Click on “Download PDF” for the PDF version or on the title for the HTML version.

If you are not an ASABE member or if your employer has not arranged for access to the full-text, Click here for options.

A new approach to assessing the compactive nature of soils is proposed based on results obtained from plate sinkage as well as confined compression tests. The technique suggests that three soil properties are essential in order to assess soil compactibility namely: a) the stress-strain (stress-sinkage) characteristics of the soil, b) soil strength prior to loading, and c) the mode of soil deformation within the soil profile for a given loading situation.

This information, for a given soil, can be presented on a compactibility assessment diagram, which provides a summary of the likely behavior of the soil under load in terms of its strength and mode of deformation.