Submerged soil or soil from which water is freely oozing is generally classified as saturated or waterlogged soil, and in geotechnical safety practice it is usually treated as a Type C (least stable) soil.

What the phrase describes

  • “Submerged soil” means soil whose voids are completely filled with water, either because it is below the groundwater table or under standing water.
  • “Soil from which water is freely oozing” describes soil that is so saturated that water seeps out under slight disturbance or loading, a classic sign of full saturation and very low shear strength.

In excavation and construction safety standards, such conditions indicate that the soil has lost much of its natural cohesion and effective stress, so it cannot stand in steep vertical cuts and is highly prone to sloughing or cave‑ins.

Typical classification in practice

In many regulatory and textbook systems:

  • Saturated, soft, or freely seeping soils are not allowed to be classified as stable “Type A” or “Type B” soils, even if they appear cohesive when undisturbed.
  • Instead, they are grouped with the weakest category (commonly called Type C), which includes:
    • Submerged soils
    • Soil in which water is freely seeping
    • Flowing or previously disturbed saturated soils

This reflects the very low short‑term strength and the need for maximum protective measures (shoring, benching at very flat slopes, or shielding).

Why saturation matters

  • Water filling the pores reduces effective stress, which directly reduces shear strength and bearing capacity.
  • In highly saturated fine soils, disturbance can create a semi‑fluid or “quick” condition, where the soil behaves more like a viscous slurry than a solid mass.
  • For safety and design, engineers assume such soils can fail suddenly without much warning, especially in cuts and excavations.

Because of these behaviors, codes err on the side of caution and classify submerged or freely oozing soil as the weakest stability class (Type C) for field work and excavation support.

TL;DR: The phrase “submerged soil or soil from which water is freely oozing” refers to fully saturated, waterlogged ground that is treated as the lowest‑stability soil category (Type C) in excavation and safety practice due to its very poor strength and high risk of collapse.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.