ICC (EC) Soils - Material Testing (edit), combined| Answered 100% correctly| 2026

ICC (EC) Soils - Material Testing (edit), combined| Answered 100% correctly| 2026 The strength of a soil, or the ability to compact a soil into a suitable construction material will depend on? Soil type Soil density The amount of water in the soil Types of soils Gravel (mm to cm's in size) Sand (mm in size) Silt (fine particles with little cohesion) Clay (has cohesion, can stick together) Organic soils (peat, topsoil) Organic soils (O) Have a large componet of dead or decaying plants, and are not used in construction Silt and Clay Classified based on whether the soil is plastic (clay) or non-plastic (eg. can you roll it into a ball or string) Gravel and Sand are classified based on whether or not all the particles are roughly the same size (uniform, like a beach) or if there is a large variety in particle size (well-graded). Soil layers 1. (complex zone) 3 to 4m 2. (glacio-lacustrine clay) 2-12m 3. Glacial till, up to 9m in thickness 4. Carbonate bedrock, the upper surface of which is often fractured, weathered and irrgular Soil has two componets of strength Cohesion (clay only) Friction (when individual soil grains move across on another) The three types of shear failure of soil are general shear failure (bulging / tilting) local shear failure (slight bulging) punching shear failure (little to no bulging) Soil strength is used to determine The bearing capacity of a foundation The stability of natural or man-made earth slopes or retaining walls