The Use of Distance Between Soil Layers in Predicting the Hydraulic Conductivity of Granular Soils

Abstract

Abstract This study presents a new empirical approach that can be used to determine the hydraulic conductivity of saturated granular soils. This empirical approach can be obtained through the relationship between the uniformity coefficient of the soil (Cu) and the distance between soil layers (S). For the granular filter materials that have the same particle size distribution, there can be different distances between layers of the soil, depending upon the soil’s density. The distance between soil layers can be obtained by dividing the length of the imaginary line by the number of intersected particles within the length. By using the distance between soil layers, the whole grain size distribution and the soil porosity are taken into consideration, which reflects the degree of compaction. Therefore, this empirical approach is a good representation of hydraulic conductivity.