Engineering geology aspects for design and classification - Tunnel Engineering: Basics and Additional Services for Design and Construction - page 28

Table 2-3 Average soil parameters and permeability coefficients for preliminary design purposes accor-
ding to M. Kany [102].

Soils Weight

densities

Friction
angle:
inal
strength
φ or φ '

Cohesion Stiffness

modulus

above
water
γ

below
water
γ '

Final
strength
c'

Initial
strength
c u

E s

kN/m³ kN/m³ degrees kN/m 2 kN/m² MN/m²

Non-cohesive soils
Sand, loose, round 18.0 10.0 30 - - 20 to 50

Sand, loose, sharp 18.0 10.0 32.5 - - 40 to 80

Sand, medium-dense, round 19.0 11.0 32.5 - - 50 to 100

Sand, medium-dense, sharp 19.0 11.0 35 - - 80 to 150

Gravel without sand 16.0 10.0 37.5 - - 100 to 200

Coarse gravel, sharp 18.0 11.0 40 - - 150 to 300

Cohesive soils a

(values from experience for undisturbed samples from northern
Germany)

Clay, semi-solid 19.0 9.0 25 25 50 to 100 5 to 10

Clay, hard to knead, stiff 18.0 8.0 20 20 25 to 50 2 to 5

Clay, easy to knead, soft 17. 0 7.0 17.5 10 10 to 25 1 to 2.5

Glacial till, solid 22.0 12.0 30 25 200 to 700 30 to 100

Loam, semi-solid 21.0 11.0 27.5 10 50 to 100 5 to 20

Loam, soft 19.0 9.0 27.5 - 10 to 25 4 to 8

Silt 18.0 8.0 27.5 - 10 to 50 3 to 10

Tidal mud, organic, low clay
content, soft

17.0 7.0 20 10 10 to 25 2 to 5

Tidal mud, highly organic, high
clay content, soft, marine peat

14.0 4.0 15 15 10 to 20 0.5 to 3

Peat 11.0 1.0 15 5 - 0.4 to 1

Peat under moderate preloading 13.0 3.0 15 10 - 0.8 to 2

Ground not compacted
Stiffness modulus E S
MN/m²

Ground compacted
Stiffness modulus E S
MN/m²

Fill b
Gravel 40 to 80 80 to 150
Blast furnace slag 40 to 100 70 to 1500
Sand, pure 18 to 30 30 to 80
Demolition rubble 5 to 30 10 to 50
Mixed mining material 5 to 50 10 to 50
Burnt-out mining waste tip 2 to 30 5 to 40
Slate (tailings) 1 to 10 3 to 30
Ash, washed-out, coarse 2 to 6 5 to 15
Ash, washed-out, fine 2 to 4 4 to 12
Boiler slag 1 to 3 7 to 15
Waste 0.5 to 2 1 to 3
a Recommendation (E9) of the working committee “Bank revetment” (leader: Professor Dr.-Ing. E Lackner)
b Lecture by Professor Dr.-Ing. Schmidbauer at the building ground course in Essen, May 1963