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The sand-cone method is used to determine in the field the density of compacted soils in earth
embankments, road fill, and structure backfill, as well as the density of natural soil deposits,
aggregates, soil mixtures, or other similar materials. It is not suitable, however, for soils that are
saturated, soft, or friable (crumble easily).

Characteristics of the soil are computed from

Volume of soil, ft3 (m3)=[weight of sand filling hole, lb (kg)] /[ Density of sand, lb/ft3 (kg/m3)]

% Moisture = 100(weight of moist soil ± weight of dry soil)/weight of dry soil

Field density, lb/ft3 (kg /m3)=weight of soil, lb (kg)/volume of soil, ft3 (m3)

Dry density=field density/(1 + % moisture / 100)

% Compaction=100 (dry density)/max dry density

Maximum density is found by plotting a density±moisture curve.


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One of the earliest methods for evaluating the in situ deformability of coarse-grained soils is the
small-scale load-bearing test. Data developed from these tests have been used to provide a
scaling factor to express the settlement r of a full-size footing from the settlement r1 of a 1-
ft2(0.0929-m2) plate. This factor r /r1 is given as a function of the width B of the full-size bearing
plate as

r/r1 = ( 2B / 1 + B )2

From an elastic half-space solution, E¶s can be expressed from results of a plate load test in terms
of the ratio of bearing pressure to plate settlement kv as

Kv ( 1 ± m2 ) p / 4

E¶s = ___________________

4B / ( 1 + B )2

where m represents Poisson¶s ratio, usually considered to range between 0.30 and 0.40. The E¶s
equation assumes that r1 is derived from a rigid, 1-ft(0.3048-m)-diameter circular plate and that
B is the equivalent diameter of the bearing area of a full-scale footing. Empirical formulations,
such as the r /r1 equation, may be significantly in error because of the limited footing-size range
used and the large scatter of the database. Furthermore, consideration is not given to variations in
the characteristics and stress history of the bearing soils.

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The California bearing ratio (CBR) is often used as a measure of the quality of strength of a soil
that underlies a pavement, for determining the thickness of the pavement, its base, and other
layers.
CBR = F / Fo

where

F = force per unit area required to penetrate a soil mass with a 3-in2 (1935.6-mm2 ) circular
piston (about 2 in (50.8 mm) in diameter) at the rate of 0.05 in/min (1.27 mm/min);

Fv = force per unit area required for corresponding penetration of a standard material.

Typically, the ratio is determined at 0.10-in (2.54-mm) penetration, although other penetrations
sometimes are used. An excellent base course has a CBR of 100 percent. A compacted soil may
have a CBR of 50 percent, whereas a weaker soil may have a CBR of 10.


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The coefficient of permeability k is a measure of the rate of flow of water through saturated soil
under a given hydraulic gradient i, cm/cm, and is defined in accordance with Darcy¶s law as
V = kiA

where V = rate of flow, cm3 /s, and A = cross-sectional area of soil conveying flow, cm2 .

Coefficient k is dependent on the grain-size distribution, void ratio, and soil fabric and typically
may vary from as much as 10 cm /s for gravel to less than 10±7 for clays. For typical soil
deposits, k for horizontal flow is greater than k for vertical flow, often by an order of magnitude.