Unified Soil Classification System

The Unified Soil Classification System (USCS) is a soil classification system used in engineering and geology to describe the texture and grain size of a soil. The classification system can be applied to most unconsolidated materials, and is represented by a two-letter symbol. Each letter is described below (with the exception of Pt):

First and/or second letters

Second letter

Letter	Definition
G	gravel
S	sand
M	silt
C	clay
O	organic

Letter	Definition
P	poorly graded (many particle of about the same size^[1])
W	well-graded (many different particle sizes^[1])
H	high liquid limit^[2]
L	low liquid limit^[2]

If the soil has 5–12% by weight of fines passing a #200 sieve (5% < P_#200 < 12%), both grain size distribution and plasticity have a significant effect on the engineering properties of the soil, and dual notation may be used for the group symbol. For example, GW-GM corresponds to "well-graded gravel with silt."

If the soil has more than 15% by weight retained on a #4 sieve (R_#4 > 15%), there is a significant amount of gravel, and the suffix "with gravel" may be added to the group name, but the group symbol does not change. For example, SP-SM could refer to "poorly graded SAND with silt" or "poorly graded SAND with silt and gravel."

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Symbol chart

Major divisions			Group symbol	Group name
Coarse grained soils more than 50% retained on or above No.200 (0.075 mm) sieve	gravel > 50% of coarse fraction retained on No.4 (4.75 mm) sieve	clean gravel <5% smaller than No.200 Sieve	GW	well-graded gravel, fine to coarse gravel
		clean gravel <5% smaller than No.200 Sieve	GP	poorly graded gravel
		gravel with >12% fines	GM	silty gravel
		gravel with >12% fines	GC	clayey gravel
	sand ≥ 50% of coarse fraction passes No.4 (4.75 mm) sieve	clean sand	SW	well-graded sand, fine to coarse sand
		clean sand	SP	poorly graded sand
		sand with >12% fines	SM	silty sand
		sand with >12% fines	SC	clayey sand
Fine grained soils 50% or more passing the No.200 (0.075 mm) sieve	silt and clay liquid limit < 50	inorganic	ML	silt
		inorganic	CL	lean clay
		organic	OL	organic silt, organic clay
	silt and clay liquid limit ≥ 50	inorganic	MH	elastic silt
		inorganic	CH	fat clay
		organic	OH	organic clay, organic silt
Highly organic soils			PT	peat

ASTM D-2487

Criteria for Assigning Group Symbols and Group Names Using Laboratory Tests				Soil Classification
				Group Symbol	Group Name
COARSE-GRAINED SOILS More than 50% retained on No.200 Sieve	Gravels More than 50% of coarse fraction on No. 4 Sieve	Clean Gravels Less than 5% fines	Cu ≥ 4 and 1 ≤ Cc ≤ 3	GW	Well-graded gravel
		Clean Gravels Less than 5% fines	Cu < 4 and/or Cc < 1 or Cc > 3	GP	Poorly graded gravel
		Gravels with Fines More than 12% fines	Fines classify as ML or MH	GM	Silty Gravel
		Gravels with Fines More than 12% fines	Fines classify as CL or CH	GC	Clayey gravel
	Sands 50% or more of coarse fraction passes No.4 sieve	Clean Sands Less than 5% fines	Cu ≥ 6 and 1 ≤ Cc ≤ 3	SW	Well-graded sand
		Clean Sands Less than 5% fines	Cu < 6 and/or Cc < 1 or Cc > 3	SP	Poorly graded sand
		Sands with Fines More than 12% fines	Fines classify as ML or MH	SM	Silty sand
		Sands with Fines More than 12% fines	Fines classify as CL or CH	SC	Clayey sand
FINE-GRAINED SOILS 50% or more passes the no. 200 Sieve	Silts and Clays Liquid limit less than 50	Inorganic	PI > 7 and plots on or above "A" line	CL	Lean clay
		Inorganic	PI < 4 and plots below "A" line	ML	Silt
		Organic	Liquid limit—oven dried < 0.75	OL	Organic clay
		Organic	Liquid limit—not dried	OL	Organic silt
	Silts and Clays Liquid limit 50 or more	Inorganic	PI plots on or above "A" line	CH	Fat clay
		Inorganic	PI plots below "A" line	MH	Elastic silt
		Organic	Liquid limit—oven dried < 0.75	OH	Organic clay
		Organic	Liquid limit - not dried	OH	Organic silt
HIGHLY ORGANIC SOILS				PT	Peat

^[2]^[3]

References

Classification of Soils for Engineering Purposes: Annual Book of ASTM Standards, D 2487-83, vol. 04, American Society for Testing and Materials, 1985, pp. 395–408
Evett, Jack and Cheng Liu (2007), Soils and Foundations (7 ed.), Prentice Hall, pp. 9–29, ISBN 978-0132221382

Specific

^ ^a ^b Day, Robert W. (2013). Geotechnical engineer's portable handbook : with the 2012 international building code (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 978-0-07-178971-4. OCLC 837179787.
^ ^a ^b ^c D 2487 – 06: Standard Practice for Classification of Soils for Engineering Purposes (Unified Soil Classification System) (PDF) (Technical report). ASTM International. 2006.
^ ASTM Standard D2487, 2000, "Standard Practice for Classification of Soils for Engineering Purposes (Unified Soil Classification System)," ASTM International, West Conshohocken, PA, 2000, DOI: 10.1520/D2487-00, www.astm.org.

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Symbol chart

ASTM D-2487

See also

References