Question

The value of K0(coefficient of earth pressure at rest) for loose sand is __________

(a) 0.6

(b) 0.5

(c) 0.4

(d) 0.8

I got this question in a national level competition.

This is a very interesting question from Active Earth Pressure: Rankine’s Theory topic in chapter Failure Envelopes & Earth Pressure of Geotechnical Engineering II

Answer 1

The correct answer is (c) 0.4

Best explanation: The value of K0 for different soils is:

i) Loose sand – 0.4

ii) Dense sand – 0.6

iii) Soft clay – 0.6

iv) Hard clay – 0.5.