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Fat vs Lean Clay

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pdsb5uc

Geotechnical
Joined
Nov 2, 2001
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6
Location
US
How do I recognize a fat clay vs a lean clay in the field (while logging the boreholes) without doing any LL tests on it? Also, any tips to distinguish clay from silt?
 
fat clay will stick to your shoes, silty clay will have a little grit when rub between your finger. I know it sounds like I,m joking but think about it.
 
A lot of times fat clay will have a shiny and smooth apppearance when you rub it with your thumb. Lean clays will tend to be duller and grittier.
 
Thanks for your feedback, brownbag and TAC. That is the kind of information I was looking for.
 
The US Army corps of Engineers has a site for geotechnical investigations aimed at "low tech analysis". This site ahs a number of documents freely available, including a terrific chart on the classification of soils by hand.

Unfortunately I do not have the site address any more due to a PC upgrade. If I can find it again I will post it here.

Regards

SC
 
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