THE CONNECTION OF SANDY LOAM SOIL MOISTURE CONTENT TO THE LOAD-BEARING CAPACITY

Soil moisture generally refers to the amount of water stored between soil particles in the spaces (pores). The moisture content of soil influences its mechanical properties thus resulting in different soil behaviour. Applying a load of a wheel to the surface of soil cause a reduction in soil pore volume (soil deformation) and that depends on the physical composition of the soil, dampness (water content), density, and the initial compression state. Thus, the wheel sinks into the soil to a certain depth until the soil produces a resistance force (load-bearing capacity)equal to that of the wheel load. The amount of load-bearing capacity depends on the moisture content of the soil. In this article, interest will be given to studying the connection between the sandy loam soil moisture content and the load-bearing capacity. At the laboratory of the Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences (Szent Istvan Campus), the measurements were performed to determine the connection of load-bearing capacity of the sandy loam soil with different moisture content. Was used a Bevameter technique to measure the force, displacement, and moisture analyser to determine the moisture content level ofsoil. The obtained result shows when the moisture content level increases, the sinkage also increases which means the load-bearing capacity of the soil decreases.