Determination of in-situ soil density using local sands

Abstract

Sand Cone method is widely used to determine the density of compacted soils in the cons~ruction of earth embankments, road fills and structure backfills. This method can also be used to determine in place density of soil deposits, aggregates, soil mixtures or other similar materials. In our country Ottowa sand is used for determining in-situ soil density using Sand Cone Method. Ottowa sand is very expensive and it is always imported from abroad. Usually it requires much time to import this item. Instead of Ottowa sand local sand could be used as an alternative material for determining in place soil density by Sand Cone Method. In Bangladesh, local sand is available in abundance and compared with Ottowa sand it is also much cheaper in price. Since local sand is readily available and much less expensive for large scale testing of determining in place density, use of local sand would be less costly. Moreover it will not be required to recollect the local sand after the test is done. In this research the quality and suitability of local sand, collected from different places of Bangladesh are assessed for determining in-situ density using Sand Cone Method. Each of the sample is characterized by determining its index properties. Grain size distribution, specific gravity and density are determined for each sample. These properties are compared with those recommended by ASTM for selecting a suitable sand in Sand Cone Method. Finally those satisfy the properties, recommended by ASTM are suggested for alternative use of Ottowa sand.