Assessing Overconsolidation Ratios in Soil with Piezocone: Referencing Soil Index Properties

To enhance the assessment of the overconsolidation ratio (OCR), this paper describes the importance of relating the soil type and soil index properties to the empirical correlations used to evaluate the preconsolidation stress and OCR using the piezocone and the importance to apply the normalized soil behavior approach. Data from a variety of sites is assembled using published and unpublished sources to develop empirical correlations for the normalized soil behavior or the stress history and normalized soil engineering parameter-based approach that vary with the plasticity index, liquid limit, median particle size, and organic content of the soil. Examples are presented to illustrate application of the correlations.