TP – 1320 An Introduction to Penetration Resistance Testing of Soils with a Split-Barrel Sampler for Professional Engineers

Description

The method of sampling soil described herein consists of driving a split-barrel sampler to obtain a representative, disturbed sample and to simultaneously obtain a measure of the resistance of the subsoil to penetration of a standard sampler. The resistance to penetration is obtained by counting the number of blows required to drive a steel tube of specified dimensions into the subsoil a specified distance using a hammer of a specified weight (mass). This test is commonly referred to as the Standard Penetration Test (SPT). The soil sample which is obtained as a part of the test can be used for water content determination, soil-type identification purposes, and laboratory tests in which the degree of disturbance of the sample does not adversely affect the results.