Soil Testing

IS 2720 (all parts)

Assessing the properties of soil is one of the fundamental requirements of any engineering project, from a small bund to a large dam. The intrinsic properties of soil determine the stability of foundations and superstructures alike, governing the basic design criteria of a project — material characterisation, degree of compaction and implementation method — all of which ultimately affect its overall economics.

We test to the IS 2720 series covering grain size analysis, Atterberg limits, compaction (Proctor) density, CBR, shear strength and specific gravity.

Tests in this category

Moisture Content of Soil

Oven-drying determination of the water content of a soil sample.

IS 2720 (Part 2)

Liquid Limit of Soil

Casagrande / cone penetrometer determination of the water content at which soil changes from plastic to liquid state.

IS 2720 (Part 5)

Plastic Limit of Soil

Determination of the water content at which soil starts to crumble when rolled into a thread.

IS 2720 (Part 5)

California Bearing Ratio (CBR) of Soil

Penetration test used to design the thickness of flexible pavement layers.

IS 2720 (Part 16)

Free Swell Index of Soil

Screening test for the swelling potential of expansive (black cotton) soils.

IS 2720 (Part 40)

Light Compaction Test (Standard Proctor)

Determines the optimum moisture content and maximum dry density under standard compactive effort.

IS 2720 (Part 7)

Heavy Compaction Test (Modified Proctor)

Determines OMC and MDD under the higher compactive effort used for pavement and embankment works.

IS 2720 (Part 8)

Sieve Analysis of Soil

Particle size distribution of soil by dry or wet sieving.

IS 2720 (Part 4)