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ATTERBERG

KNOW THE LIMITS

Penulis : Amir Muhsin bin Che Husni

Who is Atterberg?

Atterberg or his full name, Albert Mauritz Atterberg (19 March 1848 – 4 April

1916) was a Swedish scientist who invented the Atterberg Limits which is a

common method used in geotechnical engineering to determine the critical

water contents of a fine – grained soil which are shrinkage limit, plastic limit,

and liquid limit.

In 1872, Atterberg graduated with a Ph.D. in chemistry from Uppsala University and continued his

career as a lecturer in analytical chemistry until 1877, during which time he traveled across Sweden

and abroad to research the most recent advances in organic chemistry. Atterberg started

concentrating his efforts on the categorization and plasticity of soils around the age of fifty-four,

while still working on his chemical research. This is the area for which he is best known. It appears

that Atterberg was the first to propose the classification of clay particles with a limit of less than

0.002 mm. He discovered that clay is particularly plastic, and as a result of his research, he came to

the consistency limitations that bear his name to this day. Additionally, he carried out research on the

particular minerals that give clayey soil its plasticity.

What is Atterberg Limit?

Atterberg Limits is the It can be further represented in the graph below.

determination of critical water

content in fine – grained soil.

It is divided into three limits.

Shrinkage Limit (SL)

Plastic Limit (PL)

Liquid Limit (LL or WL)

Source: https://www.geoengineer.org/education/laboratory-testing/atterberg-limits

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