The main objective of this study was to understand the effect of aging
on the penetration resistance of freshly deposited sands. Two types o
f sand, locally available river sand used as masonry sand and Beaufort
Sea sand, were selected for the study. The sands were allowed to age
under a constant stress of 100 kPa in a specially designed apparatus i
n a dry state, as well. as submerged in distilled water and in simulat
ed sea water. Penetration resistance of the sand beds was measured per
iodically by pushing 4 probes into the sand bed. Mineralogical and fab
ric studies on freshly deposited and aged sand samples were conducted
to detect the effect of aging, if any, on sand grains. The results ind
icate that aging significantly increases the penetration resistance of
sands. The rate of increase in penetration resistance was higher for
the submerged sand as compared with the dry sand. The increase in pene
tration resistance of the sand in a dry state was attributed to rearra
ngement of sand grains. In the submerged state, besides the rearrangem
ent of sand particles, partial cementation caused by precipitation of
salts and probably also silica on the sand grains and in the pores res
ulted in the larger increase in the penetration resistance.