26/07/22, 08:41 Unified Soil Classification System - Wikipedia

Unified Soil Classification System

The Unified Soil Classification System (USCS) is a soil classification system used in engineering
and geology to describe the texture and grain size of a soil. The classification system can be
applied to most unconsolidated materials, and is represented by a two-letter symbol. Each letter
is described below (with the exception of Pt):

First and/or second letters Second letter

Letter Definition Letter Definition

G gravel P poorly graded (many particle of about the same size[1])

S sand W well-graded (many different particle sizes[1])

M silt H high liquid limit[2]

C clay L low liquid limit[2]

O organic

If the soil has 5–12% by weight of fines passing a #200 sieve (5% < P#200 < 12%), both grain size
distribution and plasticity have a significant effect on the engineering properties of the soil, and
dual notation may be used for the group symbol. For example, GW-GM corresponds to "well-
graded gravel with silt."

If the soil has more than 15% by weight retained on a #4 sieve (R#4 > 15%), there is a significant
amount of gravel, and the suffix "with gravel" may be added to the group name, but the group
symbol does not change. For example, SP-SM could refer to "poorly graded SAND with silt" or
"poorly graded SAND with silt and gravel."

Symbol chart

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Group
Major divisions Group name
symbol

well-graded
clean gravel <5% GW gravel, fine to
gravel
smaller than coarse gravel
> 50% of coarse No.200 Sieve poorly graded
fraction retained on GP
gravel
No.4 (4.75 mm) sieve
gravel with >12% GM silty gravel
Coarse grained soils

more than 50% retained fines GC clayey gravel

on or above No.200 well-graded
(0.075 mm) sieve SW sand, fine to
sand
clean sand coarse sand
≥ 50% of coarse
poorly graded
fraction passes No.4 SP
sand
(4.75 mm) sieve
sand with >12% SM silty sand
fines SC clayey sand

ML silt
inorganic
silt and clay
CL lean clay
liquid limit < 50 organic silt,
Fine grained soils
organic OL
organic clay
50% or more passing the
MH elastic silt
No.200 (0.075 mm) sieve inorganic
silt and clay
CH fat clay
liquid limit ≥ 50 organic clay,
organic OH
organic silt

Highly organic soils Pt peat

ASTM D-2487

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Soil
Criteria for Assigning Group Symbols and Group Names Using Classification
Laboratory Tests Group Group
Symbol Name

Well-
Clean Cu ≥ 4 and 1 ≤ Cc
GW graded
Gravels
≤3
gravel
Less than
Poorly
Gravels
5% fines Cu < 4 and/or Cc
GP graded
More than 50% of < 1 or Cc > 3
gravel
coarse fraction on No. 4
Gravels
Sieve Fines classify as Silty
with Fines
GM
ML or MH Gravel
More
COARSE-GRAINED than 12% Fines classify as Clayey
SOILS
GC
fines CL or CH gravel
More than 50%
retained on No.200 Well-
Clean Cu ≥ 6 and 1 ≤ Cc
Sieve SW graded
Sands
≤3
sand
Less than Poorly
Sands
5% fines Cu < 6 and/or Cc
SP graded
50% or more of coarse < 1 or Cc > 3
sand
fraction passes No.4
Sands
sieve Fines classify as
with Fines
SM Silty sand
ML or MH
More
than 12% Fines classify as Clayey
SC
fines CL or CH sand

FINE-GRAINED Silts and Clays

PI > 7 and plots
SOILS
on or above "A" CL Lean clay
Liquid limit less than 50
Inorganic line
50% or more passes
the no. 200 Sieve PI < 4 and plots
ML Silt
below "A" line

Organic Liquid limit— Organic

OL
oven dried < 0.75 clay

Liquid limit—not OL Organic

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dried silt

PI plots on or
CH Fat clay
above "A" line
Inorganic
PI plots below "A"
Silts and Clays
MH Elastic silt
line
Liquid limit 50 or more
Liquid limit— Organic
OH
oven dried < 0.75 clay
Organic
Liquid limit - not Organic
OH
dried silt

HIGHLY ORGANIC SOILS PT Peat

[2][3]

See also

AASHTO Soil Classification System

AASHTO

ASTM International

References

Classification of Soils for Engineering Purposes: Annual Book of ASTM Standards (http://www.ast
m.org/Standards/D2487.htm) , D 2487-83, vol. 04, American Society for Testing and Materials,
1985, pp. 395–408

Evett, Jack and Cheng Liu (2007), Soils and Foundations (7 ed.), Prentice Hall, pp. 9–29,
ISBN 978-0132221382
Specific
1. Day, Robert W. (2013). Geotechnical engineer's portable handbook : with the 2012
international building code (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/837179787) (2nd ed.). New
York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 978-0-07-178971-4. OCLC 837179787 (https://www.worldcat.org/o
clc/837179787) .

2. D 2487 – 06: Standard Practice for Classification of Soils for Engineering Purposes (Unified Soil
Classification System) (https://lauwtjunnji.weebly.com/uploads/1/0/1/7/10171621/astm_d-2
487_classification_of_soils_for_engineering_purposes_unified_soil_classification_system.pd
f) (PDF) (Technical report). ASTM International. 2006.

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3. ASTM Standard D2487, 2000, "Standard Practice for Classification of Soils for Engineering
Purposes (Unified Soil Classification System)," ASTM International, West Conshohocken, PA,
2000,DOI: 10.1520/D2487-00, www.astm.org.

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