UK Geohazard Note
May 2012
Ground shrinking and swelling
Differential subsidence due to down-slope side of
house moving on shrinkable soil. Image © Chris Page.
What is a shrink–swell?
Subsidence due to shrink-swell clays is ground
movement caused by clay soils that swell, and thus
increase in volume, when they get wet and shrink
when they get dry.
Why does shrink–swell occur?
Shrink–swell occurs as a result of changes in the
moisture content of clay-rich soils. This is reflected
in a change in volume of the ground through
shrinking or swelling. Swelling pressures can cause
heaving, or lifting, of structures whilst shrinkage can
cause differential settlement.
The amount by which the ground can shrink and/
or swell is determined by the water content in the
near–surface and the type of clay. Fine-grained
clay–rich soils can absorb large quantities of water
after rainfall, becoming sticky and heavy. Conversely,
they can also become very hard when dry, resulting
in shrinking and cracking of the ground. This
hardening and softening, with associated volume
change, is known as shrink-swell.
This can be a natural seasonal occurrence or one
enhanced by a range of factors, including:
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• normal seasonal movements associated with
changes in rainfall and vegetation growth
• enhanced seasonal movement associated with
the planting, severe pruning or removal of trees
or hedges
• changes to surface drainage and landscaping
(including paving)
• short–term unseasonal movements as a result of
leaks from water supply pipes or drains
• long–term subsidence, as a persistent water
deficit develops
• long–term heave as a persistent water deficit is
reversed by wetting.
What are the consequences of it occurring?
Damage to buildings may occur when the volume
change of the soil, due to shrinking or swelling, is
unevenly distributed beneath the foundations. For
Overview
• Shrinkage, also referred to as ground
shrinkage, is a form of subsidence
caused by the lowering or displacement
of the ground, which can be triggered
by man-made disturbances, a change in
drainage patterns, heavy rain or by water
abstraction. Swelling, or expansive, soils
increase in volume when they get wet and
can cause uplift, or heave.
• Shrink-swell can cause damage to buildings
and infrastructure and is a major concern
for the insurance industry.
• BGS maintains a National Geotechnical
Properties Database, which is continually
updated and the GeoSure ‘National Ground
Stability Data’, which provides geological
information about potential ground
movement or subsidence, including the
GeoSure shrink–swell dataset.
 UK Geohazard Note
May 2012

example, if there is a difference in water content in

the ground beneath a building, swelling pressures
can cause a wall to lift; often called heave. This can
happen at the corners or towards the centre of a
building.

UK Examples
In the UK, the effects of shrinking and
swelling were first recognised by geotechnical
specialists following the dry summer of 1947;
since then the cost of damage due to shrinking
and swelling clay soils has risen dramatically.
After the drought of 1975–76 insurance
claims came to over £50 million. In 1991, after
the preceding drought, claims peaked at over
£500 million.
Cracks in Gault Clay, Munday’s Hill Quarry, Leighton
Towns and cities built on clay-rich soils
Buzzard. Image © NERC.
most susceptible to shrink–swell behaviour
are found mainly in the south-east of the
country. Here, many of the ‘clay’ formations 2006). The Association of British Insurers has
(e.g. London Clay, Oxford Clay, Gault Clay, estimated that the average cost of shrink–swell
Kimmeridge Clay) are too young to have been related subsidence to the insurance industry stands
changed into stronger ‘mudstones’, leaving at over £400 million per year (Driscoll and Crilly,
them still able to absorb and lose moisture. 2000).
Clay rocks elsewhere in the country are older
and have been compacted and hardened by
deep burial and are less able to absorb water. Scientific detail
Some shrink-swell prone clays (e.g. around
Monitoring and measurement
The Wash and under the Lancashire Plain)
are deeply buried beneath other (superficial) The main factors chosen as relevant to the
soils that are not susceptible to shrink–swell determination of shrink–swell and the ability to
behaviour. However, some superficial deposits assess it on a national basis are:
such as alluvium, peat and laminated clays • Volume change potential (VCP) of bedrock and
can also be susceptible to soil subsidence and superficial deposits
heave (e.g. in the Vale of York and the Cheshire
Basin). • Thickness and type of superficial deposits
• Variation in till (superficial deposits laid down by
the direct action of glacial ice)

What is the cost to the UK economy?
Shrinking and swelling of the ground (often
reported as subsidence) is one of the most damaging
geohazards in the UK today costing the economy
an estimated £3 billion over the past 10 years (ABI,
The selection of those factors accord with the
assessment methodologies outlined by the Building
Research Establishment (BRE 1993).
A meaningful assessment of the shrink–swell
potential of the UK requires a considerable amount of

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 UK Geohazard Note
May 2012

high-quality, consistent and well distributed spatial
data. The BGS ‘National Geotechnical Properties
Database’ contains a large amount of index test
data. At the time of writing, the database contained
data from more than 80 000 boreholes, comprising
nearly 320 000 geotechnical samples, with 100 000
containing relevant plasticity data, which is used to
calculate the VCP.
recognised that future climate change is one of the
biggest problems that the UK faces and, if current
predictions are correct, we can expect hotter, drier
summers in the south-east of England and milder,
wetter winters, in the rest of the UK (Jones, 2004).

How is the hazard characterised?

GeoSure national datasets provide geological
information about potential ground movement or
subsidence that can help planning decisions.
The BGS has created a dataset which is based on the
properties of both the bedrock and the superficial
deposits. Bedrock comprises geological deposits
that are older then 2.6 million years, often found
at the surface as well as below superficial deposits.
Superficial deposits are unconsolidated geological
deposits younger than 2.6 million years. They are found
at the surface overlying bedrock deposits. Using the
properties of both the bedrock and superficial deposits
generates a map of shrink–swell susceptible areas with
a rating for the potential for volume change in soils. ‘Damage’ caused by shrinkage of London Clay
The classification system used in the BGS GeoSure deposits beneath a building. Image © Peter Kelsey
shrink–swell hazards maps is based upon that outlined and Partners.
by the BRE (1993), which provides a definition for the
volume change potential for fine-grained rocks and
soils, based upon a modified plasticity index. The change in the amount and distribution of
rainfall, as a result of climate change, will lead to
Other considerations when characterising a significant increase in the damage done by the
the hazard shrinking and swelling behaviour of these clay soils.

In addition to the shrink-swell properties of the
bedrock being classified, consideration is also given
to the thickness and variation of superficial deposits
including variations in the type of glacial till. All of
these factors have been considered when producing
the GeoSure shrink–swell hazard maps.
The Association of British Insurers predicts that
subsidence (downward movement of the ground
surface) claims will reach £600 million a year by
2050 and the AA, which monitors over 40 different
home insurers, is predicting that the average home
insurance premium will rise significantly in the
years ahead (Jones, 2004).

Scenarios for future events Partnerships and links

Indications are that future climate change will
have an increasingly adverse effect on shrink- • British Research Establishment (www.bre.co.uk)
swell soils and, therefore, on the damage caused to • National House-Building Council (www.nhbc.
homes, buildings and roads. The Government has co.uk)

www.bgs.ac.uk  enquiries@bgs.ac.uk
 UK Geohazard Note
May 2012

• Subsidence Forum (www.subsidenceforum.org.uk) 3. Driscoll, R and Crilly, M.  2000.   Subsidence

• Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors
(www.rics.org/uk)
References
1. Association of British Insurers.  2006.   NERC, UK.
Subsidence — Dealing with the problem
[online]. [Cited 3rd August, 2006]. Available
from http://www.abi.org.uk
2. BRE.  1993.   Low-rise buildings on shrinkable
clay soils: BRE Digest, Vols. 240, 241 and 242.
CRC, London.
damage to domestic buildings. Lessons learned
and questions asked. Building Research
Establishment, London.
4. Jones, L D.  2004.   Cracking open the property
market. Planet Earth, Autumn 2004, pp30–31.
5. Jones, L D, and Terrington R.  2011.   Modelling
volume change potential in the London Clay.
Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and
Hydrogeology, 44, 1–15.

Interpolated volume change potential, values for the London Clay.

Jones and Terrington, 2011.

Further information
Contact the BGS Shallow Geohazards team by:
Email – enquiries@bgs.ac.uk
Telephone – 0115 9363143

BGS GeoSure website: www.bgs.ac.uk/products/geosure/home.html

BGS shrink–swell website: www.bgs.ac.uk/science/landUseAndDevelopment/shallow_geohazards/
shrinking_and_swelling_clays.html

British Geological Survey © NERC 2012

www.bgs.ac.uk  enquiries@bgs.ac.uk