Determination and classification soils in practice according to PN-EN ISO 14688:2018

Despite the passage of time, ISO standards for description and classification have not been fully adapted to common and correct use in practice. This article presents the methods of identification, description and classification of soils contained in PN-EN ISO 14688-1:2018-05 and PN-EN ISO 14688-2:2018-05 in practical terms. The level of detail of description depends on the properties of the soil in question, the size and quality of the soil sample as well as the purpose of their collection within the framework of the design or reconnaissance task performed. In this regard the practice of PN-EN ISO 14688-1:2018 soil determination and description varies. The article gives examples of soil determination based on the above-mentioned ISO standards in field and laboratory tests. Problems were observed due to, among other things, the translation of the standard as well as unspecified issues of description. Most soils usually include more than one fraction. A distinction is made between the main fraction and secondary fraction, as well as a tertiary fraction in justified cases. In the determination of the main fraction in practice there is no trouble, so in the case of multifractional fine-grained soils, the lack of a direct and unambiguous way to record the secondary fraction causes difficulties for the assessor resulting in discrepancies in the soil description