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Journal of Undergraduate Research

Keywords

compaction effort, 95% fixation, soil, laboratory density

College

Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering and Technology

Department

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Abstract

When soils are compacted, they become stronger and experience less settlement. Because of these improved characteristics, soils are usually compacted to some specified level before a foundation is built on top of them. The difficulty encountered is how to determine what the specified level of compaction should be. Currently, the standard in industry has been to compact almost all foundation soils to a minimum of 95% of the maximum laboratory density. Why do engineers almost without exception choose 95%? As stated by Monahan, (1994) industry appears to be fixated with 95%. Should there be a guideline for selecting what this number should be? Surely 95% can’t be optimal for all buildings with all their unique loadings. Over-compaction of soil wastes time and money. The object of this research is to determine how much compactive effort is really needed to provide adequate support for foundations and to provide a more rational basis for selecting the percent of compaction required.

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