th

The 12 International Conference of

International Association for Computer Methods and Advances in Geomechanics (IACMAG)
1-6 October, 2008
Goa, India

Prediction of Consolidation Properties of Partially Saturated Clays

M. D Sarma
Materials and Research Division, Roads Department, Ministry of Works and Transport, Republic of Botswana,
Formerly, Senior Research Fellow, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, India

D. Sarma
Bergstan Africa, Gaborone, Republic of Botswana

Keywords: partially saturated clay, overconsolidation ratio, desiccation, void ratio, liquid limit, pavement

ABSTRACT: Consolidation properties of soil are essential for prediction of the deformation characteristics,
determination of which involves considerable time, cost, and rigorous testing process. Further, natural state of
saturation is not simulated and thus for partially saturated soils the standard odometer test gives misleading
results of the evaluated consolidation parameters particularly the overconsolidation ratio (OCR), which is an
important parameter that influences many soil properties of practical significance. In this paper an experimental
investigation for a simple yet reliable method has been presented for prediction of OCR of partially saturated soil
from the simple index properties. Correlation of simple index properties with the consolidation parameters has
been evaluated through modified odometer tests and simulating natural state of saturation. Further, advantages
of this simplified process, which is confined to shallow depth, may essentially be useful for the pavement
engineers for rapid and reliable results saving considerable time and cost in detailed investigation.

1 Introduction
Consolidation properties of soils indicate an insight on the compressibility behaviour of soils with associated
expulsion of water. However, determination of such properties involves considerable time, cost and rigorous
testing process. Further, natural state of partial saturation and soil-moisture is not simulated in the standard
consolidation procedures. The sampling technique is also not specific for the Oedometer tests and sampling
disturbance influences the results considerably. As such, modified methodologies of Odometer test for field
simulation as well as simple correlations of the consolidation parameters with fundamental properties are always
preferred by practising engineers. Overconsolidation Ratio (OCR) as a consolidation parameter is important in
soil mechanics as it influences many soil parameters of practical significance as discussed under Section 2. OCR
in the simple sense is related to the past stress history of soil and is defined as the ratio of the preconsolidation
pressure to the present overburden pressure. Most of the soils in nature exist at overconsolidated (OC) state due
to the experience of higher pressure in the past. Further, the process of desiccation, weathering, leaching,
repeated rise and fall in water table and various other processes also impart overconsolidation to soil. Therefore,
emphasis has been given for determination of OCR using simple parameters and modified methodologies. It is
reported that void ratio at liquid limit (eL) correlates with some of soil properties (Nagaraj et. al. 1986b, 1990).
Accordingly, the possibility of development of a correlation of OCR with void ratio at liquid limit (eL) and in-situ
void ratio (e) has been explored. The (e) and eL are measured considering the respective moisture contents.

2 Importance of Overconsolidation Ratio (OCR)

2.1 Undrained Shear Strength and OCR
Under undrained conditions the strength of overconsolidated clay may be smaller or larger than the drained
strength, depending on the value of the OCR. If OCR lies within the range between 1 and about 4 to 8, the
volume of the clay tends to decrease during shear and the undrained strength becomes less than the drained
strength. On the other hand, for OCR > 4 to 8, the volume tends to increase during shear, pore pressure
correspondingly decreases and the undrained strength exceeds the drained value. For high OCR the difference
may be very large.

2.2 Unconfined Compression Test and OCR

The Unconfined Compression Test which is a special case of Unconsolidated Undrained (UU) test with the
confining stress (σ3) being zero, Mohr’s circle passes through the origin. However, in case of OC clay with OCR >

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 2 to 4, an effective stress develops due to induction of negative pore pressure for increase in volume under
compression and hence Mohr’s circle shifts towards right. But, for the same soil sample in actual field situation
due to the presence of surrounding soils the confining stress is not zero and water from high pressure zone flows
to falling pore pressure zone and hence pore pressure can not be negative thus causing a comparatively lesser
compressive strength value in the field. Higher the OCR value, larger is the difference between the laboratory
unconfined compressive strength and field compressive strength. As such, any design based on laboratory
unconfined compressive strength with such OC clays could lead to results incompatible to field situation.
Therefore, determination of OCR is necessary for checking the validity of unconfined compressive strength for the
soil.

2.3 Mohr’s Failure Envelope and OCR

It is also to be noted that for OC clays with OCR > 4 to 8, Mohr’s failure envelope becomes curved. Higher the
OCR, greater is the extent of curvature and Φ value changes at every point. Therefore, the design Ф value should
correspond to the pressure to which the soil would actually be subjected to. Since, Mohr’s envelope becomes
straight after crossing the threshold of preconsolidation pressure, the range of pressure within which Ф remains
as a function of pressure depends on the preconsolidation pressure or OCR. Thus in such cases selection of
design Ф requires a knowledge of the preconsolidation pressure or OCR.

2.4 Residual Strength and OCR

After reaching the peak strength in terms of effective stress, heavy OC clays show a decrease in strength with
increasing strain until an ‘ultimate’ or residual strength is reached at a large strain. The decrease in strength,
although independent of stress history, it is considered to be due to the increase in moisture content
accompanying volume increase during shear and the reorientation of the platy particles parallel to the failure
plane. A higher OCR indicates more platy arrangement of the particles. It is also observed that heavily
consolidated clays with high OCR generally contain some fissures or hair cracks within them. Whenever there is
excavation or erosion of top soil these fissures expand due to stress release and often imbibe water into it. This
results in decrease in shearing resistance of such soil, in case of slope this may lead to instability and further
slope softening with stress release. The process may cause widespread damage to life and property. Since such
heavily OC clays with fissures are likely to remain at the residual state, risk will be more when design is made on
the basis of peak strength. Thus, the degree of overconsolidation, expressed in terms of OCR, is often a reliable
indicator for assessing the presence of such fissures and in consequently the basis of design whether to adopt
peak strength or ultimate strength.

2.5 Compression Index and OCR

The mathematical relationship, developed by Terzaghi and Peck (1948) for evaluation of Compression Index (Cc)
from Liquid Limit (LL), is applicable to normally consolidated (NC) clays of low to moderate sensitivity. For OC
soils the Cc will be smaller due to lesser compressibility of the already compressed soil skeleton. Therefore,
before use of the simple expression, it is important to know whether a soil is normally consolidated or
overconsolidated, which can be determined from the value of OCR.

2.6 Consistency Indices and OCR

Most OC soils have moisture content at or near plastic limit (PL) and hence Liquidity Index (w – PL / LL – PL)
generally varies from 0 to 0.6, where w is natural moisture content (Simons et al., 1977). But for NC clays
Liquidity Index varies from 0.6 to 1.0. In homogeneous clay deposit the OCR is nearly constant with depth since
the maximum past consolidation pressure increases in proportion to present overburden effective pressure for a
given duration of the particular loading. But, for a heterogeneous deposit the OCR increases with Plasticity Index
(PI) and also dependent on the magnitude of secondary compression end. For a given time of loading, the
amount of secondary compression increases with PI. Bjerrum (1972) produced substantial evidence for this.
A relationship for uncemented OC soil is evolved by Nagaraj and Murthy (1986b) involving the in-situ void ratio
(e), void ratio at Liquid Limit (eL), overburden pressure (σO’ in kPa) and pre-consolidation pressure (σ’C in kPa) as
follows:
e (1)
= 1.122 − 0.188 log σ C '−0.0463 log σ O '
eL

2.7 Pore Pressure Parameter ‘A’ and OCR

Heavily OC clays during shearing tend to increase its volume. Hence the pore pressure falls and may even be
negative. Skempton (1954) suggested some typical ‘Af’ (value of ‘A’ at failure) values. It varies from +0.5 to +1 for
NC clays, 0 to +0.5 for light OC clays and –0.5 to 0 for heavily OC clays. Thus OCR has distinct influence on pore
pressure parameter ‘A’ (Refer Figure 1a).

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 1 3.0

0.8 OCR=32
2.5
OCR=16
0.6
OCR=8 2.0
0.4 OCR=4
Af

0.2 OCR=2 1.5

OCR=1
0 1.0

-0.2

Ko
0.5
-0.4
1 10 100 0.0
O CR 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
PI

(a) (b)

Figure 1. (a) Effect of overconsolidation on the value of the pore pressure parameter A at failure (after Bishop
1960), (b) KO as a function of overconsolidation ratio and plasticity index. The values of K0 for PI equals to zero
are extrapolated from the data of Hendron (1963) and OCR from Brooker (1965)

2.8 Coefficient of Earth Pressure at Rest and OCR

Overconsolidation increases coefficient of earth pressure at rest (KO), approximate value of which was suggested
by Meyerhof (1976) as follows:
K O = (1 − Sinφ ′)(OCR ) (2)
However, besides OCR, coefficient of earth pressure at rest (KO) is also influenced by PI of the soil as shown by
Brooker et al (1965) from experimental data (Refer Figure 1b).

800 (σ 1 − σ 3 ) f 800 (σ 1 − σ 3 ) f
FS = = 3.0 FS = = 1.5
(σ 1 − σ 3 ) (σ 1 − σ 3 )
600 600
E/σ'c E/σ'c
400 400

200 200

0 0
1 2 5 10 20 50 1 2 5 10 20

Overconsolidation Ratio Overconsolidation Ratio

Clay type: Undisturbed Kawasaki , Remoulded B.B.C. , Remoulded V.B.C. , Undisturbed Amuay

Figure 2. Effect of overconsolidation on Young’s modulus (Ladd, 1964) for two different factor of safeties

2.9 Young’s Modulus and OCR

Overconsolidation tends to increase the Young’s Modulus (E) of soils. Ladd (1964) had shown with experimental
data that E/σC (where, σC is the consolidation stress in isotropic system) values tend to increase with increase in
OCR although at higher values of OCR the trend is not clear (Refer Figure 2 for two different factor of safeties).

2.10 Settlement and OCR

The consolidation settlement Sc is calculated using the following equation:
HO ⎛ σ '+ Δσ ' ⎞ (3)
S C = CC log⎜⎜ O ⎟⎟
1 + eO ⎝ σO' ⎠
where, CC is the compression index, HO the thickness of compressible layer, eO the in-situ void ratio, σO’ the
present effective overburden pressure, and Δσ’ the average effective pressure increment on the layer. This
equation is valid only for NC soil. For OC soil, CC must be replaced by recompression index Cr. Thus for use of
proper index, it must be ascertained whether soil is overconsolidated (refer Figure 3a and 3b).

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3 Objectives and relevance of the present study
It is apparent from the foregoing discussions that OCR is an important parameter for understanding of the
behaviour of soil and knowledge of the parameter provides an insight into its practical implications. Generally
OCR is determined from the results of the oedometer test which is a time consuming and involves tedious
process. The objective of the present study is to explore the possibility of correlating OCR with common soil
parameters which can be obtained easily.

Such correlations can save considerable time and money, particularly in handling bulk samples needed for
pavement construction and rehabilitation projects of highways and airports. Further, in case of urgent defence
need when tractability on natural ground is required for operation of combat vehicles and equipments, information
on the state of overconsolidation of the surface or near surface soils may constitute a very important parameter.
Therefore, this experimental study is confined to shallow depth of soil strata, which is of utmost interest for the
pavement engineers.

σ'o+Δσ'
σ'o σ'o σ'c σ'o+Δσ'
σ'c
Δe eo
Δe1
Recompression e
1 Δe2
Cr

1
Void ratio

Virgin

Void ratio
Cc compression

Logarithm of effective stress Logarithm of effective stress

(a) (b)
Figure 3. Effect of preconsolidation pressure on settlement for (a) σ’O + Δσ’ <σ’C, (b) σ’O + Δσ’ >σ’C

4 Methodology
This study is directed towards correlating OCR with in-situ void ratio (e) and void ratio at liquid limit (eL) because
of the proven applicability of the ratio (e/eL) to various soil characteristics (Nagaraj et al., 1986b, 1990, and 1991).
Also it has been established that void ratio varies with overburden pressure (refer Figure 4) in a similar manner
for different soils having different liquid limits (Lambe et al., 1969). Therefore, liquid limit has been taken as a
common denominator because of its uniqueness in relation to soil properties.

From classical terminology, liquid limit is a measure of type and amount of clay fraction present in a soil. The
common clay minerals (Kaolinite, Montmorillonite and Illite) give rise to negatively charged surfaces due to
replacement of central cation of the unit cell (sheet structure or basic stacking pattern) by another cation of low
valency, which causes adsorption of polar water molecules as well as cations (from the salt present in the
solution) to the particle surfaces resulting in formation of diffused double layer. Hence, greater the amount of clay
fraction, greater will be affinity towards water resulting higher liquid limit. When two clay particles come close
enough, their diffused double layers interact. It causes higher cation concentration in between two particles (near
the faces of the platy particles) resulting an osmotic potential which is also influenced by the properties of clay
minerals as well as the pore fluid. The relationship of half space distance ‘d’ with logarithm of net repulsive force
is unique irrespective of the clay minerals for a particular physico-chemical environment (Sridharan et al., 1971).
This was supported experimentally by Nagaraj et al (1986a) for a usual environment encountered in the field as
follows:
d = 97.67 − 29.343 log (R − A) = a − b log (R − A) (4)
where, d is the half space distance, and R-A the net repulsive force which can be identified as the effective stress
of classical soil mechanics (Terzaghi et al., 1948).

It has been shown by several researchers (Russel et al., 1970, Wroth et al., 1978) that the liquid limit of all fine-
grained soils corresponds to a unique equilibrium consolidation/ suction pressure of about 6 kPa with a shearing
resistance of about 1.7 to 2 kPa. Extending the logic of d versus log (R – A) to the physico-chemical environment
at liquid limit, it is likely that the interparticle separation distance at liquid limit, dL, is same for all soils since stress
conditions are of the same order. Now assuming parallel plate configuration,

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 eL = G.γ W .S .d L (5)

where, eL is the void ratio at liquid limit, G the specific gravity, γ W the unit weight of water, S the specific surface,
and dL the interparticle separation distance at liquid limit. Identifying ‘d’ as the void ratio, equation (5) can be
expressed as:
eL = a ′ − b′ log σ L (6)
where, a’ and b’ are constants like in equation (4), and σL the effective stress at liquid limit. Due to difference in
specific surfaces of different soils, eL can be different for the same order of σL and dL. Hence liquid limit can be
regarded as a state at which the separation distance between particles or their aggregated units are under force-
field- equilibrium and eL can be a normalisation parameter at macro level to generalise the behaviour of different
fine grained soils. Thus, all the water held at liquid limit of soils can be considered as interacting water directly
under the influence of interparticle forces which is also dependent upon pore size distribution. Attractive force is
o o
predominant only within a distance of 20 A and practically no force exerted beyond a distance of about to 300 A .
It has also been experimentally established that the pore size distribution curves for different soils at their liquid
limits are of the same type.

4.5
W l, =120
4.0 P.I.=80
Highly colloidal clays
3.5
W l, =80
3.0 P.I.=50
Colloidal clays
Void Ratio

2.5 W l, =50
P.I.=25
2.0 Clays
W l, =30
1.5 P.I.=12
Silty clays

1.0

0.5 Silts

0.0
0.1 1.0 10 102 103 104
5
2
Effective Overburden Stress (kN/m )

Figure 4. Approximate relation between void ratio and overburden stress for clay sediments, as a function of the
Atterberg’s liquid limit (LL) and Plasticity index (PI) (Lambe and Whitman, 1969)

Test data on permeability indicate that at liquid limit water contents, the permeability coefficient, k, is of the same
order for all soils. Considering the state of soil in volume basis, the weight of solid particles is inversely
proportional to the liquid limit water contents for unit volume of soils, i.e. the weight of the soil particles in unit
volume will be such as to provide same order of surface area and hence the same order of physico-chemical
potential for all soils. Thus, the resulting microstructure, depending upon the physico – chemical potential in unit
volume, can be of the same pattern. These unique conditions of same consolidation / suction pressure, constant
shear strength, and same order of permeability at liquid limit, can be represented as a datum state in relation to
which all other state and stress conditions can be normalised. In particular, the compression equation of normally
consolidated uncemented saturated soils, upon normalisation, would result in the form (Nagaraj et al., 1990):
e (7)
= a − b log p
eL
where, ‘e’ is the in-situ void ratio, and effective stress ‘p’ equals to ‘σ – u’
The above explanation and formulation can be used not only for pure clays but also for natural soils containing
coarser particles because of the fact that the clay particles form a coating around the coarser particles preventing
a direct contact between them or the coarse particles float in a matrix of clay particles. It is proved experimentally
that coarser particles reduce the physico-chemical potential of the soil proportionately without altering the basic
mode of stress release. Hence eL should correspond to the modified liquid limit of the soil as a whole taking into
account for the reduction in physico-chemical potential.
⎛ F ⎞ (8)
WLmod ified = WL⎜1 − ⎟
⎝ 100 ⎠
where, WL modified is the liquid limit of the soil as a whole, WL the liquid limit for soil fraction finer than 425 micron,
and ‘F’ the fraction of soil coarser than 425 micron expressed as a number. Double layer theory can be applied to
soils if the modified liquid limit value is appreciable, at least to the extent of 30-35%.

From the above discussion, it is obvious that the determination of void ratio (eL) at liquid limit and correlating it to
the in-situ void ratio (e) and other important parameter like OCR is of utmost importance because of the unique

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characteristic of soils at liquid limit so that the cumbersome procedure of determining the OCR by Oedometer test
can be avoided.

In-situ void ratio was determined as per specifications of Indian Standard (IS: 2720, Part 29, 1975). The eL is
measured from the relation:
G (9)
e L = WL
Sr
where WL is the liquid limit water content, G the specific gravity determined as per Indian Standard (IS: 2720, Part
3, Sec 1, 1980), and Sr the degree of saturation which is 100% at liquid limit. Consolidation properties and plots
have been computed as per Indian Standard (IS: 2720, Part 15, 1986). To simulate the field condition, laboratory
curves of what have been modified as per Indian Standard (IS: 8009, Part I, 1976), and OCR have been
evaluated following Casagrande’s method. To simulate field compressibility at the laboratory, the soil samples
were consolidated at field moisture contents as per suggestion put forward by Sowers (1979). Field cone
penetration and unconfined compression test were carried out to obtain the undrained strength of soils. These
results provide supplementary information on comparative extents of overconsolidation of different soils tested.
Natural in-situ density was determined as per Indian Standard (IS: 2720, Part 29, 1975) and consolidation
specimens were collected by Block or Chunk Sampling.

5 Investigation site
The site selected for investigation comprised of scattered hills, eroded plains, filled-up and low-laying areas in the
western part of Guwahati, the gateway city of the northeast India. The climate of this sub-tropical region is
seasonally varying from heavy rainfall to occasional dry with little or no rainfall. The soil strata vary from thin
humus as the top layer to thicker underlain red lateritic followed by greyish cohesive clay deposits within the
depth of investigation. The thickness of lateritic deposit gradually decreases from the hill towards the valley
possibly due to erosion by rain water. Out of the five locations four had been exposed to the seasonal fluctuation
of ground water resulting changes in external pressure, chemistry of the pore medium, wetting and drying cycles,
and temperature. Samples were collected from 0.30 m to 1.1 m below ground level.

6 Findings and discussion

The samples tested were all fine-grained soils. The variation of liquid limit and plastic limit with very high OCR
values implied a wide range of properties for these soils. The difficulty experienced in sampling from greater
depth indicated generation of high matrix suction through the partially saturated narrow pores resulting large
shear strength (Sridharan 1968, Sridharan et al., 1971). It is inferred that where the proportion of air content in the
soil is less than 5%, air is held in position under high pressure by surface tension, since it is not easy for
expulsion or compression of such small quantity air. Further in such situation, the relative humidity of the pore air
also remains higher. If the degree of saturation is low and the air space is continuous, there may be considerable
migration of water vapour blocking the pore spaces of soil mass supplementing additional strength under stress.
This might be one of the reasons besides others for causing a major contradiction, where it has been observed
that higher the OCR values, higher were the in-situ void ratios. The further explanation is that within the sampling
depths the soil repeatedly returns to desiccated state due to alternating wet and dry cycles and subsequently
concentration of various salts (viz., Ca, Mg, Al and Fe) continues for increasing desiccation bonds with natural
cementing compounds. These desiccation bonds are responsible for crumbling the soil having skeletal formations
where the particle-to-particle contacts at corners offer stronger shear resistance. This skeletal formation
associated with the small shrinkage and hair cracks, present in the highly overconsolidated soils, can cause high
in-situ void ratio. Due to such desiccation bonds the rebound curves become flat in their undisturbed state. In
other words, small expansion on unloading, is an indication that swelling is due to elastic rebound and
straightening of bent particles, indicating that the soil is of non-swelling type and thus its volume change
behaviour is governed by the shearing resistance at particle contacts (Sridharan, 1968). For laboratory tested
undisturbed soil, the presence of desiccation bonds between soil particles augments the intrinsic effective stress
present between them and thus increases the shearing resistance at particle contact points. The larger shearing
resistance present at a particular state enables the undisturbed soil to support the external load at higher void
ratio. Upon loading, the volume change occurs by shearing displacements or sliding between particles.

The location exhibiting high OCR with high undrained cohesion appears to be cemented as evident from e - log
p curve perhaps generated due to repeated wetting and drying progressively gaining strength and stiffness (Alam
et al., 1981). The similarities shown by the stress-strain behaviour of desiccated soils to the reported behaviour of
soils subjected to the similar environment depicts that perhaps desiccation bonds are induced by repeated
wetting and drying for which OCR have been observed. For the range of data considered in this study, the e/eL
versus OCR relationship has been found to have the following equation:
= 0.808 log(OCR ) − 0.380
e (10)
eL
This suggests a straight line with coefficient of correlation 0.941. For partially saturated uncemented soil Nagaraj

2186
et al (1986b) postulated the following equation:
⎛ e ⎞ 13 (11)
⎜⎜ ⎟⎟ S r = 1.19 − 0.208 log σ C '−0.047 log σ O '
⎝ ⎠
e L
’
where, Sr is the in-situ degree of saturation, σC the preconsolidation pressure, and σO’ the effective overburden
pressure.

Rearranging the parameters in equation (11) a family of curves can be derived for OCR versus (e/eL)Sr1/3 for a
particular overburden pressure σO’. While plotting the experimental points of the present study in the family of
curves as per Nagaraj et al., a partial conformity is observed. Conformity diverges apparently more with increase
in OCR values perhaps due to increasing cementation bonds. It is also inferred that for partially saturated soils,
the stress fields of air, water and solids act independently, measurement of which are difficult. The effective
stress in such condition becomes a function of total stress, difference of pore air and water pressure, surface
tension and a parameter dependent mainly on degree of saturation (Scott 1969). Inadequate measurement of any
parameter leads to an impact on the correct evaluation of OCR.

Compressibility characteristics of soils are also affected by the sampling disturbances. The difference becomes
prominent in e - log p curve for a specimen in case of piston sampling and block sampling. Therefore in this
experimental study block sampling was done for reducing the disturbance due to sampling thus simulating as
close as possible to the actual structure of the soil. The testing procedure also influences the results due to the
friction developed between the sample and the Oedometer ring. Errors in the effective stress exceeding 6% have
been reported (Scott 1969).

The discrepancies observed between the laboratory tests and in-situ observations are also for enforcing
assumptions that soil particles and pore fluid are incompressible is close to the truth for any saturated soil. The
practice of one dimensional consolidation in laboratory also does not corroborate the form of consolidation in the
field under a load of limited extent. In case of low hydraulic gradient as the case in Oedometer test, Darcy’s law
might also be deviated. It is also inferred that the testing procedures influence the results considerably. Testing a
specimen in Oedometer at partially saturated condition is different from testing at saturated stage as most of the
desiccation bonds collapse during saturation. Therefore emphasis was given in this experimental work to carry
out the consolidation test at natural moisture content to simulate the partially saturated state of the soils.

The shapes of the e - log p curves indicate heavily overconsolidated cemented soils in conformity with similar
results of Nagaraj et al (1991) except their postulation that cementation develops only in marine environment.
Attempt has been made to draw a comparison with Skempton’s chart for c/p’ vs. Ip, for the extent of
overconsolidation. The plotting confirms that the soils are highly overconsolidated.

7 Conclusion
A correlation has been developed involving overconsolidation ratio (OCR) of partially saturated soils, their in-situ
void ratio (e), and void ratio at liquid limit (eL). This approach has been adopted because of the versatile nature of
the parameter e/eL which has been reported to be related to various soil properties including consolidation. It is
also found that most of the soils in nature exist in partially saturated state. Characterisation of compressibility of
soils involves sophisticated and time consuming laboratory tests and complicated field works. Therefore, it is
often emphasised on evolving simple methods to predict such behaviour of soil from basic index properties.

Block sampling has been adopted to reduce the disturbance and the effect is observed in the e - log p curves.
Emphasis has been given for modifying conventional testing procedure to simulate the natural state of partial
saturation. The effect is observed from the prominent peaks of the e - log p curves. The soils tested are found to be
highly overconsolidated and cemented as depicted by the patterns of the e - log p curves, which are caused by the
repeated wetting and drying cycles followed by desiccation. This implies that cementation is not necessarily
developed only in marine environment. The natural moisture contents of the soils are found to be at their respective
plastic limits and fulfil Skempton’s criteria. The range of data considered in this study fulfils the empirical correlation
within the scope of study. Such correlation can save considerable time and money particularly in handling bulk
samples needed for pavement construction and rehabilitation projects of highways and airports.

8 Acknowledgement
The experimental investigations referred to in this paper were part of postgraduate research work of Author1,
which were conducted under the supervision of Prof. P. K. Bora, PhD (Birmingham), Head of Civil Engineering
(Retired), Assam Engineering College, India. His encouragement is gratefully acknowledged.

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Brooker E. W, 1965. Earth Pressure at rest related to stress history. Canadian Geotechnical J.2, Feb. pp 1-15.
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Lambe, T. W. and Whitman, R. V. 1969. Soil Mechanics, John Wiley and Sons, Inc. New York (USA) pp 320.
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Nagaraj, T. S. and Srinivasa, Murthy, B. R. 1986a. A Critical Reappraisal of Compression Index Equations, Geotechnique.
London 36:1.
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