PROJECT PROPOSAL

TO STUDY EXPANSIVE BEHAVIOR OF D. I. KHAN SOIL AND

ITS TREATMENT

Submitted by:
1. Muhammad Shoaib (Reg. No 13BNCIV0581)
2. Muhammad Adnan (Reg. No 13BNCIV0582)
3. Noman khan (Reg. No 13BNCIV0600)

Supervised by:
Engr. Mahmood Ahmad

Department of Civil Engineering UET Peshawar (Bannu Campus)

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Contents
1.0 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................................3
2.0 Problem Statement .........................................................................................................................................3
3.0 Literature Review...........................................................................................................................................4
4.0 Project objective and approach ......................................................................................................................5
5.0 Usefulness of Project .....................................................................................................................................5
6.0 Composition & Properties of Expansive Soil ................................................................................................5
7.0 Methodology ..................................................................................................................................................6
8.0 Work Plan ......................................................................................................................................................6

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1.0 Introduction

Expansive soil, also called shrink-swell soil, is a very common cause of foundation problems.
Depending upon the supply of moisture in the ground, shrink-swell soils will experience changes in
volume of up to thirty percent or more. Foundation soils which are expansive will “heave” and can
cause lifting of a building or other structure during periods of high moisture. Conversely during
periods of falling soil moisture, expansive soil will “collapse” and can result in building settlement.
Either way, damage can be extensive.

Expansive soil will also exert pressure on the vertical face of a foundation, basement or retaining
wall resulting in lateral movement. Shrink-swell soils which have expanded due to high ground
moisture experience a loss of soil strength or “capacity” and the resulting instability can result in
various forms of foundation problems and slope failure. Expansive soil should always be a suspect
when there is evidence of active foundation movement.

In order for expansive soil to cause foundation problems, there must be fluctuations in the amount
of moisture contained in the foundation soils. If the moisture content of the foundation soils can be
stabilized, foundation problems can often be avoided.

2.0 Problem Statement

Expansive soils are present throughout the world and are known in every US state. Every year they
cause billions of dollars in damage. The American Society of Civil Engineers estimates that 1/4 of
all homes in the United States have some damage caused by expansive soils. In a typical year in the
United States they cause a greater financial loss to property owners than earthquakes, floods,
hurricanes and tornadoes combined.
Even though expansive soils cause enormous amounts of damage most people have never heard of
them. This is because their damage is done slowly and cannot be attributed to a specific event. The
damage done by expansive soils is then attributed to poor construction practices or a misconception
that all buildings experience this type of damage as they age.
Like other parts of world, Dera Ismail Khan has a hot desert climate with hot summers and mild
winters. Due to the extreme climatic conditions, the expansive behavior of its soil is causing great
problems. Huge amount is spent on repairing the damage caused by expansive soils to the roads and
buildings.

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Figure 1: Photograph of expansive soils under very dry conditions. Severe soil shrinkage has
resulted in desiccation cracks.

3.0 Literature Review

The expansive soil in Malwa region, Madhya Pradesh, India especially possess a problem to many
Structures and National Highways constructed which is caused due to presence of mineral
Montmorillionite. The authors presented the case study about the Performance, Problems, and
Remedial measures for the Structures Constructed on expansive Soil. The swelling characteristics of
expansive soil and its effects on the structures are being revealed.
The effect of adding Gypsum, Crude oil and Laying CNS (Cohesive Non-swelling) layer on
expansive soil is studied. In areas with very less probability of seismic activities, vibratory ground
improvement can reduce the potential for liquefaction and ground deformation due to lateral
spreading. Various tests are performed on the expansive soil to determine its Swelling Pressure test,
Triaxial Compression Test, Optimum Moisture Content, Conducting Field Density, Liquid Limit,
Plastic Limit, Shrinkage Limit, Specific Gravity etc. The experimental results seeks to explore and
explain the phenomena causing swelling and the attendant damage based on a local setting, and on
the basis of this study various multiple remedial measures are given to overcome the swelling of
expansive soils by different means and it is found that swelling pressure decreases with increase in
bearing capacity of soil by addition of Gypsum. Authors provided an overview of these features and
include methods to investigate expansive behavior both in the field and in the laboratory together
with associated empirical and analytical tools to evaluate expansive behavior.
Following these remedial measures for pre and post constructions are highlighted for both
foundations and pavements together with methods to ameliorate potentially damaging expansive
behavior. The differences of effects of vertical load, water content and dry density on ultimate and
residual shear stress indicate the differences of beginning and development of the both shear
stresses. The problems associated with expansive soil are related to bearing capacity and cracking,
breaking up of pavements, and various other building foundation problems. Such soils are common
in Australia, India and South Africa.
The effect of gypsum and addition of dune sand on swelling pressure is studied and it is found that
swelling pressure decreases with addition of dune sand and gypsum. Addition of gypsum will reduce

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the swelling pressure. Limit the foundation depth if swelling soil is at some depth so that distance
between foundation and swelling soil will be more and as the distance is more there are less chances
of cracks in building. Take effective measures to maintain moisture equilibrium in foundation soil.
Add dune sand in the existing swelling soil. Swelling pressure increases with increase in dry density
and decreases with increase in molding water content. Swelling pressure also decreases due to
addition of gypsum and dune sand. Various remedial measures are presented in the paper to
overcome the problem of swelling pressure. Stabilization is the process of improving the properties
of soil by changing its gradation. Two or more types of natural soils are mixed to obtain a composite
material which is of superior to any of its components. To achieve the desired grading, sometimes
the soils with coarse particles are added or the soils with finer particles are removed. The blended
soil possesses both internal friction and cohesion. When properly placed and compacted, the blended
material becomes stable and also load carrying capacity is increased. The test results of liquid limit
and plastic limit for three soils. From these figures for all the soils it is observed that as percentage of
fly ash increases there is marginal reduction in liquid limit and almost no change in the plastic limit.
Whereas with addition of lime to the three expansive soils showed marked decrement in liquid limit
and reasonable increasing plastic limit, overall addition of lime showing good reduction in plasticity
index of soils. This is of very desirable property of expansive soils to be used as a subgrade in road
construction. There is a good improvement in unconfined compression strength of clay at about 4%
addition of lime to three expansive soils after 4% of lime addition to the soils caused reduced values
of strength. From the above discussions a few conclusions are drawn.
• Addition of lime and fly ash shown good decrement in plasticity index of soils.
• Addition of lime of 4% as shown good improvement in strength and it is about 40% to 60%.
• The swell pressure of lime treated expansive soils has reduced about four time at about 10%
addition of lime.

4.0 Project objective and approach

This project would try to cover the expansive behavior of D. I. Khan soil and whether it can be
reclaimed using marble dust or not.

5.0 Usefulness of Project

The success of this project would not only increase the structure life but also help in saving precious
lives if cause for complete failure of structure is the expansive behavior of soil. Moreover it would
save a major financial loss used in its repair.

6.0 Composition & Properties of Expansive Soil

Expansive soils consist of plastic clays and clay shales that often contain colloidal clay minerals
such as the montmorillonites. They include marls, clayey siltstone and sandstone, and saprolites.
Some of these soils, especially dry residual clayey soil, may heave under low applied pressure but
collapse under higher pressure. Other soils may collapse initially but heave later on. Estimates of the
potential heave of these soils are necessary for consideration in the foundation design.

Degrees of expansive potential may be indicated as follows:

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 Degree of Liquid Plasticity Natural Soil
Expansion Limit,% Index, % Suction, tsf
High > 60 > 35 > 4.0
Marginal 50-60 25-35 1.5-4.0
Low < 50 < 25 < 1.5

Soils with Liquid Limit (LL) < 35 and Plasticity Index (PI) < 12 have no potential for swell and
need not be tested.

7.0 Methodology
Expansion nature of the soil is determined in too many ways throughout the world. One can easily
define the expansive nature of soil visually by the polygonal cracks on its surface but laboratory
determination of the expansive characteristics of clay soils is usually carried out on saturated soil
using in Atterberg’s limits i.e., liquid limit, plastic limit and shrinkage limit which are very helpful in
determining the expansive behavior of soil. To Many scientists like Chen, Seed etc. have worked on
it and gave their ranges for expansive soil with respect to liquid limit, plastic limit, plasticity index
etc.

The swelling characteristics of expansive soils can also be determined conveniently by CBR test,
which gives expansion potential of soil and hence expansive nature of soil is determined.

Also, another technique which is used in determination of expansive soil is swell index test. It gives
the expansion potential of soil in different ranges of expansion. This techniques are used only to
identify the expansive nature of soil.

8.0 Work Plan

An investigative approach would be adopted to study the expansive behavior of soil. The following
tests would be conducted to achieve results,
i. Atterberg’s Limits
ii. Swell Index Test
iii. California Bearing Ratio (CBR)

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References:

[1] http://ir.uz.ac.zw/bitstream/handle/10646/1123/03Mawire.pdf;jsessionid=F20B420015

[2] http://ijiet.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/34.pdf

[3] http://geology.com/geologichazards

[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expansive_clay
[5] http://geology.com/articles/expansive-soil.shtml
[6] https://www.google.com.pk/search?q=expansive+soil&espv=2&biw=1366&bih=653
&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAWoVChMlybn1xJn7xglVBGsUCh1yCQH-
#imgrc=Au4HFG3PYHwJSM%3A
[7]
https://www.google.com.pk/search?q=expansive+soil&espv=2&biw=1366&bih=653&sourc
e=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAWoVChMlybnlxJn7xglVBGsUCh1yCQH-
#imgrc=j97NK2mPxJnu4M%3A