Author(s)

Hans Rönnqvist

RQV Teknik AB, Hudiksvall, Sweden.

Three types of natural soils are studied in this paper: 1) a postglacial silt, 2) a glacial till, and 3) a postglacial sand. The former two are soils from embankment dam sites in Sweden, and the latter is a soil from a natural deposit situated in the Swedish east coastal region. In situ Double-ring infiltrometer (DRI) tests are compared with laboratory constant-head permeability determinations. This study shows that the DRI tests conducted on sandy-silty soils are within sufficient range to the laboratory results, to suggest that in situ near-saturated infiltration capacity may be used as a field estimate of hydraulic conductivity (permeability) for this range of soils. In situ infiltrometer testing may be the better alternative when there is difficulty in achieving representative field conditions in a laboratory setting, e.g., for widely graded soils such as glacial tills.

Double-Ring Infiltrometer, DRI, Hydraulic Conductivity, Permeability, Infiltration Rate, Postglacial, Silt, Sand, Glacial, Till

Rönnqvist, H. (2018) Double-Ring Infiltrometer for In-Situ Permeability Determination of Dam Material. Engineering, 10, 320-328. doi: 10.4236/eng.2018.106022.