vague).
- the description of the grading of coarse materials is improved and ambiguities are removed (eg GW,
GPu, GPg).
- there is fuller classification of coarse soils containing an appreciable proportion of fines (eg G - F ,
GF), and of fine soils containing an appreciable proportion of gravel or sand (eg FG, FS).
- the classification of fine soil and fines is extended to provide for materials of very high and
extremely high plasticity (eg CV, CE).
- the presence of organic matter can be indicated in any type of soil.
- there is provision for classifying deposits containing very coarse material, o f boulder and cobble
size (eg BCb, Cb+GC).

5.2 Comparison of particle size range limits and scales of fines

The basis of most of the systems for defining particle sizes is the MIT system, with 60 m m - 2 m m for
gravel and 2 m m - 6 0 / a m for sand (Table 4). In practice the nearest available sieve size is generally used.
~ e BSCS, German and Swiss and French systems use 63 mm or 60 m m for the upper gravel limit, and
the American, Japanese and CP 2001 (1957) use 74 mm to 76 mm. The gravel/sand boundary is 2 m m or
2.4 m m for all systems except the USCS (ASTM 1969) which uses 4.75 mm. The sand/fines boundary ranges
from 60/am to 80/am.

The scale of ffmes (Table 4) is divided into three ranges in Casagrande and in CP 2001 (1957) (in which
they are not quantitatively defined), and into four in the other systems, with a fifth in the BSCS. The division
between coarse and Fine soils is at 50 per cent in most of the systems, but at 40 per cent in the German
system and 35 per cent in the BSCS. These lower values are consistent in trend with the sand/fines
boundary, at 63/am compared with the 74/am to 80 /an of the American, Japanese and French systems.
They also follow from the consideration that one part (35 per cent) o f fines would generally be enough
to begin to dominate the behaviour of approximately two parts (65 per cent) o f coarse material.

The coarse soils (gravels and sands) of the modern systems are divided into three ranges of frees
content. The lowest has 0 - 5 per cent fines in all systems. The next has 5 - 1 2 per cent fines in the
USCS (ASTM) and French, and 5 - 2 0 per cent in USCS (A1-Hussaini) following LR 182, but this was
revised in BSCS to 5 - 1 5 per cent from considerations similar to those that resulted in the revision o f the
50 per cent boundary to 35 per cent, and this is consistent with the German, Swiss and Japanese systems.

9
 The fine soils (silts and clays) are undivided on the basis of grain size in the systems with a shorter
range o f fines ( 5 0 - 1 0 0 per cent, and the German 4 0 - 1 0 0 per cent), but in the BSCS with its longer
range o f fines ( 3 5 - 1 0 0 per cent) the lower part of the range (35-65 per cent fines) is qualified as gravelly
or sandy fines (FG, FS).

5.3 Comparison of type of grading and scales of plasticity

Table 2 shows how the BSCS (Column 1) is related to the earlier British system of CP 2001 (]957)
(Column 2), to the American USCS system (Column 4), and to their common ancestor the Casagrande
system of 1947 (Column 3). Table 3 relates the BSCS to systems that it has influenced: the Japanese
USCS and the proposed revision o f the American USCS.

5.3.1 Coarse soils. Of the coarse soils only gravels will be discussed; the corresponding sao.d groups
are formed in the same way. In the BSCS they are divided into three ranges of fines content:

(1) Slightly silty or clayey gravels ( 0 - 5 per cent fines). Casagrande had well and poorly graded gravel
(GW and GP), and suggested representing uniform gravel by the symbol GU. This was adopted in
CP 2001 (1957) (but not in USCS). BSCS clarifies the position by allowing poorly graded gravel to
be further divided into uniform gravel GPu or gap-graded gravel GPg, and this provision has been
adopted in the Japanese USCS and the proposed revision of the American USCS (Table 3).

(2) Silty and clayey gravels. CP 2001 (1957), like Casagrande, had only two classes for gravel with
appreciable fines: gravel with excess fines GF, and well-graded gravel-sands with small clay component,
GC. However, he suggested a possible expansion (see Table 2, Column 3) to indicate the grading of
the gravel and the character of the fines. BSCS and USCS both divide the groups into two ranges;
Silty or Clayey Gravels, and Very Silty or Very Clayey Gravels.

In the BSCS gravels with 5 - 1 5 per cent fines ( G - F ) can be sub-divided into silty and clayey
gravels ( G - M , G-C). Grading is also significant in these groups, so they can be sub-divided into
well and poorly graded material (eg GWC, GPC). These materials are represented in the USCS by
borderline classes such as G W - G C and GP-GC. The BSCS groups G - F etc and their main sub-
divisions have been adopted in the Japanese USCS and the proposed revision of the American USCS
(Table 3).

(3) Very silty and very clayey gravels. In the BSCS coarse soils with 1 5 - 3 5 per cent times can be sub-
divided into very silty and very clayey gravels (GM, GC). The USCS also has groups GM and GC,
somewhat differently defined. Grading of the coarse fraction in these materials with more times
is no longer so important, but the plasticity of the times is more significant, so can be represented
in the BSCS if required (eg GCL, GCH).

This provision has been adopted in the proposed revision o f the American USCS.

5.3.2 Fine soils. These are divided into two ranges o f times content in the BSCS, 6 5 - 1 0 0 per cent and
3 5 - 6 5 per cent:

(1) Silts and clays. In the BSCS the time soils F, having over about two-thirds (65 per cent) of times, can
be divided into silt M or clay C, and the plasticity can be indicated, as for the earlier systems. Casagrande
10
 had only two ranges of plasticity, low L with liquid limit less than 50 per cent, and high H with
liquid limit greater than 50 per cent, but as a possible expansion o f the system he suggested an
intermediate range of plasticity I with liquid limit 3 5 - 5 0 per cent. This intermediate range was
used in CP 2001 (1957) and was adopted by the German system, but USCS only has the ill-defined
boundary classes ML-MH and CL-CH. The BSCS adds two further ranges at the upper end of the
liquid limit scale, V and E, to allow better description of the more plastic materials.

The proposed revision of the American system also develops the plasticity scale, adopting the
intermediate range and adding ranges V and E, but it uses 15 per cent intervals of liquid limit for
ranges H, V and E in place of the 20 per cent intervals of the BSCS; it also adopts the group N (non-
plastic) for liquid limits below 20 per cent, suggested in LR 18216 but not adopted for the BSCS.
The Japanese system divides the plasticity range at 80 per cent liquid limit for volcanic soils V.

(2) Gravelly silts and clays. These groups of the BSCS allow better description of gravelly fine soils FG,
containing between about one-third and two-thirds fines ( 3 5 - 6 5 per cent) and therefore between two-
thirds and one-third ( 6 5 - 3 5 per cent) of sand and gravel. They can be sub-divided into gravelly silt
MG or gravelly clay CG, and the plasticity can be indicated as for the silts and clays, eg MLG, CHG.
In CP 2001 (1957) and USCS these materials were divided between the very silty and very clayey
gravels and the silts and clays.

5 . 3 . 3 Organic soils. In the BSCS the symbol O is placed after the symbol for a soil of any other
group which contains enough organic matter to affect its properties, eg MHO, CHO, SCO. The groups
MLO, MIO and MHO-MVO-MEO correspond to the OL, OI and OH of CP 2001 (1957).

6. CONCLUSIONS

The British Soil Classification System for Engineering Purposes, BSCS, is described in the newly revised
British Standard Code of Practice for Site Investigations, BS 5930:1981 (formerly CP 2001). It is consistent
with the improved system of soil description also described in the Code.

This report should clarify the reasons for the changes introduced by the BSCS, aid understanding of
the relationship between the various similar systems in use in other countries, and encourage convergence
in future revisions.

Through a process involving the publication and discussion of preliminary drafts, the BSCS was
logically developed from the system of the earlier editions of the Code of Practice by introducing the
following improvements:

metric sieve sizes are used

soil groups are fully defined and ambiguities are removed
description of the grading of coarse materials is improved
fuller description is possible of coarse soils containing an appreciable proportion o f fines, and of
fine soils containing an appreciable proportion of gravel or sand
the classification of t'me soils and frees is extended to provide for materials of very high and
extremely high plasticity
the presence of organic matter can be indicated in any soil type
materials containing boulders and cobbles can be classified.
11
 This Report presents a chart and grading triangles further clarifying the classification of soils, the
fuller description of gravels and sands, and the description of materials containing boulders and cobbles.

The BSCS has been compared with systems in use in other countries, and like it based on the system
of Casagrande. British and American practice diverged from the'first, with the initial publication of
CP 2001 in 1950, and other countries adopting the same basic system also have their points of difference.

With regard to particle size range limits British practice is closer to the German and Swiss in using
60/am for the sand/fines boundary, and to the German, Swiss and French in using 63 mm for the upper
gravel boundary, while all but the American system (with 4.75 ram) use 2 or 2.4 mm for the gravel/sand
boundary.

With regard to the division of the scale of fines content into ranges, in the British system soils with
more than 35 per cent o f fines are classified as fine soils, because of a generally expressed view that at
about this point the fines generally begin to play the dominant role in determining the soil properties.
In the German system the equivalent figure is 40 per cent, and the others use 50 per cent. With the
consequent longer range of fines content of the Free soils in the British system ( 3 5 - 1 0 0 per cent) it becomes
appropriate to sub-divide the range, soils with 3 5 - 6 5 per cent of fines being described as gravelly or sandy
fine soils, and those with over 65 per cent of fines being described as fine soils (silts or clays).

The sub-division of coarse soils at 5 and 15 per cent fines is common to all systems, except that the
American and French systems use 12 per cent in place of 15 per cent.

Some of the features of the BSCS have been adopted by the Japanese USCS, the proposals have
been made for incorporating some o f its features into the American USCS.

7. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The report was written in the Site Investigation Section under the general_ direction of Mr M P O'Reilly,
head of the Tunnels and Underground Pipes Division and Earthworks Sections of the Structures Department,
Transport ~and Road Research Laboratory.

Table 1 and Figure 1 are based on Table 8 and Figure 31 of BS 5930 with the permission of the
British Standards Institution.

8. REFERENCES

. BRITISH STANDARDS INSTITUTION. BS 5930: 1981. British Standard Code of Practice for
Site Investigations (formerly CP 2001). London, 1981 (British Standards Institution).

. BRITISH STANDARDS INSTITUTION. BS 1377: 1975. Methods of testing soils for civil engineering
purposes. London, 1975 (British Standards Institution).

. DUMBLETON, M J and G WEST. Some factors affecting the relation between the clay minerals in
soils and their plasticity. Clay Minerals 1966, 6 (3), 1 7 9 - 9 3 .

12
4. LAXTON, J L. A method for estimating the grading of boulder and cobble grade material.
Rep. Inst. Geol. Sci. 1980, No. 80/1, 3 1 - 5 5 .

. MIDDLEBROOKS, T A and G E BERTRAM. Soil tests for design o f runway pavements. Proc HRB
1942, 22, reproducing Engineering Manual, Chapter XX, March 1943, War Department, Office of
the Chief o f Engineers.

. DEPARTMENT OF SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH. Soils, Concrete and Bituminous

Materials. London, 1946 (H M Stationery Office).

. CASAGRANDE, A. Classification and identification o f soils. Proc. Amer. Soc. Civ. Engrs. 1947,
73, 783-810.

. INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS. Civil engineering code of practice No. 1 (1950). Site
Investigations. London, 1950 (Institution of Civil Engineers).

. BRITISH STANDARDS INSTITUTION. British Standard Code of Practice CP 2001 (1957).

Site Investigations. London, 1957 (British Standards Institution).

10. DEPARTMENT OF SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH. Soil Mechanics for Road
Engineers. London, 1952 (H M Stationery Office).

11. DUMBLETON, M J. The classification and description o f soils for engineering purposes: a suggested
revision of the British system. Ministry of Transport, RRL Report LR 182. Crowthorne, 1968
(Road Research Laboratory).

12. CODE DRAFTING COMMITTEE CVCP/1 - SITE INVESTIGATIONS. Informal discussion,

11 June 1973, 'The soil classification system proposed for use in the revised Code of Practice for
Site Investigations'. Introduced by M J Dumbleton. (Institution of Civil Engineers).

13. Soil classification - new code proposals. Construction News, 1973 (April 26), 3 1 - 3 5 .

14. DUMBLETON, M J (Introducer) and I K NIXON (Reporter). The soil classification system proposed
for use in the revised Code of Practice on site investigations. Informal Discussion. Proc. Instn Cir.
Engrs. Part 2. 1973 (Dec), 55, 9 9 7 - 9 .

15. BRITISH STANDARDS INSTITUTION. Draft standard code o f practice for site investigations
(Revision of CP 2001). London, 1976 (British Standards Institution).

16. ROAD RESEARCH LABORATORY. Soil classification. Leaflet LF 208. Crowthorne, 1 9 7 0

(Road Research Laboratory).

17. PERMANENT INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF ROADS CONGRESSES. XlVth World

Congress, Prague 1971. Question 1, 1.2.2.1. Soil Classification, pp 9 - 1 1 .

13
18. DUMBLETON, M J. Soils and Foundations 1972, 12 (4), 79-82. Discussion o f K Ueshita and
K Nonogaki, Classification of Coarse Soils based on Engineering Properties, Soils and Foundations
1971, 11 (3), 91-111.

19. UESHITA, K and K NONOGAKI. Classification of coarse soils based on engineering properties.
Soils and Foundations 1971, 11 (3), 91-111.

20. GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY ENGINEERING GROUP WORKING PARTY. The preparation of maps
and plans in terms of engineering geology. Q. Jl. Engng GeoL 1972, 5 (4), 295-382.

21. SOANE, B D, D J CAMPBELL and S M HERKES. Computer analysis for the classification of soils
on the basis of mechanical properties. Soil Science, 1971,3 (1), 288-92.

22. AL-HUSSAINI, M M. Contribution to the engineering soil classification of cohesionless soils.

Miscellaneous Paper S - 77-21. Vicksburg, 1977 (US Army Engineer Waterways Experiment
Station, Soils and Pavements Laboratory).

23. BELL, F G ed. Foundation engineering in difficult ground. London, 1978 (Newnes-Butterworth).

24. LAWRANCE, C J. The use of punched cards in the storage and retrieval of engineering data in
Ethiopia. Department o f the Environment Department o f Transport, TRRL Report SR 248.
Crowthorne, 1977 (Transport and Road Research Laboratory).

25. LAWRANCE, C J. Terrain evaluation in West Malaysia. Part 2: Land systems of South West
Malaysia. Department o f the Environment Department o f Transport, TRRL Report SR 378.
Crowthorne, 1978 (Transport and Road Research Laboratory).

26. BRITISH STANDARDS INSTITUTION. BS 6031:1981. British Standard Code of Practice for
Earthworks. London, 1981 (British Standards Institution).

27. ¸ HARTNUP, R and M G JARVIS. Soils in civil engineering practice. In. M G JARVIS and
D MACKNEY (eds). Soil survey applications. Soil Survey Technical Merograph No. 13.
Harpenden, 1979 (Soil Survey of England and Wales).

28. JARVIS, M G, J HAZELDEN and D MACKNEY 1979. Soils of Berkshire. Soil Survey Bulletin No. 8.
Harpenden, 1979 (Soil Survey of England and Wales).

29. CORPS OF ENGINEERS, U S ARMY. The Unified Soil Classification System. Technical
Memorandum No. 3-357, 1, Vicksburg, 1953 (revised 1960). (Waterways Experimental Station).

30. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE. Military Standard. Unified Soil Classification System for Roads,
Airfields, Embankments and Foundations. Washington, 1962 (Department of Defense).

31. WAGNER, A A. The use of the Unified Soil Classification System by the Bureau of Reclamation.
Proc. 4th Int. Conf. Soil Mech. Found. Engng., London, 1957, 1, 125-34 (Butterworths Scientific
Publications).

14
32. AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR TESTING AND MATERIALS. ASTM Method D 2487-69
(Reapproved 1975): Standard Test Method for Classification o f Soils for Engineering Purposes.
1978 Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Part 19,325-9 (ASTM).

33. GERMAN STANDARD DIN 18196 (June 1970). Earthworks: Soil classification for engineering
purposes and methods of identification of soil groups. (Available with English text).

34. ASSOCIATION SUISSE DE NORMALISATION. SNV 70 005 and SNV 70 008. Soil classification,
Zurich, 1959 (Association Suisse de Normalisation).

35. SCHON, C. Geotechnical classification of soils based on the USCS classification. Bulletin de Liaisons
desPonts et Chauss[es, 1965, No. 16, 3--4 to 3-16.

36. LIU, T K. A review of engineering soil classification systems. Highway Research Record No. 156,
Washington, 1967 (Highway Research Board).

37. YODER, J E. Review of soil classification systems applicable to airport pavement design. Report
No. FAA-RD-73-169. Federal Aviation Administration. Washington DC, 1974.

38. JAPANESE SOCIETY OF SOIL MECHANICS AND FOUNDATION ENGINEERING. Japanese

Unified Soil Classification System. JSF Designation MI, 1973. Reconfirmed as JSF Designation
M1-1973 (79) in 1979. In. 'Soil Testing Methods', pp 190-205, 1979 (in Japanese). (Japanese
Society of Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering).

39. BRITISH STANDARDS INSTITUTION. BS 1377: 1967. Methods of Testing Soils for Civil
Engineering Purposes. London, 1967 (British Standards Institution).

15
 TABLE 1
British Soft Classification System for EngineeringPurposes (BSCS)
Subgroups
Soil groups (see note 1) and l a b o r a t o r y identification

G R A V E L and S A N D may be qualified Group Subgroup Fines Liquid Name

Sandy G R A V E L and Gravelly S A N D , symbol symbol (% less limit
etc. where appropriate (see notes (see than %
2&3) n o t e 2) 0 . 0 6 mm

Slightly silty or GW GW Well graded G R A V E L

clayey G R A V E L G Oto5
GP GPu GPg Poorly graded/Uniform/Gap graded
~E GRAVEL

Silty G R A V E L G-M GWM GPM Well graded/Poorly graded silty G R A V E L

G-F 5 t o 15
Clayey G R A V E L G-C GWC GPC Well graded/Poorly graded clayey G R A V E l

V e r y silty G R A V E L GM G M L , etc Very silty G R A V E L ; subdivide as for GC

GF 15 to 35
V e r y clayey G R A V E L GC GCL <35 Very clayey G R A V E L (clay of low,
--¢0 uJ GCI 35 to 50 intermediate,
GCH 50 to 70 high,
GCV 70 to 90 very high,
® E GCE >90 extremely high plasticiw)
~E
Slightly silty or SW SW Well graded S A N D
clayey S A N D S 0to 5
SP SPu SPg Poorly graded/Uniform/Gap graded SAND

Silty S A N D S-M SWM SPM Well graded/Poorly graded silty SAND

~= S-F 5 t o 15
Clayey S A N D S-C SWC SPC Well graded/Poorly graded clayey SAND

~.~ V e r y silty S A N D SM S M L , etc Very silty S A N D ; subdivided as for SC

SF 15 t o 35
V e r y clayey S A N D SC SCL <35 Very clayey S A N D (clay of low,
SCI 35 to 50 intermediate,
SCH 50 to 70 high,
SCV 70 to 90 very high,
¢/)
SCE >90 extremely high plasticity)

Gravelly SI LT MG M LG, etc Gravelly SILT; subdivide as f o r CG

FG 35 to 65
Gravelly C L A Y CG CLG < 35 Gravelly C L A Y of low plasticity
(see note 4) CIG 35 to 50 of intermediate plasticity
=<,= CHG 50 to 70 of high plasticity
m CVG 70 to 90 of very high plasticity
CEG > 90 of extremely high plasticity

~3~m Sandy S I L T (see MS M LS, etc Sandy SILT; subdivide as f o r CG

note 4) FS 35 to 65
Sandy C L A Y CS CLS, etc Sandy C L A Y ; subdivide as f o r CG

m S I L T (M-SOIL) M M L , etc S I L T ; subdivide as for C

>" F 65 t o 100
5=.. ~ CLAY C CL < 35 C L A Y of low plasticity
to o (see notes 5 & 6) CI 35 to 50 of intermediate plasticity
u===
- o;~- o CH 50 to 70 of high plasticity
7. E . _= , ~ ~, CV 70 to 90 of very high plasticity
-m- ~o
Lo ~=
c:: CE > 90 of extremely high plasticity

ORGANIC Descriptive letter 'O" suffixed to Organic matter suspected t o be a significant constituent. Example MHO:
any group or sub-group symbol. Organic S I L T of high plasticity.

PEAT Pt Peat soils consist p r e d o m i n a n t l y o f plant remains which may be fibrous or amorphous.

NOTE 1. The name of the soil group should always be given when describing soils, supplemented, if required, by the group symbol,
although f o r some additional applications (e.g. longitudinal sections) it may be convenient to use the group symbol alone.
NOTE 2. The group symbol or sub-group symbol should be placed in'brackets if laboratory methods have not been used for
identification, e.g. ( G C ) .
NOTE 3. The designation F I N E SOl L or F I N E S , F, may be used in place of S I L T , M, or C L A Y , C, when it is not possible or not required
to distinguish between them.
NOTE 4. G R A V E L L Y if more than 50 % o f coarse material is of gravel size. S A N D Y if more than 50 % of coarse material is of sand size.
NOTE 5. S I L T (M-SOl L), M, is material p l o t t i n g below the A-line, and has a restricted plastic range in relation to its liquid limit,
and relatively l o w cohesion. Fine soils o f this t y p e include clean silt-sized materials and rock flour, micaceous and diatomaceous soils,
pumice, and volcanic soils, and soils containing halloysite. The alternative term 'M-soil' avoids confusion with materials of predominantly
silt size, which f o r m o n l y a part of the group.
Organic soils also usually p l o t below the A-line on the plasticity chart, when they are designated O R G A N I C SILT, MO.
NOTE 6. C L A Y , C, is material plotting above the A-line, and is f u l l y plastic in relation to its liquid limit.

16
 TABLE 2
Soil classification: British and American systems compared

B R I T I S H BSCS BRITISH AMERICAN AMERICAN

BS 5930:19811 CP 2001 (1957)9 Casagrande USCS 195329
(precursor 196811) (precursor 1950 ~) 19477 ASTM 196932
0 - 5 per cent Fines [ 0 - 5 per cent Fines
Proposed Possible iClasses:
system expansion Main Borderline
G
GW GW GW GW
GW-GP
GP GP GP GP
GPu GU GU
GPg
5 - 1 5 per cent Fines 5 - 1 2 per cent Fines
G-F GF,GC GF,GC
G-M * GFm*
G-C GFc
GWC GwFc GW-GC
GPC GpFc GP-GC
15-35 per cent Fines 12--50 per cent Fines
GF GF GM
GM * GM-GC
GC GC
GCL LL < 3 5 %
GCI 3 5 - 5 0
GCH 5 0 - 7 0
GCV 7 0 - 9 0
GCE > 90
S,S-F, SF** Sands** Sands** Sands**
3 5 - 6 5 per cent Fines 5 0 - 1 0 0 per cent Fines
FG
MG
CG
CLG LL < 3 5 %
CIG 3 5 - 5 0
CHG 5 0 - 7 0
CVG 7 0 - 9 0
CEG > 90
FS **
6 5 - 1 0 0 per cent Fines
F M * ML * ML ML *
C
CL LL < 3 5 % CL LL < 3 5 % CL LL < 50% CL LL < 50%
CI 3 5 - 5 0 CI 35-50% (CI 35-50%) CL-CH
CH 5 0 - 7 0 CH > 50% CH > 50% CH > 50%
CV 7 0 - 9 0
CE > 9 0
Organic: suffix O OL * OL * OL *
Pt Pt Pt Pt
* develop as for corresponding C groups
** develop as for corresponding G groups

17
 TABLE 3
Soil classification: developments based on the BSCS

BRITISH BSCS JAPANESE AMERICAN

BS 5930:19811 Japanese USCS 197938 Proposed for coarse
(also 196811) (also 197119) soils 197722
0--5 per cent Fines 0 - 5 per cent Fines 0 - 5 per cent Fines
G G G
GW GW GW
GP GP GP
GPu GPu GPn
GPg GPs GPg
5--15 per cent 5 - 1 5 per cent 5 - 2 0 per cent Fines
((3 - N )
GWN
GPN
G--F G-F (G-F)
GWF
GPF
G-M * G-M *
G-C G-C
GWC GWC
GPC GPC
G-Or
G-Vt
1 5 - 3 5 per cent Fines 1 5 - 5 0 per cent Fines 2 0 - 5 0 per cent Fines
GN LL < 20%
GF GF GF
GM GM (GM)
GC GC (GC)
GCL LL < 3 5 % GOt GCL 20-35
GCI 35-50 GVt GCI 35-50
GCH 50-70 GCH. 50-65
GCV 70-90 GCV 65-80
GCE >90
S, S - F , S F ** S etc ** S etc *
3 5 - 6 5 per cent Fines 5 0 - 1 0 0 per cent Fines Fraction less than 425 pm
FG
MG
CG
CLG LL < 3 5 %
CIG 3 5 - 5 0
CHG 5 0 - 7 0
CVG 7 0 - 9 0
CEG > 9 0
FS **
6 5 - 1 0 0 per cent Fines N LL < 20%
F F F
M M * M
C C C
CL LL < 3 5 % CL LL<50% CL 20 - 3 5
CI 35-50 CI 35-50
CH 50-70 CH >50 CH 50-65
CV 70-90 vt <80 CV 65-80
CE > 90 >80 CE >80
Organic: suffix O Ot *
* develop as for corresponding C groups
t O organic fines; V volcanic frees
** develop as for corresponding G groups
18
 TABLE 4
Particle size range limits and scales of fines

Scale of times
Particle size range limits
per cent
System upper gravel/ sand/
gravel sand fines coarse soilswfme soils
mm mln /am
BS 1377 and MIT 60 60
BRITISH
CP 2001:19579 76 2.4 75 0 * * 100
LR 182:196811, and sieve sizes
63.5 2.4 75 0 5 20 50 70 100
of BS 1377:196739
BSCS: 19811, and sieve sizes of
63 63 0 5 15 35 65 100
BS 1377:19752
GERMAN
DIN 18196:197033 63 2 63 0 5 15 40 100

SWISS
SNV 70 005 and 8:195934 60 2 60 0 5 15 50 100
FRENCH
LCPC 196535 60 80 0 5 12 50 100
JAPANESE
Japanese USCS M1-1973 (79) 38 75 74 0 5 15 50 100
AMERICAN
USCS (ASTM: 1969) 32 75 4.75 75 0 5 12 50 100
USCS (A1-Hussaini: 1977) 22 75 2 75 0 5 20 50 100

* undefined
_ dividing percentage between coarse and time softs

19
 U. 0
. tN

,T
"'= ~ O "6

~-
i X,
t'-i
o
.~_ I:
,.__,

~_o'~ > ~ @ =~
o~ ~ C

•- ,- "~ Z) ,_~
O
ou "~E
-~ -6 ~ ~ _~
. ~ _ _ ~. 0
4: -~ Z "a -~
.~.~.~.o o ~ =
o°o ~ ® ~i
. ~ ~,,7_. ~ _ I~

"Z ,-- m
"~.___ ~ "~ ~- u
-~_- ~._ ~
.~.' ~. . . ~ o
e0
.u-- -
•~ - - ~: @ ....
E~:~ ....
-~o I
o
•-~ ~ "E "~ ~.
-- ~" 0

~ ' d o

' ~ :~ o iZ
~- ~ I~-

I o
C) C) 0 0 0 0 C) ¢D 0

(:~UaO J a d ) x a p u ! AJ.!op.Seld
 More than 50 per cent gravel More than 50 per cent sand
in coarse fraction I~ .in coarse fraction
_ -(~- co- i
# clayey or silty, GRAVEL(3
'\
"1"
5
S Slightly clayey/or silty SAND
> y / ~)~
v

Clayey or silty I Clayey or silty

GRAVEL G-F I S--F SAND
COARSE °)~
SOl LS
~ Very clayey or silty Very clayey or silty
. GRAVEL GF SF SAND

About I,3 silt ~, . { A b o u t 2/3sand

and clay sizes ~ . . . . -35
and gravel sizes
-(3
Gravelly I F Sandy
FINE SOIL ~ FINE SOIL
FG ~
_o
FS
-

FINE ~J

About ~3silt - - - - __~ About 1/3sand

and clay sizes (! - and gravel sizes
SOILS FINE SOIL
F
(M or C)

100%
FINES

GRAVEL ,SIZE: 60--2mm (63mm to 2mm sieve)

SAND SIZE: 2--0.06mm (2mm to 63/~m sieve)
FINES: Under 0.06ram (passing 63/zm sieve)
GRAVELS and SANDS may be more fully described as in Figure 3
FINES (F) may be sub-divided into SILT (M) o r C L A Y (C),
see plasticity chart Figure 1, and Table 1

Fig. 2 The grading triangle for soil classification

(material finer than 60mm)
 Per cent sand size Per cent gravel size
.Jl

5 20 50 20
Slightly - -
clayey or silty
Clayey
or silty
1 5 m ~'~
,#
Very clayey o~
or silty

~) ~-~ ,35 <,

~ ~ Orave,,~ ~ S~n°~ q ;)
% ~v- F,NESO'' ~ ~ F,NESO''
/

-. 2

100%
FINES

For qualification for fine fraction note text in left hand

margin (and see Fig. 2), eg. Very clayey sandy gravel

Fig. 3 F u l l e r d e s c r i p t i o n o f gravels and sands

 ~ "O~:~ (Cobbly) (Bouldery) OnTOO~o
~\,/.£
----~-~
BOULDERS COBBLES ,$'/~e~.
. ~" <~-
5~ BOULDERSwith a little soil COBBLES with a little soil /

. \ BOULDERS COBBLES /
,o k with some soil with some soil

e~o~_20 k

BOULDERS -~> \ BOULDERS COBBLES

Ow~
COsBoB
. L ES ~ . ~ with much soil with much soil

' \ ~ with m a n y i /
"..o ~ BOULDERS
SOIL @-$-- \ COB°l~.,-e ~ "
with • -~> ~_ \ L.~ 1 "
BOULDERS ~'°~,-~';~d k
or COBBLES O'~.=Oc.~,=2 0 ~
"-~ ~-* \ With some BOULDERS or COBBLES

• 5 ~ •

. . . . . . . . . . . . . ccasional BOULDERS or COBBLES

100%
SOIL
SIZE

BOULDER SIZE: over200mm

COBBLE SIZE; 200-60ram (63ram sieve)
SOl L SIZE: under 60ram (passing 63mm sieve)

The SOl L component should be described using Table 1 or

Figures 1 and 2, eg. Cobbles with much soil (very clayey gravel)
Cb-GC; see Section 2.6 _

Fig. 4 Mixtures of very coarse material (Boulders and Cobbles)

and finer material (Soil)
TESTS: Remove material coarser than 63mm
Sizes are those of
nearest BS test sieve I
I I
Fraction finer than 63mm - - I
Fraction coarser than 63mm --
REMOVE BOULDERS AND COBBLES BOULDERS and COBBLES SOl L
I
I
and record proportion in the whole of see Figure 4 for desciption
Boulder B and Cobble Cb sizes of mixtures of soil with I I
(over 200mm)(200-63mm) boulders and cobbles I No or negligible I Organic matter suspected to be Predominantly
organic matter a significant constituent n plant remains--
IN.ORGAN IC SOl LS O R G A N I C SOILS PEAT

I O, suffixed to any other group Pt

I
PERCENTAGE F I N E S - %f
(passing 63 pm)
I
%f 0 - 3 5 % LS I
COARSE SOl
I
I %f 35--100
FINE SOILS

I
RELATIVE PERCENTAGES of particles %g > %s i %g<%s
of gravel (%g) and sand (%s) sizes GRAVELS SANDS
(63mm - 2mm) (2mm - 631pm)
I I
I I I I
%f 35--65% %f 65--100%
%f 0 - 5 % %f 5 - 1 5 % %f15-35% %f 0--5% %f 5-- 15% %f15--35%
PERCENTAGE FINES-- %f Slightly
(passing 63 I~m) Slightly Very silty
silty or Silty or Very silty silty or 'Silty or
clayey clayey or clayey Gravelly or Sandy
clayey clayey or clayey SILTS and CLAYS SILTS and CLAYS
GRAVELS SANDS SANDS SAN DS
GRAVELS GRAVELS
SF FG, FS F
G G-F GF S-F

RELATIVE PERCENTAGES:
See above for %g and %s
%g > %s %g<%s
Gravelly Sandy
SILTS and CLAYS Sl LTS and CLAYS
FG FS

PLASTI CITY CHART:

I I
I I I I I I
Below A-line - Silt/Silty Very
Above A-line - Clay/Clayey lVery I ~ry
Clayey clayey Gravelly
silty I cl ayey SILT I L Gravelly
CLAY
CG I AY I
Sandy
GRAVEL I RAVEL SAND SAN D

G I G-M
I!1 G-c II GM I c s S-C sc VIG
GRADING - Prefix to previous
terms as appropriate:
Well-graded Gwr-h
GP
GV~M=I
GPM
G~C I I
GPC
1
!
!
! SP- I :, SPM
I
sv~cI
sPc
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
Poorly graded I I
Uniform
I
! '1
SPu I J
Gap-graded I SPg I I
GPg ! '
I I
I CLG MLS CLS ML CL
PLASTICITY: GML GCL SML SCL MLG
under 35% SMI SCI MIG CIG MIS CIS MI CI
GMI GCI CHG MHS CHS MH CH "~-W
35-50% GMH GCH SMH SCH MHG
Liquid limit 50-70% SMV SCV MVG CVG MVS CVS MV CV
GMV GCV CEG MES CES ME CE
70-90% GCE SME SCE MEG
GME
over 90%
~'~ SOIL NAMES -- as =n previous row
~See Fig. 3 for qualification of main with the following suffixes, as appropriate:
coarse component, eg. sandy G R A V E L , of low plasticity
very sandy G R AVE L of intermediate plasticity
of high plasticity
of very high plasticity
of extremely high plasticity
J
Fig. 5 Soil classification i full laboratory procedure

(2351) Dd8041301 1,500 1 2 / 8 1 H P L t d S o ' t o n GI91S

PRINTED iN ENGLAND
 ABSTRACT

The British Soil Classification System for Engineering Purposes: its development and relation
toother comparable systems: M J DUMBLETON: Department of the Environment Depart-
ment of Transport, TRRL Laboratory Report 1030: Crowthorne, 1981 (Transport and
Road Research Laboratory). This Report reviews the British Soil Classification System for
Engineering Purposes - BSCS - which has been introduced in the new British Standard
Code of Practice for Site Investigations, BS 5930: 1981. An account is given of the
development of the BSCS from the previous British system o f CP 2001, the reasons for
changes are explained, and comparison is made with similar systems in use in America,
France, Germany, Switzerland and Japan.

New features of the system are that it is metricated, its groups are fully defined,
description of the grading of coarse materials is improved, fuller description is possible o f
coarse soils containing an appreciable proportion of fines and of fine soils containing an
appreciable proportion of gravel or sand, the classification of fine soils is e x t e n d e d to
provide for materials of very high and extremely high plasticity, the presence o f organic
matter can be indicated in any type of soil, and materials containing boulders and cobbles
can be classified.

The Report presents a chart and grading triangles further clarifying the classification
of soils, the fuller description of gravels and sands, and the description o f materials
containing boulders and cobbles.

ISSN 0305-1293

ABSTRACT

The British Soil Classification System for Engineering Purposes: its development and relation
to other comparable systems: M J DUMBLETON: Department of the Environment Depart-
ment of Transport, TRRL Laboratory Report 1030: Crowthorne, 1981 (Transport and
Road Research Laboratory). This Report reviews the British Soil Classification System for
Engineering Purposes - BSCS - which has been introduced in the new British Standard
Code of Practice for Site Investigations, BS 5930: 1981. An account is given of the
development of the BSCS from the previous British system of CP 2001, the reasons for
changes are explained, and comparison is made with similar systems in use in America,
France, Germany, Switzerland and Japan.

New features of the system are that it is metricated, its groups are fully defined,
description of the grading of coarse materials is improved, fuller description is possible o f
coarse soils containing an appreciable proportion of fines and o f fine soils containing an
appreciable proportion of gravel or sand, the classification of fine soils is extended to
provide for materials of very high and extremely high plasticity, the presence o f organic
matter can be indicated in any type of soil, and materials containing boulders and cobbles
can be classified.

The Report presents a chart and grading triangles further clarifying the classification
of soils, the fuller description of gravels and sands, and the description o f materials
containing boulders and cobbles.

ISSN 0305-1293