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Chapter 1 - Introduction

This document provides an introduction to soil classification and the properties of Karewas soil found in the Kashmir valley. It discusses how soil is classified into major groups including coarse-grained, fine-grained, organic and miscellaneous soils. Karewas soil consists mainly of silt and is generally devoid of vegetation. The document also outlines different methods for determining the bearing capacity of soils, including laboratory tests and the standard penetration test conducted in the field.

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Kaushal Kumar
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81 views4 pages

Chapter 1 - Introduction

This document provides an introduction to soil classification and the properties of Karewas soil found in the Kashmir valley. It discusses how soil is classified into major groups including coarse-grained, fine-grained, organic and miscellaneous soils. Karewas soil consists mainly of silt and is generally devoid of vegetation. The document also outlines different methods for determining the bearing capacity of soils, including laboratory tests and the standard penetration test conducted in the field.

Uploaded by

Kaushal Kumar
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION

1.1 INTRODUCTION

The word ‘Soil’ is derived from a Latin word ‘Solium’, which means the upper most layer of the
Earth that may be dug or plowed; specifically the loose surface material of the earth in which the
plants grow. However, in Engineering language ‘Soil’ may be defined an unconsolidated material,
composed of solid particles, produced by the disintegration of rocks. The void space present
between the solid particles may either contain air or water or both. The solid particles may contain
organic matter. There are various systems which are used to classify the soil, however the most
commonly used system is “THE UNIFIED SOIL CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM”. The same system
with minor modification was adopted by ISI for general engineering purpose (IS 1498 - 1970).
According to IS system soil can be divided into three major groups, which include “coarse grained
soil”, “fine grained soils”, “organic soils” and “miscellaneous soil materials”.
Coarse grained soils are further classified as gravels (G) and sands(S). These gravels and sands are
further divided in four categories according to gradation, silt or clay material.
Fine graded soils are further divided in three sub-divisions which are as Silt (M), Clay (C) and
organic salts and clays (O).

The Shape of the Kashmir valley is like oval shaped basin, 40 km wide and 140 km long
approximately trending in NNW-SSE direction. Kashmir valley is an intermountain valley fill
consisting of unconsolidated gravel and mud. Above the planes of Jhelum and its tributaries, a
succession of plateaus is present. These plateaus like terraces are called as “Karewas” or “Vudr”
in local language. More than half of Kashmir valley is occupied by karewas soil without being
affected by continuous erosion from past.
Karewas soil in the Kashmir valley has been divided in two different stages that are Upper stage
and lower stage. The upper stage represents arenaceous facies whereas the lower stage represents
the argillaceous facies.The lower karewas are more fossiliferous than the upper karewas
The entire belt touching the foothills of the Pirpanjal represents the lower Karewas that has been
exposed to the rivers which starts from the south such as Veshav, Rembiara, Romushu,

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Dodhganga, Shaliganga, Boknag nar and Ningli. Lower Karewa sections at Aharbal, Anantnag,
Arigam, and Baramulla have been exposed by these rivers.

The Karewas soil consists of:


1. Sand
5. Mud
2. Silt
6. Lignite
3. Clay
7. Gravel
4. Shale
8. Loessic Sediment

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The Karewas soil are mostly composed of silt .But it is interesting to mention that Karewas
are generally devoid of any vegetal cover and soil are lacking in organic matter

Before construction of foundation of any Engineering structure (such as bridge, building or


dam etc.), the Geotechnical Engineer must keep in mind the most Important property of soil
i.e. bearing capacity of the soil on which structure has to be built. In any design procedure,
the accuracy of the bearing capacity is considered as the top factor, this is because even a
minor error in calculating the bearing capacity factor may lead to the failure of building (or
any other structure) and it may also cause loss of human lives.

There are various methods which can be used to calculate the bearing capacity of the soils.
Various tests can be done in field in order to calculate the bearing capacity of soil, however
tests can also be done in laboratory. In case of laboratory tests, first of all samples (disturbed
as well as undisturbed) are taken from the field. The various tests that can be performed on
the collected samples in laboratory include Direct Shear Tests, Unconfined Compression
Tests and Triaxial Tests. By the help of above mentioned tests we can calculate shear strength
parameters like cohesion of soil Cu and angle of internal friction ɸ. These parameter can be
used in Meyerhof and Terzaghi equation for determination of bearing capacity of soils.

In Field, the most common method that is used for determination of bearing capacity of soil
is Standard Penetration test (SPT). First of all the Bore Hole are dig on the site from where
the samples are to be collected and No. of blows are calculated. After calculating No. of
blows, by using various equation can be used for calculating the bearing capacities. The main
reason of using SPT method is that its results are more accurate the other methods but this
method is more hectic and costly than other methods. This method is very difficult conduct,
the first step it is necessary to dig borehole, also this test needs crew in order to perform, also
hammer that is used for this purpose is very heavy hammer so mechanical driving is more
necessary then hammer. The above mentioned reasons make this test more economical for
small projects (small scale work) and low cost projects and for shallow foundations. Besides
above mentioned reasons SPT consumes more time than other methods. But in modern era
Accuracy is preferred more over economy.

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