DIN 19662:2012-07

This standard describes a method for punctual in situ determination of the mechanical soil penetration resistance by means of a hand held penetrometer. Due to the low technical effort and time exposure as well as the possibility of a high spatial resolution, the hand held penetrometer is suitable to show homogeneous solids or to verify local or extensive differences of soil stability up to a depth of 2 m. Due to the diverse dependencies of the soil penetration resistance of the soil properties, the main applications of a hand held penetrometer are a) the comparative measurement of soils for which a one-factor influence can be assumed; for example, for soils prior to and after crossings, prior to and after watering, prior to and after soil cultivation; b) during the prospection of soil-physical inhomogeneity; for example, during the search for compaction soles, kieskopf under a loess layer, during the estimation of the thickness of loose rock with a low content of coarse material over bedrock and similar; c) during the initial estimation of the trafficability of wet soil with heavy vehicles in the field as well as in the construction zone; d) during quality testing of artificial soil compaction, of lawn and sports fields or of recultivation measures with extensive soil application such as open-cast mining; e) during estimation of soil properties correlated with soil penetration resistance. The committee responsible for this standard is NA 119-01-02-03 UA "Standortbeurteilung" ("Site assessment") at DIN.