At the Park Hotel on Monday evening, Mr. F. J. Sanger speaking as a member of the Foundations Research Committee, continued his series of lectures on "Soil Mechanics" to the Engineering Society of China, dealing with the laboratory testing and classification. of soils for engineering uses.
Soil tests may be grouped as follows:
1. Classification tests giving the structure of the soil and the effects on its strength of varying its moisture content.
2. Mechanical tests, giving the strength of a soil under various kinds of loading and its comparative watertightness.
3. Model tests, in which a model of a proposed structure, usually an earth dam, is tested for strength and watertightness.
4. Research into the chemistry and physics of soils and into soil-testing technique.
5. Special tests for treatment of a soil to strength. use in.the improve its These tests were further subdivided and discussed, with special reference to their value in Shanghai. Some classification systems in use in other parts of the world were outlined and recommendations were given for use here.
The appendices included a description and list of apparatus with approximate costs of a soils testing laboratory, and a comparison of standard sieves in use for the grading of soils. The meeting concluded with a discussion on laboratory testing and its value in foundation engineering and research.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.