In the current design procedure for railway soil structures, soil materials are classified into six groups, each specified with shear strength, cohesion, density and other soil parameters. However, this soil classification is not based on the strength characteristic of soil materials, and the strength is set lower than the actual value in consideration of the uncertainty and variability of soil. In this study, therefore, a series of triaxial compression tests and careful literature review were carried out, and new soil classification was suggested along with soil parameters based on the strength characteristic of various materials. Furthermore, the variability of each soil was evaluated based on the test results.

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