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Cohesion Intercept of Soils + Typical Values
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Soils + Typical Values

Introduction on Cohesion Intercept of Soils + Typical Values

:

The cohesion intercept is a term used in describing the shear strength soils. Its
de nition is mainly derived from the Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion and it is
used to describe the non-frictional part of the shear resistance which is
independent of the normal stress. In the stress plane of Shear stress-effective
normal stress, the soil cohesion is the intercept on the shear axis of the Mohr-
Coulomb shear resistance line.

Concepts and Formulas of Cohesion Intercept of Soils +

Typical Values:

Difference between Cohesive and Granular soil

"Granular soil" means gravel, sand, or silt (coarse-grained soil) with little or no

clay content. Granular  soil  has no  cohesive  strength. Some moist
granular soils exhibit apparent cohesion. Granular soil cannot be molded when
moist and crumbles easily when dry.

"Cohesive soil" means clay ( ne-grained soil), or soil with a high clay content,
which has cohesive strength. Cohesive soil does not crumble, can be excavated
with vertical sideslopes, and is plastic when moist.  Cohesive soil is hard to
break up when dry, and exhibits signi cant cohesion when submerged.
Cohesive soils include clayey silt, sandy clay, silty clay, clay and organic clay.

Typical values of soil cohesion "C" for different soils

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Some typical values of soil cohesion are given below for different soil types.
The soil cohesion depends strongly on the consistence, packing, and saturation
condition. The values given below correspond to normally consolidated
condition unless otherwise stated. These values should be used only as a
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guideline for geotechnical problems; however, speci c condition of each
engineering problem often needs to be considered for an appropriate choice of
geotechnical parameters.

Cohesion [kPa]
Description USCS Speci c Reference
min  max
value
Well graded gravel, sandy
GW - - 0 [1],[2],[3], 
gravel, with little or no nes
Poorly graded gravel, sandy [1],[2],
GP - - 0
gravel, with little or no nes [3], 
Silty gravels, silty sandy gravels GM - - 0 [1],
Clayey gravels, clayey sandy
GC - - 20 [1],
gravels
Well graded sands, gravelly [1],[2],
SW - - 0
sands, with little or no nes [3], 
Poorly graded sands, gravelly [1],[2],
SP - - 0
sands, with little or no nes [3], 
Silty sands SM - - 22 [1],
Silty sands - Saturated
SM - - 50 [3],
compacted
Silty sands - Compacted SM - - 20 [3],
Clayey sands SC - - 5 [1],
Clayey sands - Compacted SC - - 74 [3],
Clayey sands -Saturated
SC - - 11 [3],
compacted
Loamy sand, sandy clay Loam -
SM, SC 50 75   [2],
compacted
Loamy sand, sandy clay Loam -
SM, SC 10 20   [2],
saturated
Sand silt clay with slightly
SM, SC - - 50 [3],
plastic nes - compacted
Sand silt clay with slightly
plastic nes - saturated SM, SC - - 14 [3],
compacted
Inorganic silts, silty or clayey
ML - - 7 [1],
ne sands, with slight plasticity
Inorganic silts and clayey silts - ML - - 67 [3],
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compacted
Inorganic silts and clayey silts -
ML - - 9 [3],
saturated compacted
Inorganic clays,
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sandy clays of low plasticity 
Inorganic clays, silty clays,
sandy clays of low plasticity - CL - - 86 [3],
compacted
Inorganic clays, silty clays,
sandy clays of low plasticity - CL - - 13 [3],
saturated compacted
Mixture if inorganic silt and clay
ML-CL - - 65 [3],
- compacted
Mixture if inorganic silt and clay
ML-CL - - 22 [3],
- saturated compacted
Organic silts and organic silty
OL - - 5 [1],
clays of low plasticity
Inorganic silts of high plasticity 
MH - - 10 [1],
- compactd
Inorganic silts of high plasticity
MH - - 72 [3],
- saturated compacted
Inorganic silts of high plasticity  MH - - 20 [3],
Inorganic clays of high
CH - - 25 [1],
plasticity 
Inorganic clays of high
CH - - 103 [3],
plasticity - compacted
Inorganic clays of high
CH - - 11 [3],
plasticity - satrated compacted
Organic clays of high plasticity  OH - - 10 [1],
ML, OL,
Loam - Compacted 60 90   [2],
MH, OH
ML, OL,
Loam - Saturated 10 20   [2],
MH, OH
ML, OL,
Silt Loam - Compacted 60 90   [2],
MH, OH
ML, OL,
Silt Loam - Saturated 10 20   [2],
MH, OH
ML, OL,
Clay Loam, Silty Clay Loam -
CL, MH, 60 105   [2],
Compaced
OH, CH
ML, OL,
Clay Loam, Silty Clay Loam -
CL, MH, 10 20   [2],
Saturated
OH, CH
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Silty clay, clay - compacted OL, CL, 90 105   [2],

OH, CH
OL, CL,
Silty clay, clay - saturated 10 20   [2],
OH, CH
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Peat and other highly organic
Pt - -    
soils

REFERENCES

1. Swiss Standard SN 670 010b, Characteristic Coe cients of soils,

Association of Swiss Road and Tra c Engineers
2. Minnesota Department of Transportation, Pavement Design, 2007
3. NAVFAC Design Manual 7.2 - Foundations and Earth Structures, SN 0525-
LP-300-7071, REVALIDATED BY CHANGE 1 SEPTEMBER 1986

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Useful Relationships and Typical Values In Geotechnical Engineering

Friction Angle of Soils + Typical Values
Determination of Water Content
Effects of Water on Slope Stability
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Speci c Gravity of Soils

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