Glossary

Soil types that have particles large enough to be seen without visual assistance. The coarse-grained materials include the sand and gravel (or larger) soil particles.

French: à grains grossiers

German: grobkörnig

Spanish: de grano grueso

Italian: a grana grossa

Portuguese: grosseiro

Dutch: grofkorrelig

A rock fragment of 3 to 12 inches in size, usually rounded by weathering and abrasion.

French: caillou/gallet

German: Feldstein, Rollkiesel

Spanish: canto rodado

Italian: ciottolo

Portuguese: calhau rolado (burgau, godo)

Dutch: kei, steen

A proprietary, segmented steel mandrel designed to be pneumatically expanded inside of a thin, round, corrugated metal shell to hold it while driving.

French: coefficient de pression du sol

German: Erddruckbeiwert

Spanish: coeficiente de empuje de tierras

Italian: coefficiente di spinta del terreno

Portuguese: coeficiente de impulso de terras

Dutch: gronddruk coefficient

Nondimensional coefficient of cushion materials which accounts for the energy absorbing characteristics of the material. The value of “e” lies between 1 and 0.

A structure which is built to exclude earth and water from an area in order that work may be performed there under reasonably dry conditions. A cofferdam does not have to be entirely watertight to be successful. It may be cheaper to permit some flow into

French: batardeau

German: Fangedamm

Spanish: ataguia

Italian: avandiga

Portuguese: ensecadeira

Dutch: kistdam

The bonding or attraction between particles of fine-grained soil that enhances shear strength and is independent of effective pressure.

French: cohésion

German: Kohäsion

Spanish: cohesión

Italian: coesione

Portuguese: coesão

Dutch: cohesie

A soil, sand, that when unconfined has little or no strength when air-dried and that has little or no cohesion when submerged.

French: non cohérent

German: nicht bindig, kohäsionslos

Spanish: no coherente, incoherente

Italian: incoerente, non coesivo, granulare

Portuguese: incoerente

Dutch: niet-cohesief

Discontinuity in concrete caused by a disruption or delay in the placement of the concrete.