Department
of Earth Science / 
Northeastern
Illinois University
INTRODUCTION TO GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING
ESCI 340
Spring 2010
Daily Objectives #13
(February 23, 2010)
Dr. Laura Sanders
By the end of today's class, you
should be able to do the following:
w
Review: Describe the use of a liquid
limit device for measuring the liquid limit of a soil.
w
Describe the laboratory test for
measuring the plastic limit of a soil.
w
Describe the meaning of the terms
Atterberg limit, liquid limit, plastic limit, and plasticity
index.
w
Describe the properties of soils
that have a high vs. low plasticity index.
w
Explain what an ASTM
standard is, and how ASTM standards are used.
w
Write a laboratory procedure based
on an ASTM standard (see the homework assignment).
w
Classify a soil using the USDA
soil classification triangle. (Also see
this link
for a nifty plotting app from the NRCS.)
w
Classify a soil using the Unified
Soil Classification System (USCS).
Department of Earth Science | Northeastern Illinois University
Copyright 2010 by Laura L. Sanders. Last updated February 23, 2010.