Certain concepts and principles concerning physical, stress-strain, and strength responses of granular soils are treated and their implications with regard to field performances are discussed. Performance ratings for granular soil responses that have practical uses in soil investigations for engineering works are presented: soil character, relative compactness, permeability, consolidation, and triaxial shear. Soils in natural deposits are preconditioned and prestressed by prevailing environmental influences. New conditions imposed by construction methods, structures, and service uses cause important changes in the influences of the environment and hence cause inevitable changes in field performances. The environmental approach in soil investigations permits reliable evaluations of the influences of environmental and structure conditions, which can be taken into account in design and construction of structures and earthworks.