Soil Properties

Clay

Clays are generally composed of micro-crystalline particles of a group minerals. It is

structured at an atomic, molecular and macro level, and it structures interact to product the
variations in observed behaviour. Specific definition of clay is not available because of
science clay has been the interest of people from different background[1]. Clay also can be
define as a naturally occurring material primarily composed of fine-grained minerals, show
plasticity when it mixed with appropriate amount of moisture and become hard when dried or
fired[1].

Other than that, clay soils are a soil with higher percentage of clay minerals like
montmorillonite, expandable illite and vermiculite, are susceptible to swelling and
shrinkage[1]. One of the cause of the damages to the roadways and other civil infrastructures.
The good subgrade can be overriding factor in pavement performances. A subgrade
performance depends on load bearing capacity and volume changes. The load bearing
capacity is affected by degree of compaction, moisture content and also soil type. From the
case study, edge drainage crack is one of the pavement failures that affected by soil types,
clay soil.

Shear Strength

Shear strength is very important property of soils. It is because shear strength of soil can be
regarded as its intrinsic capacity to resists failure when forces act on the soil mass. The
strength of soil provides safety for geotechnical structures. Clay soil have a low shear
strength and can easily make spin slide[2].

Void and Porosity

Soil clay has a small void and porosity. Because of this properties, it has high detention of
water[2]. Because of the size of void is small, it does not allow water from escape from pores
and creates excess water pressure.

Hydraulic Conduction

It is a property that expresses how water flows in the soil. The hydraulic conductivity of clay
soil affect the ionic concentration and thickness of water layers held to the clay particles.
Clay has very low hydraulic conductivity and it affect the shear strength of clay soils. But,
when the soils start to crack, the water will fill the crack and slide slope will occur[2].

Swelling-shrinkage and Plasticity

Clay will show the plasticity when mixed with moisture. Shrinkage behaviour in clay soils is
reducing the strength in a slope and also a foundation bearing capacity[3]. This part of
component is very importance in pavement performances. Swelling in clay can be seen due to
rising water and it very harmful to road coverings like pavement[3]. The material will
damage and it cause edge cracking drop as a pavement failure. Clay soils also usually shrinks
and expand and it will be able to create slide and crack to the soil properties[2].

[1] A. A. Firoozi, A. A. Firoozi, and M. S. Baghini, "A Review of Clayley Soils," Asian Journal
of Applied Sciences, vol. 4, no. 6, p. 1319, 2016.
[2] A. H. M. Nor, M. I. H. M. Masirin, and M. E. Sanik, "Site Investigation Of Road Drains For
Rural Road On Batu Pahat Soft Clay (BPSC)," IOSR Journal of Mechanical and Civil
Engineering (IOSR-JMCE), vol. 11, no. 2, p. 12, 2014.
[3] N. Ural, "The Importance of Clay in Geotechnical Engineering," IntechOpen, 2018.