The effect of chloride concentration in soil on corrosion of reinforcing steel was measured through corrosion potential and corrosion current density.
Concrete in contact with soil bearing high levels of chloride could suffer from early ingress of chloride, leading to corrosion of any embedded reinforcement. Measures of chloride levels in soils are often taken to check whether the soil will be suitable for being used adjacent to concrete.
The Proctor compaction test is a laboratory method of experimentally determining the optimal moisture content at which a given soil type will become most dense and achieve its maximum dry density.
This test is used to measure the percentage decrease in dimension of a fine fraction of a soil when it is dried after having been molded in a wet condition approximately at its liquid limit.
Organic matter is stable in the soil. They are exposed to decompose until they are resistant to further decomposition. Usually, only about 5 percent of it mineralizes yearly. That rate increases if moisture, oxygen, and temperature conditions become favorable for decomposition, which often appears with excessive tillage. In the Soil Test, it is a stable organic matter that is analyzed.
The objective of this test is to determine the relative proportions of different granular sizes as they pass through a specific sieve size. Thus, the percentage of gravel, clay, silt, and sand can be extracted from the sieve analysis test.
The sieve analysis (grain size analysis) is widely used in the classification of soils. The data obtained from grain size distribution curves is used in the design of filters of earth dams and to determine the suitability of the soil for road/highway construction, embankment fill of dam, airport runway/taxiway, etc.
Hydrometer test is the procedure generally adopted for determining the particle-size distribution in the soil for the fraction that is finer than sieve size 0.075 mm. The lower limit of the particle size determined by this procedure is about 0.001 mm.
