⛏️ Density index ID of non-cohesive soils and subgrade by the light dynamic probe (DPL, SD) — clause 6 of the field-test standard PN-B-04452

Construction PN-B-04452

Overview

WHAT THE STANDARD COVERS. The scope from the PKN catalogue card, quoted in full: "Requirements for field tests, relevant technical data of the equipment and test procedures are given, covering the following tests: with the static cone penetrometer CPTU, pressuremeter PMT, the probe with a cylindrical tip SPT, the dynamic probe SD, the weight sounding probe WST, the field vane FVT, dilatometer DMT, the plate load test PLT, and drilling, sampling and borehole measurements. An informative annex presents Polish experience gained with the equipment and procedures given in the standard." (our translation). Laboratories cite from it only sounding with the light dynamic probe for the density index; what clause 6, recorded by most of them, contains the card does not say.

STATUS (state of the card on 29 September 2026). The card of PN-B-04452:2002 (Polish version) carries the heading "Wycofana" (withdrawn), the row "Date of withdrawal: 31-03-2010" and the field "Superseded by: PN-EN 1997-2:2009 - Polish version". Edition: published 14-05-2002, 78 pages, PKN technical committee KT 254 (Geotechnics), ICS 93.020; "Supersedes: PN-B-04452:1974 - Polish version". The PKN search for "PN-B-04452" (29 September 2026) shows three editions — 2002 ("Geotechnics — Field tests"), 1974 ("Building soils — Field tests") and 1964 ("Building soils — Test borings") — all labelled "Wycofana". The successor has also been withdrawn. The card of PN-EN 1997-2:2009 (Polish version, "Eurocode 7 — Geotechnical design — Part 2: Ground investigation and testing", 165 pages) has as the first row of its additional information "Aktualna w ocenie zgodności: 31-03-2028 - Patrz Komunikat Prezesa PKN" (current in conformity assessment until 31-03-2028 — see the Communication of the President of PKN), then "Date of withdrawal: 14-10-2025" and "Superseded by: PN-EN 1997-2:2025-10 - English version"; among the documents it supersedes it lists PN-B-04452:2002. The card of PN-EN 1997-2:2025-10 ("Eurocode 7 — Geotechnical design — Part 2: Ground properties", published 14-10-2025, 146 pages, introduces EN 1997-2:2024 [IDT]) has no date of withdrawal. We have not read the Communication of the President of PKN. No laboratory in our copy cites any edition of PN-EN 1997-2 or dynamic probing according to PN-EN ISO 22476-2.

HOW MANY LABORATORIES AND IN WHAT FORM (copy of the accreditation scope database, data up to 17 September 2026, read on 28 September 2026). All records of number 04452: 23 entries at 14 laboratories. Forms: "PN-B-04452:2002 p.6" / "p. 6" / "pkt 6" — 10 laboratories; "PN-B-04452:2002" without a clause — AB 421, AB 1750, AB 1789 and AB 1851 (at AB 1851 together with the "Technical conditions for the maintenance of the railway subgrade Id-3", annex 2 to order no. 9/2009 of the Management Board of PKP PLK S.A. of 4 May 2009). The "Laboratories" tab searches for records BEGINNING with "PN-B-04452" and will show all 14 — checked with the tab query on the labcoda.pl production server on 29 September 2026: 14. Current scopes on the PCA website (read on 29 September 2026, issues from 30 December 2024 to 18 August 2026): all entries stand in the valid issues, every pair of range numbers from the copy appears in the current document and no entry is suspended; the full records of the reference documents agree with the copy (PN-S-02205:1998, visible next to it in these scopes, belongs to neighbouring rows — the deformation modulus).

WHAT THEY DETERMINE AND WITH WHAT. The density index ID (also written "Id", "lD", "ld") — all 14 laboratories; AB 804 adds the "compaction index (Is)" calculated from the sounding results ("from calculations"). Technique: the light dynamic probe with a conical tip — in the scopes "light probe", "DPL", at AB 1893 "SD". Numerical ranges are given by two laboratories: AB 421 — ID (0.1 – 1.0), AB 1851 — ID (0.33 – 1.03). Object: soils and subgrade — most; structural layers of pavements, subgrade of structures, embankments and backfills of engineering structures — AB 442 and AB 1893; aggregates — AB 1110; track subgrade with the PKP PLK technical conditions — AB 1851.

ALONGSIDE THIS STANDARD. The scopes combine the density index by probing with no other standard. The compaction index IS of soils — a different quantity — is determined by laboratories according to BN-77/8931-12 (usually "p. 4") and PN-88/B-04481 (usually "p. 5.2.6"), and by AB 442, AB 1511 and AB 1789 according to in-house procedures. The degree of compaction of asphalt layers (in the scopes according to PN-EN 13108-20, usually Annex C.4 — 21 entries at 21 laboratories) is not counted here. PN-88/B-04481 (tests of soil samples) and PN-S-02205 (road earthworks, deformation modulus by the VSS plate) have separate entries in this knowledge base.

WHAT WE DO NOT GIVE. We did not have the text of the standard — PKN sells it (78 pages). We do not give the probe parameters (hammer mass, drop height, cone diameter), the way blows are counted, the relationship between the number of blows and the density index, the content of clause 6 or the requirements for the other field tests.

Method principle

According to the card, the standard gives requirements, technical data of the equipment and procedures for field tests, including sounding with the dynamic probe SD. In accreditation scopes laboratories use it only to determine the density index ID of soils and subgrade with the light dynamic probe with a conical tip (DPL), usually with clause 6. We DO NOT GIVE the probe parameters and conversion relationships — we did not have the text of the standard.

Applications

• Checking the compaction of subgrade, embankments and backfills in road and construction works — density index ID by the light dynamic probe (14 laboratories)
• Railway subgrade — AB 1851 together with the PKP PLK technical conditions Id-3

Key parameters

Standard

Standard number

PN-B-04452:2002 (wersja polska)

Title (PL)

Geotechnika — Badania polowe

Title (EN)

Geotechnics — Field tests

Step-by-step procedure

1. Status of the document

   PKN card: standard withdrawn on 31-03-2010, superseded by PN-EN 1997-2:2009; that one withdrawn on 14-10-2025 (current in conformity assessment until 31-03-2028) and superseded by PN-EN 1997-2:2025-10 (state of the cards on 29 September 2026).

2. Sounding

   Sounding of the soil or subgrade with the light dynamic probe with a conical tip; the course NOT GIVEN.

3. Result

   Density index ID (at AB 804 also the compaction index IS "from calculations"); conversion relationships NOT GIVEN.

Required equipment and apparatus

Health and safety (OHS)

• Sounding in excavations and on embankments — health and safety rules for earthworks; manual lifting of the hammer
• NOTE ON SUBSTANCE: the standard has been withdrawn since 2010 and no laboratory cites its successor — when accepting works, ask which standard the specification requires

Frequently asked questions