MKAJ Problematic Soils

Foundations on
problematic soils
MUHAMMAD AZRIL HEZMI
PROF. IR. RAMLI NAZIR
PROF. KHAIRUL ANUAR KASSIM

Pre Class Questions
What are the types of problematic soils?

How did problematic soils influence foundation
stability
Which areas in Malaysia can be identified as
problematic soils area?
When problematic soils becoming a major concern
in foundation engineering?
How we solve the foundation problems in
problematic soils?
Types of problematic soils
Expansive soils
Collapsible soils
Expansive Soils
Credit to Sally Blackner
Re-edited Muhammad Azril
What are Expansive Soils?
Vertisol Soils, or known as Shrink Swell Soils
The Soil contracts due to its clay minerals and the

structure of the clay allowing water to be imbedded
in-between the clay layers
Process is reversible, and causes contraction of the

soil
Expansive Soils in the U.S
Damage Done?
6 BILLION DOLLARS in the U.S alone

Mechanism of Expansive
soil
Expansive soils owe their characteristics to the presence of swelling clay
minerals. As they get wet, the clay minerals absorb water molecules and
expand; conversely, as they dry they shrink, leaving large voids in the soil.
Swelling clays can control the behavior of virtually any type of soil if the
percentage of clay is more than about 5 percent by weight. Soils with smectite
clay minerals, such as montmorillonite, exhibit the most profound swelling
properties.
Potentially expansive soils can typically be recognized in the lab by their

plastic properties. Inorganic clays of high plasticity, generally those with
liquid limits exceeding 50 percent and plasticity index over 30, usually have
high inherent swelling capacity. Expansion of soils can also be measured in the
lab directly, by immersing a remolded soil sample and measuring its volume
change.
In the field, expansive clay soils can be easily recognized in the dry season by
the deep cracks, in roughly polygonal patterns, in the ground surface (see Fig.
1). The zone of seasonal moisture content fluctuation can extend from three to
forty feet deep (see Fig. 2). This creates cyclic shrink/swell behavior in the
upper portion of the soil column, and cracks can extend to much greater
depths than imagined by most engineers.
Mechanism of Expanisive
clay
Constitutive modelling
Constitutive modelling
Constitutive Modelling
Barcelona Basic Model
What can be done?
Test soil before building

If expansion is greater then 10 %, it is critical
Remove soil
Mix soil with material that does not expand
Keep consistent soil moisture
Have strong foundations in buildings that can handle the
changes in volume.
Expansive soil
1. Expansive Soil Building Foundation Tips - Gutters

And Site Drainage
2. Effects of Expansive soil
3. Stabilizing soil using foundation

Collapsible soil
Collapsible soils are those that appear to be strong and stable in their natural (dry) state, but
which rapidly consolidate under wetting, generating large and often unexpected settlements.
This can yield disastrous consequences for structures unwittingly built on such deposits. Such
soils are often termed “collapsible” or “metastable” and the process of their collapsing is often
called any of “hydro-consolidation”, “hydrocompression”, or “hydro-collapse.”
Collapsible soil deposits share two main features: (i) they are loose, cemented deposits; and (ii)
they are naturally quite dry. Loess soils consist primarily of silt sized particles loosely arranged
in a cemented honeycombed structure (Fig. 3). The loose structure is held together by small
amounts of water softening or water soluble cementing agents such as clay minerals and CaCO3.
The introduction of water dissolves or softens the bonds between the silt particles and allows
them to take a denser packing under any type of compressive loading.
Since collapsible soil deposits are necessarily “loose”, they are generally created by deposition
mechanisms that yield loose deposits. For example, alluvial (water deposited) and colluvial
(gravity deposited) soils are usually deposited loosely and in a saturated state. As the water
eventually drains from these soils, the last amounts of moisture are drawn by capillarity to the
contact points between grains. As the water evaporates, minerals are left behind at the soil
contact points, cementing them together.
Testing & Identification
Tests are sometimes done to quantify the collapse potential of the soils. If lab tests are to
be performed, “undisturbed” samples must be obtained using Shelby tubes. Once
undisturbed samples are collected, two types of tests are generally performed: (a)
double oedometer tests; and (b) single odeometer tests. The oedometer, as you recall, is
the apparatus in which dry or wet stress-controlled confined compression or
consolidation tests are performed on soil specimens
Double Oedometer Test
In this test, two “identical” soil specimens are placed in oedometers and subjected
to confined compression tests. One of the specimens is tested at natural insitu water
content, which is generally quite low. The other specimen is fully saturated before
the test begins, and then subjected to an identical compression test. Two stress
versus strain curves will be generated, one for the “dry” soil and one for the
saturated soil. If the soil is strongly hydro collapsible, the stress-strain response for
the saturated curve will be significantly different than that of the dry soil (Figure 4).
For a given applied stress σ’n, the strain offset εw between the two curves is called
the hydro-collapse strain for that stress level. Generally, for the dry specimen, there
will be a critical stress σ’cr at which the loose structure breaks down and beyond
which the two curves converge.
Testing & Identification
b. Single Oedometer Test
As the name implies, the single oedometer test uses only a single soil
specimen. The procedure is as follows:
1) An undisturbed sample is placed in the oedometer at its natural (dry)

moisture content.
2) A small seating load is applied to the specimen.
3) The soil is gradually loaded to the anticipated field loading conditions.
4) At this stress level, the sample is then inundated with water and
allowed to saturate. The resulting hydro collapse is then observed.
5) Loading of the specimen is then continued with consolidation

permitted. The characteristic stress versus strain curve
Double & Single
Oedometer
The characteristic stress versus strain
curve generated from such a test is
sketched in Fig. 5. Clearly, the larger the
collapse strain εw observed, the more
collapsible the soil is considered to be.
Collapse strains on the order of 1% are
considered to be mild, while those on the
order of say 30% are considered to be very
severe.
Wetting Processes
The obvious problem with hydro collapsible soils is that they tend to have relatively
low natural in-situ water contents. When development occurs on such soil deposits,
the soil can be subjected to numerous sources of additional wetting that will lead to
an increase of its water content.
Among the common artificial sources of wetting associated with development are:
(a) irrigation of landscaping and/or crops; (b) leakage from unlined canals,
pipelines, swimming pools, storage tanks, etc; (c) septic systems; and (d) changes in
surface drainage of rainwater. Minor artificial wetting is often confined only to the
top few feet of soil.
Sustained, long term leaks can lead to soil wetting deep below the surface which in
extreme circumstances can be quite serious and lead to enormous settlements. As an
example, a study was published by an investigator named Curtin in 1973 which
involved large scale wetting collapse tests performed on collapsible soils located in
California’s San Joaquin Valley. After applying continuous wetting to a 75m deep
collapsible soil deposit for 484 days, the wetting front advanced to a depth of 45m
below the ground level. The resulting hydrocollapse settlement observed was 4.1m!
5.
Precautions
When dealing with collapsible soils that will be subject to

wetting depths of ≤ 2 meters, common measures are to:
i. pre-wet the soil;
ii. compact the soil using heavy rollers and heavy tamping.
iii. treat the soil with sodium silicate and/or calcium chloride
solutions to provide cementing that is not water soluble.
When dealing with collapsible soils subject to large wetting

depths, then deep foundations through the collapsible soils are
commonly used.
Sources
http://www.azgs.state.az.us/GEOHAZARDS/images/soils_
popcorn_.jpg
http://www.aegweb.org/images/Geologic%2520Hazards/ex
pansive_map.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.aegweb.org/
Geology: Chernicoff and Whitney
Geology and the Environment: Pipkin
http://geology.com/articles/soil/soil-cracks-large.jpg
http://www.centremapslive.co.uk/fck_files/Image/BGS_Geo
sure/shrink.jpg
http://www.aaa-inspect.com/Plastic%20Soil.JPG

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Foundations on

PROF. IR. RAMLI NAZIR

PROF. KHAIRUL ANUAR KASSIM

What are the types of problematic soils?

Vertisol Soils, or known as Shrink Swell Soils

The Soil contracts due to its clay minerals and the

Process is reversible, and causes contraction of the

6 BILLION DOLLARS in the U.S alone

Potentially expansive soils can typically be recognized in the lab by their

Test soil before building

1. Expansive Soil Building Foundation Tips - Gutters

2. Effects of Expansive soil

3. Stabilizing soil using foundation

Double Oedometer Test

b. Single Oedometer Test

1) An undisturbed sample is placed in the oedometer at its natural (dry)

2) A small seating load is applied to the specimen.

3) The soil is gradually loaded to the anticipated field loading conditions.

5) Loading of the specimen is then continued with consolidation

When dealing with collapsible soils that will be subject to

i. pre-wet the soil;

When dealing with collapsible soils subject to large wetting

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