Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Reg. No A0025791G
12
Silts and fine sands are prone to erosion and are very susceptible to softening when wet. Water
greatly reduces the friction between their rounded particles. If poorly graded, the particle contact area
is lower and particle friction is lower. Thus the particles can easily be separated and transported away
under the action of surface water flow.
In silts, creep and mud flows can occur in slope angles of <100. Downpipes that discharge directly
onto the ground against a footing can erode sandy soils and compromise lateral support to an
embedded footing, leading to instability. To prevent sand erosion under slabs a well-compacted soil
apron is required.
Fluctuating water tables in sand profiles can temporarily reduce the foundation bearing capacity
significantly and the pumping action in the case of stump footings, will cause footing settlement.
In sloping sites which are cut and filled, the near-surface soils are often used as fill to create a level
construction bench for the house. The fill batter cannot be adequately compacted and is frequently in a
loose condition. This batter is especially vulnerable to erosion that may reduce lateral support to the
slab or footing. Fill batters should be protected with appropriate covers (mesh, grass, boulders) and
site drainage in the form of catch drains should be provided to prevent surface water flow over the
batter.
Since erosion is a common problem in sloping sites, features such as soil wash outs, piping, erosion
furrows, surface hollows, collapsed soil banks and presence of water can be indicative of the presence
of erodible soils. If you happen to be on site while excavation or filling is under way, observations
and notations of this process may prove valuable and may be included in the report.
18. OBSERVATIONS
Notes should be taken while on site. A tick- off observation form may help standardize this process.
Reminders of the important features to be observed can be included in such a form and would
generally include the following:
Erosion features such as soil wash outs, piping, erosion furrows, surface hollows,
collapsed soil banks and presence of water.
A site photo can be a record of the site conditions at the time of investigation which may help with
future enquiries.
Note that in droughts, even low plasticity clays may be susceptible to the drying effect of trees, thus
high water usage trees or groups of trees may need to be considered where they are close to footings.
However, large growing roots under footings can cause heave in any soil type.
Comments
Profile logging **
Bearing capacity
Three test holes per building site are recommended as a minimum statistical average for a
typical residential city allotment. Test locations may be reduced for multiple lot testing or
small building extensions. The Classifier should consider the variability of the soil profiles
and environmental conditions in determining the number and locations for profile logging and
testing.
**
Profile logging may include boreholes, excavated pits, existing excavations and existing soil
faces.
Whilst the Perth Sand Penetrometer (calibrated for local sands if necessary) is the most appropriate
hand penetrometer for sands, it is common practice to investigate both sands and clays with the
Dynamic Cone Penetrometer. To estimate relative density of essentially granular soils, the following
field test and approximate correlation with DCP or PSP readings may be used. The bearing capacity
may then be calculated by assuming an appropriate soil friction angle.
Alternatively, the readings may be converted to mm/blow and allowable bearing capacity estimated
with the 1Stockwell method. A note of warning; when using the Stockwell method for sands, it is
IMPERATIVE that the allowable bearing capacity read off the Stockwell graph is modified by the
width of the footing and by the presence of water (if relevant), as explained in the method.
14
PSP
Blows per
300mm
Approximate
Relative
Density
Density Index
(%)
0-5
0-4
Very Loose
< 15
5-12
4-10
Loose
>15 to 35
12 - 36
10-24
Medium Dense
>35 to 65
36 - 60
24-60
Dense
>65 to 85
>60
>60
Impenetrable
Very Dense
>85
Density
Index %
Maximum allowed
under
any conditions
>15 to 35
50 B
15
100 kPa
>35 to 65
150 B
40
250 kPa
>65 to 85
350 B
100
550 kPa
>85
600 B
150
700 kPa
15