Huang, M., Rodger, H. and Barbour, S. L. 2015. An evaluation of air permeability measurements to characterize the saturated hydraulic conductivity of soil reclamation covers. Can. J. Soil Sci. 95: 15–26. The saturated hydraulic conductivity (K_s) of soil covers used in land reclamation is known to change over time as the result of weathering processes. Guelph permeameter (GP) measurements have been used to track the evolution of K_s for soil covers at an oil sands mine near Ft. McMurray, Alberta. Although successful, the method was time consuming and consequently a rapid method of estimating K_s based on in situ air permeability measurements was developed. The objectives of this study were: (1) to use air permeability measurements to characterize the spatial variations of K_s for typical reclamation soils and (2) to compare air permeability measurements to direct measurements obtained through laboratory and GP measurements. The results highlight that the values of K_s estimated from measured air permeability values were higher than the values of K_s measured directly using the GP. This is likely due to swelling of clay soils or air-entrapment during GP measurements. Although the magnitude was over-estimated, the variability of K_s was captured by the air permeability measurements. Consequently, a limited program of comparative GP and air permeameter measurements could be used to more rapidly characterize the K_s of reclamation covers over time.