Subgrade soils characterization data, for correlation of geotechnical variables on urban roads in northern Colombia

Abstract

Within the variables relevant to the design of a pavement structure, the subgrade soils should be considered, which must be characterized in order to determine their mechanical properties and their bearing capacity. However, in developing countries such as Colombia, where the resources available for the design phase of a road project are very scarce, simplified and low-cost techniques should be used while delivering fast results, in order to be able to determine the geotechnical characteristics of soils. Therefore, it is necessary to look for correlations between the different geotechnical variables of subgrade soils. This document contains a database with the main physical characteristics of the soils. To collect these data, 46 geotechnical survey were carried out through several urban road sectors located in the city of Sincelejo, northern Colombia. Field tests were carried out with the Dynamic Cone Penetrometer and laboratory tests from undisturbed samples, for the realization of the California Bearing Ratio. Additionally, from disturbed samples, standard soil tests were conduct. The dataset obtained from the characterization of the soils, helps to create correlations between different variables, in such a way that it is possible to obtain bearing capacity parameters, such as CBR and Resilient Modulus, required for pavement design, based on simpler and faster tests such as the Dynamic Cone Penetrometer test, soil particle size analysis, the Atterberg limits or soil moisture content. In addition, these data can be supplemented by future researches in geographical regions with socioeconomic characteristics similar to those of Colombia.