Atterberg Limits of Soil: Understanding Water Content and Plasticity

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Bob Ho
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Hi, just wanted to quickly find out what you would class soil which has water content which is lower than its liquid limit, but above its plasticity limit, thanks.

Edit: I'm starting to think it just acts as a plastic hopefully that's right
 
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Bob Ho said:
Hi, just wanted to quickly find out what you would class soil which has water content which is lower than its liquid limit, but above its plasticity limit, thanks.

Edit: I'm starting to think it just acts as a plastic hopefully that's right
You have to know a WHOLE lot more about the soil (and specify the qualities) before you can even begin to request a general response to this request. I was a soils scientist during the construction of a large system of clay-core dikes for an industrial complex, and we had to differentiate between dense marine clays, and those contaminated with silts (I am really simplifying, here) before we could properly evaluate the elasticity and plasticity of the materials and determine if the materials could be laid down while conforming to specifications. The behavior of the materials had not only to be within spec, but the moisture-content of the materials had to be within a narrow acceptable range. Typically, we'd allow the application of 12" of new material, test, require the removal of 6" of that previous lift, and allow the application of 12" of new material. Rinse and repeat. Slow going.
 
If you knew that the soil was nearly or completely saturated, the moisture content gives you some idea of the consistency/stiffness. For example a saturated soil with a moisture content near the liquid limit would indeed have a "liquid like" consistency. But if it's not saturated the moisture may not correlate with consistency, just the degeree of dryness.