# Soil or Dirt



## snickerd3 (Dec 22, 2010)

reading a fact sheet for the public and they use both in the same sentence only a couple words apart.

...dug in the soil and the dirt will be...

so it is soil until it is out of the ground then it is dirt by this account?

its all dirt to me, unless you buy it from the store then its soil cuz it's in a fancy bag.


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## jase (Dec 22, 2010)

I've always thought the proper term was soil, but everyone says dirt.

Never heard of the in-ground/dug up distinction.


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## Supe (Dec 22, 2010)

It's dirt.

Moving dirt, pushing dirt, dirty clothes. Nobody in construction says we're moving soil, pushing soil, or have soiled clothes.


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## maryannette (Dec 22, 2010)

Are there dirt engineers?


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## jv21 (Dec 22, 2010)

Supe said:


> It's dirt.
> Moving dirt, pushing dirt, dirty clothes. Nobody in construction says we're moving soil, pushing soil, or have soiled clothes.



yes we do.... topsoil and sodding.

dirt is often used to describe sandy mixtures that are non-orgainic.

Soil on the otherhand tends to have organic materials. you do not want to use organic materials in fill / backfill

VERY DIFFERENT!!!!


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## MA_PE (Dec 22, 2010)

jv21 said:


> Supe said:
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> > It's dirt.
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So you only use dirt to backfill? I have never heard of dirt-structure interaction realated to buried structures. It is always soil-structure interaction.


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## FLBuff PE (Dec 22, 2010)

As a geotech/enviro engineer, I say soil. Whether it has organic material in it (generally we refer to this as "topsoil") or not.


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## jv21 (Dec 22, 2010)

MA_PE said:


> jv21 said:
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> > Supe said:
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we use clean non-orgainc fill


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## Capt Worley PE (Dec 22, 2010)

They'd never make a movie called Joe Soil.


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## FLBuff PE (Dec 22, 2010)

jv21 said:


> MA_PE said:
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> > jv21 said:
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aka soil


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## Dexman PE (Dec 22, 2010)

It depends...


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## jv21 (Dec 22, 2010)

FLBuff PE said:


> jv21 said:
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> > MA_PE said:
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No


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## MA_PE (Dec 22, 2010)

jv21 said:


> FLBuff PE said:
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Is it true when you say "No" you really mean "Yes"?

All the backfill specifications I have seen/reviewed and/or written reference standard "Soil Classifications" such as AASHTO,


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## jv21 (Dec 22, 2010)

MA_PE said:


> jv21 said:
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> > FLBuff PE said:
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no mean no... (huff!)

but true, we do say soil classification... bugger


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## jfkid (Dec 22, 2010)

It is soil. Stuff grows in soil, we build things on soil. Dirt is what you sweep off the shop floor or wash out of your jeans!

The word dirt comes from the Norse word "drit" which means to defecate. This was pounded into me in "Soils" class.


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## mrt406 (Dec 22, 2010)

Yeah, I'd say soil, too.......... unless you're talking about a lot of it. Then it's "earth".


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## Dleg (Dec 22, 2010)

Dirt is what gets on your hands when you're working with soil. Or so says the PhD NRCS Soils Scientist who taught me everything I know about dirt. I mean, soil.


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## Exengineer (Dec 22, 2010)

Soil is what you find in the ground. Dirt is what you find on politicians' hands.


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## St_Kentucky (Dec 22, 2010)

My dirt professor insisted that we say "soils"


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## PowermanX590 (Dec 22, 2010)

The main difference from what Ive found is that soil is dirt that contains organic material (dirt would just be minerals).

Though I have a conundrum:

If Soil is dirty, is Dirt Soily?

:dunno:


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## Ble_PE (Dec 22, 2010)

When I'm speaking as an engineer, it's soil. Any other time it's dirt.


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## RIP - VTEnviro (Dec 22, 2010)

I did some on-site soil testing today, according to the NRCS soil survey and state methods for soil examination. (I actually did) But when I left the site, my hands were dirty.


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## bigray76 (Dec 22, 2010)

Dirt... when talking to subcontractors or owners, it is more fun to call it 'dirt' repeatedly in a conversation to make a point than to call it soil...


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## envirotex (Dec 22, 2010)

soil or sediment, but not dirt


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## Dleg (Dec 22, 2010)

VTEnviro said:


> I did some on-site soil testing today, according to the NRCS soil survey and state methods for soil examination. (I actually did) But when I left the site, my hands were dirty.


VT gets the gold star for his homework assignment on the correct usage of dirt and soil!


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## PE-ness (Dec 23, 2010)

I think everyone is overlooking the fact that one can become soiled by things that are neither soil or dirt.


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## humner (Dec 23, 2010)

hmm, I have never told a contractor that when they were done with an absorption field that I wanted to see Top Dirt on the system.


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## maryannette (Dec 23, 2010)

PE-ness said:


> I think everyone is overlooking the fact that one can become soiled by things that are neither soil or dirt.



Yes, but one can be dirty AND soiled.


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## FLBuff PE (Dec 23, 2010)

mary :) said:


> PE-ness said:
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> > I think everyone is overlooking the fact that one can become soiled by things that are neither soil or dirt.
> ...


hmy: Mary, I'm shocked, shocked I say, to see this from you!


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## TouchDown (Dec 24, 2010)

My FIL has a phd in soil science and was a major contributor in the Universal Soil Loss Equation used to calculate sediment in runoff.

He says, "it's soil as long as it's where it belongs... once it's in a place it doesn't belong, it becomes dirt."

ie. if soil gets tracked into your house, it magically transforms into dirt, else, it's soil.


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## KevinA (Dec 24, 2010)

mary :) said:


> Are there dirt engineers?


I always refer to our geotech guys as the dirt gurus.


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## Badger (Dec 24, 2010)

Neat topic, or or is dirty:

Let see in road construction earth moving equipment moves dirt from cut areas to fill areas and then the soil is compacted.

If you build a road and do not rock it and leave a dirt subgrade it is generally a dirt road. Soil road just doesn't sound right

I would generally say soil is soil when it is in place, usually growing something, and it is dirt when you dig it out of the ground.

Then again soil is usually smaller particles, maybe some sand or gravel, but no cobles or boulders. Then again if you have rocky soil is it rocky dirt?

Earth, dirt, clay, loam, and, gravel, fill, overburden, mud, organic material, and muck, all seemed to be related to soil.

Anyway I still like to work or play in the dirt and mud and get dirty. Soiled sounds kind of silly.

Merry Christmas and have a dit load of fun.


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## mpm1732 (Dec 24, 2010)

SOILENT GREEN


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## wilheldp_PE (Dec 30, 2010)

mpm1732 said:


> SOILENT GREEN


People?


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## Guest (Dec 30, 2010)

I say soil .... except for when it is time to impress the ladies! :dancingnaughty:

JR


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## MA_PE (Dec 31, 2010)

jregieng said:


> I say soil .... except for when it is time to impress the ladies! :dancingnaughty:
> JR


do they talk dirty back at you?


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## Slugger926 (Dec 31, 2010)

I just saw this thread. After working with soil (and dirt) at a research lab for several summers in college, it is soil when it is useful and/or where you want it, and it is dirt when it is something you don't want.

It is dirt on your clothes and hands that you need to wash off, but soil that built that water structure or supporting that vegetation on the berm.


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## Supe (Jan 3, 2011)

MA_PE said:


> jregieng said:
> 
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> > I say soil .... except for when it is time to impress the ladies! :dancingnaughty:
> ...



They sure don't talk soily to him.


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## StaciaZ (Jan 4, 2011)

I work for a geotechnical engineering firm.

My boss once asked, "Who tracked all of this soil in here?"

And our accountant replied, "It might be soil out there, but when it ends up on our carpet, it's called dirt."


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