60 The Foundation Engineering Handbook

between the penetration resistance and shear strength of the soil, which can be visualized
as a unique relationship. These correlations can be based on the corrected or uncorrected
SPT blow count N’ or N, respectively.
Corrected blow counts provide a method of accounting for the in situ state of stress
surrounding a soil sample while it was being tested. For instance, sands with identical
structure which appear stronger (higher blow counts) at greater depths than when at
shallower depths. As such, soil properties such as unit weight may be better estimated if
overburden effects are removed or normalized. However, soil properties such as shear
strength or available end bearing are enhanced by greater in situ stresses and are generally
correlated to uncorrected blow counts. The following expression is used to correct SPT N-
values by normalizing it to a 1 tsf (95.5 kPa) overburden in situ state:

N 0 ¼ CN N (2:2a)

where N is the measured (field) SPT value, N’ is the SPT value corrected for the overbur-
den stress, and
1=2
95:76
CN ¼ (2:2b)
sv0
0
where sv is the effective overburden pressure of the test location (in kPa) expressed by
Equation (1.4b):
0
sv ¼ gb z g w dw (1:4b)

where z is the depth of the test location and dw the depth of the test location from the
ground water table.
Table 2.2–Table 2.6 provide estimated values for corrected and uncorrected blow
counts. It must be noted from Equation (2.3) that the unconfined compression strength
and the undrained cohesion (strength) are related by

TABLE 2.2
Determination of the Frictional Shear Strength of Sands and Clays from SPT Blow Count
gmoist f

Corrected SPT-N’ Description pcf kN/m3 Degree

Sands
0 Very loose 70–100 11.0–15.7 25–30
4 Loose 90–115 14.1–18.1 27–32
10 Medium 110–130 17.3–20.4 30–35
30 Dense 120–140 18.8–22.0 35–40
50 Very dense 130–150 20.4–23.6 38–43
Clay qu, ksf (47.92 kPa)
0 Very soft 100–120 15.7–18.8 0
2 Soft 0.5
4 Medium 110–130 17.3–20.4 1.0
8 Stiff 2.0
16 Very stiff 120–140 18.8–22.0 4.0
32 Hard 8.0
Source: Modified after FHWA, 1993, Soils and Foundations, Workshop Manual, 2nd edn, FHWA HI-88-009, National
Highway Institute, NHI Course No. 13212, Revised, July.
In Situ Soil Testing 61

TABLE 2.3
Determination of the Frictional Shear Strength of Sands and Clays from SPT Blow Count
gsat gsub f

SPT-N pcf kN/m3 pcf kN/m3 Degree

Sands
0–2 100 15.7 37.6 5.9 26
3–4 100 15.7 37.6 5.9 28
4–10 105 16.5 42.6 6.7 29
10–20 110 17.3 47.6 7.5 30
20–30 115 18.1 52.6 8.3 32
30–40 120 18.9 57.6 9.1 33
>40 125 19.6 62.6 9.8 34
Clay
0–2 105 16.5 42.6 6.7 0
2–4 110 17.3 47.6 7.5 0
4–8 115 18.1 52.6 8.3 0
8–15 120 18.9 57.6 9.1 0
15–30 125 19.6 62.6 9.8 0
>30 125 19.6 62.6 9.8 0
Notes: Clay shear strength C ¼ N/Ti in ksf (47.92 kPa, where Ti is the soil type factor); Ti ¼ 8 for most clay, Ti ¼
10 for low plasticity, Ti ¼ 12 for peat.
Source: From Kulhawy, F.H. and Mayne, P.W., 1990, Manual on Estimating Soil Properties for Foundation Design,
EPRI EL-6800 Research Project 1493-6, Electric Power Research Institute, August. With permission.

1
cu ¼ qu (2:3)
2

Alternatively, the frictional properties of granular soils can be obtained using the follow-
ing simple expression (Bowles, 2002):
f ¼ 4:5N70 þ 20 (2:4a)

The standard penetration value can also be used estimate the over-consolidation ratio of a
soil based on Equation (2.4b) (Bowles, 2002):
0:689
N
OCR ¼ 0:193 (2:4b)

TABLE 2.4
Determination of the Frictional Shear Strength of Limestone
from SPT Blow Count
Shear Strength

SPT-N psf kN/m2

10–20 4,000 190