Soil Properties and Behaviour Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Drained Land in the Midwest

95B—Southern Wisconsin and Northern Illinois Drift Plain 98—Southern Michigan and Northern Indiana Drift Plain 105—Northern Mississippi Valley Loess Hills 108A and 108B—Illinois and Iowa Deep Loess and Drift 110—Northern Illinois and Indiana Heavy Till Plain 113—Central Claypan Areas 114B—Southern Illinois and Indiana Thin Loess and Till Plain, Western Part 115A, 115B, and 115C—Central Mississippi Valley Wooded Slopes 120B—Kentucky and Indiana Sandstone and Shale Hills and Valleys, Northwestern Part 131A—Southern Mississippi River Alluvium 134—Southern Mississippi Valley Loess

Typical cross section showing the relationship of parent materials to soils in Cass County.

Hickory Silt Loam This well and moderately-well drained "timber soil" formed in less than 20 inches of loess over Illinoian drift. It occupies 1.3 million acres in the state. It has a PI of 80.

Typical cross section showing the relationship of parent materials to soils in Cass County.

Sable-Ipava Soil Association Results are displayed in new browser window.

Sable Silty Clay Loam This poorly drained "prairie soil" formed in more than 60 inches of loess. There are about 925,000 acres mapped in Illinois. It has a PI of 155.

Typical pattern of soils and parent material in the Drummer-Flanagan association.

Drummer Silty Clay Loam This poorly drained "prairie soil" formed in 40 to 60 inches of loess over Wisconsinan drift. It occupies nearly 1.6 million acres. It has a high management level productivity index (PI) of 150.

Typical pattern of soils and parent material in the Hoyleton-Cisne association.

Cisne Silt Loam This poorly drained "gray prairie soil" formed in 30 to 55 inches of loess over Illinoian drift. About 730,000 acres occur in south central Illinois. It has a PI of 115.

Typical pattern of soils and parent material in the Titus-Beaucoup-Tice association.

Soil Constituents Solid Particles Soil Solution Air

Saturated (all pores filled) (Some air, some water) Field Capacity Wilting point (water too tightly held for plant use)

Water adheres to soil particles Water held in large pores Hydroscopic Water Capillary Water Gravitational Water Water adheres to soil particles Water held in large pores Available for crop use Water drains through soil profile Wilting Point Field Capacity

Flowing Tile Positive Pressure i.e. Saturation must occur above tile drains for water to enter.

Degree of Saturation (S) Volume of water Volume of pores Vw Vp 20

Classification of Particles

Simplified Soil Texture Triangle Soils with more than 30% clay are Clays Soils with 20 - 30% clay are Clay Loams Soils with less than 20% clay are Loams unless they have more than 80% sand Soils with more than 80% sand are Sands Soils with more than 50% sand are Sandy Soils with more than 50% silt are Silty

Water States by Soil Texture

Classification by Permeability 1 Rapidly permeable More than 6 inches per hour Moderately rapidly permeable 2 to 6 inches per hour 2 Moderately permeable 0.6 to 2 inches per hour 3 Moderately slowly permeable 0.2 to 0.6 inch per hour 4 Slowly permeable 0.06 to 0.2 inch per hour Very slowly permeable less than 0.06 inch per hour

Classification by Natural Drainage Poorly drained The water table is at or near the surface during the wetter seasons of the year Very poorly drained The water table remains near, at, or above the surface much of the time B Somewhat poorly drained The water table is near the surface only during the very wettest periods

Soil Drainage Groups 2 Cisne 84 Okaw 165 Weir 287 Chauncey 12 Wynoose DRAINAGE GROUP 4A (slowly and very slowly permeable, poorly or very poorly drained) 2 Cisne 84 Okaw 165 Weir 287 Chauncey 12 Wynoose 109 Racoon 206 Thorp 460 Ginat 16 Rushville 112 Cowden 208 Sexton 474 Piasa 26 Wagner 120 Huey 218 Newberry 576 Zwingle 45 Denny 136 Brooklyn 261 Niota 633 Traer DRAINAGE GROUP 2A (moderately permeable, poorly or very poorly drained) 67 Harpster 142 Patton 244 Hartsburg 594 Reddick 68 Sable 152 Drummer 252 Harvel 648 Clyde 125 Selma 153 Pella 329 Will 316 Romeo

Effect of Drain Spacing

Illinois Drainage Guide (Online) Revised 2005 Web based “document” “Living document” Interactive design tools Printable tables and design guides www.wq.uiuc.edu/dg/

Content Circular 1226 content – Reviewed and revised Drainage Guidelines Outlets for Drainage Systems Surface Drainage Subsurface Drainage Basic Terminology

Navigation (aka reading the book) Organized in sections (chapters) Sections are listed on the left hand side of the screen. Linked to the pages of content.

Navigation (aka reading the book) Section (Chapter) Title Links to Utilities and Tables Boxed text Additional Bookmarks Indented text

Using the tools May get a dialog box asking “Do you want to run or save this file. Also may get a “Unknown publisher” dialog box

Using the tools Select the proper data entry box using the mouse or the tab key. Some utilities allow mouse control to move through the tables or graphs.

The Guide includes an option for county specific simulation of drainage system performance for different soil types. This requires DRAINMOD calibration in different locations and on varying soil types.