EFFECT OF DESICCATION ON COMPACTED NATURAL CLAYS

By Brian A. Albrecht1 and Craig H. Benson,2 Member, ASCE

ABSTRACT: Specimens prepared from eight natural clayey soils used for clay liners and covers were subjected
to cycles of wetting and drying. Volumetric shrinkage strains were recorded during drying. Specimens in which
cracks formed during drying were subjected to hydraulic conductivity testing. Results of the study indicate that
volumetric shrinkage strains are influenced by soil properties and compaction conditions. Volumetric shrinkage
strain increased with increasing plasticity index and clay content, and as the compaction water content increased
or decreased relative to optimum water content. Volumetric shrinkage strain decreased with increasing compac-
tive effort. Specimens with the largest volumetric shrinkage strains typically contained the largest number of
cracks. Hydraulic conductivity testing indicated that cracking of the specimens resulted in an increase in hy-
draulic conductivity, sometimes as large as three orders of magnitude.

INTRODUCTION
The close proximity of landfill covers to the atmosphere
makes cover systems employing an unprotected compacted
clay layer prone to damage from desiccation (Daniel and Wu
1993). Khire et al. (1997) have shown that compacted clay
barriers in earthen covers undergo seasonal changes in water
content, even at significant depth, due to seasonal variations
in precipitation and evapotranspiration. Field studies have also
shown that desiccation can induce severe cracking of unpro-
tected clay barriers (Montgomery and Parsons 1990; Corser
and Cranston 1991; Benson 1997; Benson and Khire 1997;
Khire et al. 1997). Compacted soil liner systems may also
suffer damage from desiccation if they are left exposed prior
to placement of a geomembrane, and if the geomembrane is
not maintained in intimate contact with the clay via surcharge
(Corser and Cranston 1991; Basnett and Bruner 1993).
The focus of this study was to determine how factors such
as number of drying cycles, compaction conditions, and soil
composition and mineralogy affect shrinkage and cracking of
compacted clayey soils subjected to desiccation. Previous in-
vestigations have studied how these factors affect mixtures of
clay and sands, but there is a lack of data covering a wide
range of naturally occurring soils that are used for liner or
cover construction. Also, in this study, tests were performed
on specimens that cracked when dried to determine how crack-
ing affected the hydraulic conductivity. Some specimens were
subjected to an extended period of hydration and varying ef-
fective stress to determine if cracks induced by shrinkage can
be healed over time or with application of overburden pres-
sure.
BACKGROUND
DeJong and Warkentin (1965) conducted shrinkage tests on
mixtures of glass beads and Leda clay, with clay contents var-
ying between 0% and 100%. They observed minor or no
shrinkage of specimens containing <33% clay. Shrinkage was
observed to increase nearly linearly with increasing clay con-
tent.
Similar results were observed by Kleppe and Olson (1985).
Shrinkage tests were conducted on mixtures of highly plastic
1 decreased more gradually as the effective stress was raised
Grad. Res. Asst., Dept. of Civ. and Envir. Engrg., Univ. of Wisconsin,
Madison, WI 53706. E-mail: baalbrec@students.wisc.edu
2
Prof., Dept. of Civ. and Envir. Engrg., Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison,
WI. E-mail: benson@engr.wisc.edu
Note. Discussion open until June 1, 2001. To extend the closing date
one month, a written request must be filed with the ASCE Manager of
Journals. The manuscript for this paper was submitted for review and
possible publication on July 28, 1997. This paper is part of the Journal
of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, Vol. 127, No. 1,
January, 2001. 䉷ASCE, ISSN 1090-0241/01/0001-0067–0075/$8.00 ⫹
$.50 per page. Paper No. 16291.
JOURNAL OF GEOTECHNICAL AND GEOENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING / JANUARY 2001 / 67
clay and sand, with clay contents ranging from 12% to 100%.
Cylindrical specimens were used to determine shrinkage of the
sand-clay mixtures on a percentage basis. The severity of
cracking for each mixture was determined by preparing flat
plates of the sand-clay mixtures, and rating the size and num-
ber of cracks on a 0 to 4 point scale (4 being the most severely
cracked). Kleppe and Olson (1985) observed that shrinkage
strain increased with increasing clay content and with increas-
ing compaction water content, but was independent of com-
pactive effort. Several specimens were soaked after compac-
tion and prior to drying. Shrinkage strains for these specimens
increased relative to the strains for specimens dried immedi-
ately after compaction, and shrinkage strain became nearly in-
dependent of compaction water content. Results of the plate
tests indicated that the severity of cracking increases with in-
creasing clay content, and increases if the soil is soaked prior
to drying. Comparison of cracking severity and shrinkage
strain for each mixture showed that shrinkage strains >5% may
produce cracks in compacted soils, and shrinkage strains >10%
are likely to produce severe cracking.
Daniel and Wu (1993) conducted shrinkage tests when de-
veloping an acceptable zone for compaction following meth-
ods described by Daniel and Benson (1990). Specimens of
highly plastic clay were prepared at compaction water contents
between 10% and 20%, using three compactive efforts. Their
results indicate that shrinkage increases with increasing com-
paction water content, but the relationship between compactive
effort and shrinkage strain is less clear. At low compaction
water contents, shrinkage decreased with increasing compac-
tive effort. No clear trend was apparent at higher water con-
tents.
Boynton and Daniel (1985) performed hydraulic conductiv-
ity tests on desiccated clay. Specimens were trimmed from
plates of compacted soil prepared at three water contents, and
placed in flexible-wall permeameters for testing. A specimen
that had not been desiccated was also tested. At low effective
stresses the hydraulic conductivity of the desiccated specimens
was typically one-half to one order of magnitude greater than
the hydraulic conductivity of the undesiccated specimen. The
hydraulic conductivity of the desiccated specimens decreased
rapidly with increasing effective stress (up to 56 kPa), presum-
ably due to the closure of cracks. The hydraulic conductivity
beyond 56 kPa. At the highest effective stress, the hydraulic
conductivity of each desiccated specimen was still greater than
the hydraulic conductivity of the undesiccated specimen.
Sims et al. (1996) obtained similar results from tests on
specimens collected in thin-walled sampling tubes from a des-
iccated natural deposit of clay. They also reported that the
hydraulic conductivity decreased rapidly with increasing ef-
fective stress up to 120 kPa, and attributed the reduction in
hydraulic conductivity to closure of cracks.
 Benson et al. (1993) performed hydraulic conductivity tests
on two low-plasticity clays (Live Oak and Wenatchee clays)
subjected to four cycles of wetting and drying. Specimens of
each soil were prepared at 3% dry of optimum water content,
optimum water content, and 3% wet of optimum water con-
tent. Specimens of Wenatchee clay compacted dry of optimum
and at optimum water content showed no increase in hydraulic
conductivity when desiccated, but the hydraulic conductivity
of the specimen prepared wet of optimum water content in-
creased by a factor of three. For the Live Oak clay, the hy-
draulic conductivity of all specimens increased one order of
magnitude within the first two wet-dry cycles, but ceased in-
creasing thereafter.
Phifer et al. (1994) and Phifer et al. (1995) conducted tests
on processed kaolinite and a natural kaolinitic soil to assess
how desiccation affected hydraulic conductivity. Desiccation
caused the specimens to shrink significantly (volumetric
shrinkage strains ⬃20%) and the dry unit weight to increase.
However, no cracks formed, and decreases in hydraulic con-
ductivity were observed. Subsequently, Phifer et al. (1995)
conducted laboratory-scale lysimeter tests to determine if sim-
ilar behavior would be observed at larger scales (Drumm et
al. 1997). Results of the lysimeter tests showed that the soil
cracked when desiccated, and that the bulk hydraulic conduc-
tivity (i.e., crack and matrix flow) increased as much as two
orders of magnitude.
Day (1997) performed hydraulic conductivity tests on a
specimen prepared from a mixture of montmorillonite and
sand, and a specimen of highly plastic clay from a natural
deposit. Both specimens were subjected to five cycles of wet-
ting and drying. At the end of one day of permeation, the
hydraulic conductivity of each specimen was observed to be
essentially the same as its initial hydraulic conductivity.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Eight soils were selected for use in this study. Each soil had
been used for construction of liners and covers, and all of the
soils are from naturally occurring deposits located in the
United States. All soils classified as either low plasticity clay
(CL) or high plasticity clay (CH) using the Unified Soil Clas-
sification System.
The plasticity index (PI) of the soils ranged between 11 and
46 (Table 1). The clay content (ⱕ2 ␮m) of the soils ranged
between 12% and 53% and the percentage of fines ranged
from 43% to 94%. X-ray diffraction was used to determine
the mineralogy of the soils (Table 1). X-ray diffraction can
determine the percentage of a mineral in a soil sample within
a range of ⫾2% (Moore and Reynolds 1989).
Compaction Procedures
Soil used for compaction was air dried and crushed with a
rock hammer until it passed a U.S. No. 4 sieve. The soils were
wetted with tap water using a spray bottle, and stirred with a
trowel during hydration to ensure an even distribution of wa-
ter. Afterward the soils were sealed in plastic bags and allowed
to hydrate for at least 24 h prior to compaction.
Specimens of each soil were prepared with one or more of
three compactive efforts: standard and modified Proctor effort
(ASTM D 698 and D 1557, respectively) and reduced Proctor
effort. The latter is the same as standard Proctor effort, except
15 blows/layer are used (Daniel and Benson 1990). After com-

TABLE 1. Properties of Soils Used in Study

SOIL
Houston Sauk Green New
Red County Denver Lakes Wilsonville Detroit Lodgement Orleans
Depositional Marine Marine Glacial- Beach
environment sediment Residual soil sediment Glacial till Alluvial lacustrine Glacial deposit
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9)
(a) Classification
USCS classification CH CH CL CL CL CL CL CL
Liquid limit 67 67 49 35 24 27 18 29
Plasticity index 46 32 26 19 11 15 11 16
Percent sand and gravel 6 47 6 11 38 24 57 48
Percent fines (<0.075 mm) 94 53 94 89 62 76 43 52
Percent clay (2 ␮m) 53 40 40 41 20 28 12 16
(b) Mineralogy (%)
Quartz 24 24 32 33 33 24 46 73
P feldspar 2 0 4 3 3 2 4 1
K feldspar 1 Trace 2 2 6 1 3 Trace
Calcite 12 0 2 8 10 17 12 0
Kaolinite Trace 0 4 3 7 10 13 Trace
Chlorite 3 4 4 5 2 8 3 2
Illite 8 3 4 22 14 27 4 Trace
Smectite 0 0 43 0 0 0 0 0
Mixed layer illite/smectite
(percent illite) 44 (10–20) 43 (20–30) 0 18 (70–80) 23 (50–60) 9 (70–90) 13 (60–70) 22 (20–40)
(c) Compaction
␥d max (kN/m3)
Reduced Proctor 15.5 14.8 NA NA NA NA NA NA
Standard Proctor 16.2 15.5 17.6 17.4 20.4 19.1 20.6 19.0
Modified Proctor 17.5 17.7 NA NA NA NA 21.8 NA
Wopt (%)
Reduced Proctor 21 24 NA NA NA NA NA NA
Standard Proctor 19 21 18 17 10 13.5 9 12
Modified Proctor 16 16 NA NA NA NA 7.3 NA
Note: NA = not applicable.

68 / JOURNAL OF GEOTECHNICAL AND GEOENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING / JANUARY 2001

paction the specimens were either immediately placed in per-
meameters for saturation or wrapped in plastic to prevent dry-
ing until they could be saturated.
Specimens were prepared to include a wide range of com-
paction conditions and soil properties. Fifteen specimens of
Houston Red and Sauk County soil were prepared (five at each
compactive effort). Ten specimens of the Lodgement soil were
compacted (five at both standard and modified Proctor efforts).
Standard Proctor effort was used to prepare two specimens of
the Denver, and one specimen of Detroit, New Orleans, Green
Lakes, and Wilsonville soils.
Three specimens of Sauk County soil were compacted at
the same dry unit weight and water content (15.2 kN/m3,
25.5%) to determine if the size of specimens had an effect on
the measured volumetric shrinkage strain, and if the results
were repeatable. Two of the specimens were prepared in 10.2-
cm-diameter molds, and the third was prepared in a 15.2-cm-
diameter mold. The volumetric shrinkage strains were similar
[16.1% (10.2 cm mold), 18.6% (10.2 cm mold), 14.0% (15.2
cm mold)], and a similar degree of cracking was observed in
all of the specimens. All remaining specimens were prepared
in 10.2-cm-diameter compaction molds.

Saturation Procedure
Saturation was conducted by permeating the specimens in
flexible-wall permeameters using a hydraulic gradient of 10
and an average effective stress of 10.5 kPa following ASTM
D 5084. The specimens were permeated with tap water until
the ratio of inflow to outflow was between 0.75 and 1.25, and
the hydraulic conductivity was steady. Backpressure was used
during the initial saturation cycle. After being dried once, the
hydraulic conductivity of the specimens increased, and back-
pressure was not required during saturation. This procedure
resulted in nearly saturated (or ‘‘field’’ saturated) specimens
reflecting a likely field condition.
For some of the Houston Red specimens with very low hy-
draulic conductivity, the desired inflow to outflow ratio could
not be achieved during initial saturation, and the tests were
ended after 35 days. The hydraulic conductivity of these spec-
imens was steady over time.
Drying Procedure
Each specimen was dried after initially being saturated by
permeation. When a specimen was removed from the permea-
meter, measurements were made of height, diameter, and
weight. The specimen was then placed in a pan on a shelf in
the laboratory at room temperature (approximately 20⬚C) and
allowed to slowly dry. The objective was to simulate the slow
rate of drying that occurs in the field, while maintaining rea-
sonable test times (approximately 2 weeks for a drying cycle).
The sides of the specimens were open to the atmosphere dur-
ing drying, which does not replicate the field condition. Drying
from the top surface only requires much longer drying times,
and was not practical. Nevertheless, even though the drying
conditions did not replicate the field conditions precisely, the
relative effects of soil type on shrinkage are believed to be
preserved.
Initial tests showed that no significant mass or volume
changes occurred past the first week of drying (Fig. 1). Thus,
subsequent drying tests were conducted for a period of ap-
proximately 10 days. At the end of the drying period each
specimen was weighed, and the diameter and height were mea-
sured. The specimen was then placed back in a permeameter
and permeated until saturation was achieved. Each specimen
was saturated a minimum of four times (including the initial
saturation), and dried a minimum of three times.
Because the specimens were initially saturated prior to des-
JOURNAL OF GEOTECHNICAL AND GEOENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING / JANUARY 2001 / 69
FIG. 1. (a) Changes in Mass and (b) Volumetric Shrinkage
Strain during Desiccation of Houston Red Clay
iccation, the wetting and drying procedures employed are more
applicable to compacted clay barriers used in covers than in
liners. Khire et al. (1997) showed that clay barriers in earthen
covers typically became very moist or ‘‘field’’ saturated each
year by late winter, even in seasonal semiarid climates. The
barriers then dry as water is extracted during spring, summer,
and early fall. The tests on specimens compacted wet of op-
timum water content, however, are applicable to liners because
clay liners compacted wet of optimum are nearly saturated
when constructed.
RESULTS
Compaction Conditions
The influence of compaction water content on volumetric
shrinkage strain after three cycles of drying is shown in Fig.
2. The lowest volumetric shrinkage strains generally occurred
in specimens compacted near optimum water content. Volu-
metric shrinkage strain increased with an increase in compac-
tion water content relative to optimum. Volumetric shrinkage
strains as large as 30% were observed at water contents >5%
wet of optimum. Likewise, the volumetric shrinkage strain in-
creased as the compaction water content became dry of opti-
mum, with volumetric shrinkage strains above 15% being ob-
served in specimens of the Houston Red and Sauk County
soils.
Haines (1923) described the drying process of saturated
soils as having had two significant stages, referred to here as
primary and residual drying (Fig. 3). Primary drying is the

FIG. 2. Volumetric Shrinkage Strain versus Compaction Water
Content Relative to Optimum
FIG. 3. Stages during Drying (Haines 1923)
first stage of drying, and occurs as water leaves the soil with-
out entry of air. Since air is not entering the soil, the volume
change is equal to the volume of water leaving the soil. The
majority of the total volume change occurs during the primary
stage of drying. Water surrounding the individual soil particles
is removed, allowing the soil particles to move closer together
as the water retreats. At some point the soil particles contact
each other, and the drying process slows as the structure of
the soil begins to resist additional volume change. In this phase
of drying, termed ‘‘residual drying,’’ air enters the soil and
replaces the water being removed because the particles are in
contact. Little change in soil structure or total volume occurs
during residual drying because the particles are in contact.
Therefore, the total amount of volume change is closely re-
lated to relative volumes of water and solids present in the
soil as drying begins.
The data shown in Fig. 2 are consistent with Haines’s the-
70 / JOURNAL OF GEOTECHNICAL AND GEOENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING / JANUARY 2001
ory. Specimens compacted at optimum water content have the
largest volume of soil particles and the least volume of water/
unit volume of soil at any given compactive effort, and thus
undergo the smallest volume change during drying. When the
soil is compacted dry or wet of optimum water content, the
dry unit weight decreases and more water and fewer solid
particles exist per unit volume. More room is available for the
soil particles to collapse before contacting each other during
drying, resulting in larger volumetric shrinkage strain. Ac-
cordingly, the volumetric shrinkage strain should be propor-
tional to the saturated volumetric water content (volume of
water/volume of soil) and inversely proportional to the dry unit
weight (weight of solids/volume of soil), as shown in Fig. 4.
These trends in volumetric shrinkage strain should only be
apparent in specimens that are saturated prior to drying. Sat-
uration hydrates the soil particles and fills the voids with water,
causing specimens compacted wet and dry of optimum and
having the same dry unit weight to contain the same total
amount of water before drying. In contrast, specimens that are
dried immediately after compaction may have a very different
volume of water, depending on the compaction water content.
Specimens compacted wet of optimum contain the most water
and therefore will undergo larger volume changes during pri-
mary drying relative to specimens compacted dry of optimum,
that have much less water. This behavior is evident in the data
from Daniel and Wu (1993), where several specimens were
dried from their initial compaction water content i.e., without
being saturated (Fig. 5). Specimens compacted at greater water
content shrunk more during drying.
FIG. 4. Volumetric Shrinkage Strain versus (a) Saturated Vol-
umetric Water Content and (b) Dry Unit Weight for All Speci-
mens

FIG. 5. Volumetric Shrinkage Strain versus Compaction Water
Content (Daniel and Wu 1993)
FIG. 6. Volumetric Shrinkage Strain versus Compactive Effort
for (a) Houston Red, (b) Sauk County, and (c) Lodgement Soils
The relationship between compactive effort, water content,
and volumetric shrinkage strain is shown in Fig. 6 for the
Houston Red, Sauk County, and Lodgement soils, which range
from high to low plasticity. Specimens compacted with the
lowest compactive effort shrank the most, and for all compac-
tive efforts, specimens with the lowest volumetric shrinkage
strain typically were compacted near optimum water content.
JOURNAL OF GEOTECHNICAL AND GEOENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING / JANUARY 2001 / 71
Soil Composition
Volumetric shrinkage strain versus PI and clay content (ⱕ2
␮m) is shown in Fig. 7 for specimens compacted at water
contents >2% wet of optimum water content. The solid sym-
bols in Fig. 7 correspond to modified Proctor compactive ef-
fort, whereas the open symbols correspond to standard Proctor
compactive effort. Water contents >2% wet of optimum water
content were selected because this is the typical range of water
contents used to construct compacted soil liners and covers
(Benson et al. 1999).
Volumetric shrinkage strain increased with increasing clay
content [Fig. 7(a)] and PI [Fig. 7(b)]. The volumetric shrink-
age strain increases because soils with higher clay content or
PI have a greater affinity for water. Their greater affinity for
water is reflected in the increase in optimum water content and
decrease in maximum dry unit weight as the PI increases,
which is evident in Table 1 and has been reported by others
[e.g., Johnson et al. (1990) and Blotz et al. (1998)]. As a result,
soils with larger clay content or PI have a greater quantity of
water that can be removed during primary drying. Substantial
volumetric shrinkage strains (5–10%) were obtained for clay
contents <30% which is in contrast to the findings of DeJong
and Warkentin (1965).
The influence of mineralogy is also evident. The Houston
Red, Sauk County, and Denver soils contained the largest per-
centages of smectite or mixed layer illite/smectite (44, 43, and
43% respectively; Table 1) and had the highest volumetric
shrinkage strains. Smectites typically adsorb more water and
undergo greater shrinkage before the clay particles come into
contact. The smallest shrinkage strains were obtained for the
Lodgement and Wilsonville soils, which contained less smec-
tite, and more illite, kaolinite, and quartz.
FIG. 7. Volumetric Shrinkage Strain versus Soil Properties: (a)
Clay Content; (b) Plasticity Index
Number of Drying Cycles
Volumetric shrinkage strains for five specimens compacted
wet of optimum water content using standard compactive ef-
fort are shown in Fig. 8 as a function of the number of wet-
dry cycles. For each particular soil, the volumetric strain does
not vary significantly with an increasing number of drying
cycles.
A similar observation was made by Croney and Coleman
(1954). They described changes in the soil water characteristic
curve (SWCC) for a natural clay soil during drying. Permanent
changes in the SWCC occurred after an initial drying from
near saturation. However, repeated wetting and drying after
the initial drying produced no further changes in the SWCC,
suggesting that any permanent change in the soil structure took
place during the initial drying.
The large volumetric shrinkage strains that occurred during
the first drying cycle and the similar volumetric shrinkage
strain at the end of subsequent cycles suggests that the inter-
particle stress incurred during drying is much higher than the
stress applied during compaction, and a similar interparticle
stress is applied during subsequent drying cycles. Consolida-
tion testing of a specimen of Denver clay compacted at opti-
mum water content with standard Proctor effort showed that
the maximum past pressure caused by the compaction process
was 35 kPa. A sample from this specimen was air-dried and
then placed in a water activity meter (Gee et al. 1992) to de-
termine the total suction after drying. A water activity of 0.11
was measured, which corresponds to a total suction of 277
MPa. Thus the interparticle stress applied by suction was much
higher than the stress caused by compaction. Moreover, the
water content reached at the end of each drying cycle was
essentially the same, which suggests that the matric suction
was practically the same at the end of each drying cycle. Thus
similar changes in interparticle stress apparently occurred dur-
ing each drying cycle, resulting in similar volume change.
Cracking Observations
Cracking of specimens of Houston Red, Sauk County,
Lodgement, and Denver soils is shown in Fig. 9. All of the
specimens were compacted approximately 3% wet of optimum
water content using standard Proctor effort. The Houston Red
specimen cracked severely, whereas the specimen of Lodge-
ment soil cracked little if at all. The Denver and Sauk County
soils cracked an intermediate amount.
FIG. 8. Volumetric Shrinkage Strain versus Number of Drying
Cycles
72 / JOURNAL OF GEOTECHNICAL AND GEOENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING / JANUARY 2001
FIG. 9. Specimens of Lodgement, Houston Red, Sauk County,
and Denver Soils after Three Drying Cycles
The most severe cracking occurred in specimens with the
highest volumetric shrinkage strain. For example, several spec-
imens of the highly plastic Houston Red soil that underwent
volumetric shrinkage strains of up to 30% contained continu-
ous cracks throughout their depth after three drying cycles. In
contrast, specimens of the low plasticity Lodgement soil con-
tained no visible cracks regardless of their compaction water
content, and these specimens had the lowest volumetric shrink-
age strains (0–10.6%). Similar behavior should be expected
in the field, although in the field some degree of cracking
should be expected for nearly all clayey soils, because even
small volumetric strains are likely to result in the formation
of some cracks. Nevertheless, liners or covers constructed
from Lodgement soil will crack far less than a liner or cover
constructed from Houston Red soil, all other factors being
equal.
HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY
Specimens that cracked when dried were subjected to hy-
draulic conductivity testing after each drying cycle to deter-
mine how much the hydraulic conductivity increased due to
cracking. Results of tests on the Houston Red and Sauk
County soils are shown in Fig. 10, in terms of hydraulic con-
ductivity versus compaction water content and number of dry-
ing cycles. All of these specimens cracked regardless of the
compaction water content.
The hydraulic conductivity of specimens compacted wet of
optimum increased substantially within one or two drying cy-
cles. For example, when compacted wet of optimum, the hy-
draulic conductivity of the Houston Red soil increased as
much as two orders of magnitude after just one drying cycle.
Smaller increases in hydraulic conductivity of the Houston
Red soil occurred in subsequent drying cycles, but wet of op-
timum water content the hydraulic conductivity ultimately in-
creased as much as three orders of magnitude. Similar behav-
ior occurred for the Sauk County soil. The hydraulic
conductivity of the Sauk County soil compacted wet of opti-
mum increased after each of the first two drying cycles before
reaching a steady value.
Large increases in hydraulic conductivity occurred for the
specimens compacted wet of optimum because the initial hy-
draulic conductivity was controlled by microscale pores (Ben-

FIG. 10. Hydraulic Conductivity versus Compaction Water
Content Relative to Optimum for Specimens of (a) Houston Red
and (b) Sauk County Soils
son and Daniel 1990). Cracking that occurred during drying
introduced a macroscale pore structure, and these macroscale
pores controlled the hydraulic conductivity during subsequent
periods of hydration.
The hydraulic conductivity of the Houston Red and Sauk
County soils compacted dry of optimum changed only a small
amount, and in some cases decreased slightly. Specimens com-
pacted dry of optimum water content originally contained nu-
merous large pores. The large pores controlled the initial hy-
draulic conductivity of the specimens compacted dry of
optimum water content. After being saturated and dried, the
size of these large pores was probably reduced due to volu-
metric shrinkage strain. This reduction in pore size tends to
lower the hydraulic conductivity. However, the cracks that
formed during drying of these specimens also resulted in new
larger flow paths. The new cracks offset the reduction in flow
paths from volumetric shrinkage strains. Consequently, the
specimens compacted dry of optimum water content under-
went little change in hydraulic conductivity even though the
soil cracked.
Hydraulic conductivity versus number of drying cycles is
shown in Fig. 11 for specimens compacted wet of optimum
water content with standard Proctor effort, that cracked when
dried. The increase in hydraulic conductivity caused by crack-
ing spans a wide range (5–500 times the initial hydraulic con-
ductivity). Specimens of the Houston Red and Denver soils
underwent the largest increase in hydraulic conductivity, and
also shrank and cracked the most severely when dried. In con-
trast the New Orleans soil shrank a smaller amount and had
only a few minor cracks, and thus the increase in hydraulic
JOURNAL OF GEOTECHNICAL AND GEOENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING / JANUARY 2001 / 73
FIG. 11. Hydraulic Conductivity versus Number of Drying Cy-
cles for Specimens of Houston Red, Sauk County, Denver, and
New Orleans Soils
conductivity was smaller. Similar behavior should exist in the
field. Barrier layers that shrink less and contain fewer and
smaller cracks should have lower hydraulic conductivity.
For all of the specimens, the most significant increase in
hydraulic conductivity took place after the first drying cycle,
because the first drying cycle produced cracks in the speci-
mens. The largest volumetric shrinkage strain also occurred
during the first drying cycle as shown in Fig. 8. The specimens
shrunk to essentially the same final volume as after the first
drying cycle during subsequent drying cycles. As a result, few
additional cracks formed during subsequent drying cycles, and
the hydraulic conductivity increased only modestly.
Potential for Healing
A question that often arises is whether cracks in desiccated
clay barriers will heal and the hydraulic conductivity will re-
turn to its initial value after extended permeation or application
of elevated effective stress, e.g., after waste placement. To ad-
dress this issue, cracked specimens of the Houston Red and
Sauk County soils were permeated for 350 days or subjected
to various effective stresses. Specimens of both soils were
compacted wet of optimum and exposed to four wet-dry cy-
cles. Results of these tests are shown in Fig. 12.
Hydraulic conductivity of the Houston Red soil subjected
to long-term permeation decreased by about a factor of five
during the first 25 days of permeation and then remained rela-
tively constant thereafter, although variations in hydraulic con-
ductivity did occur throughout the duration of testing. No sig-
nificant change occurred in the hydraulic conductivity of the
Sauk County soil during the first 200 days of permeation, and
then the hydraulic conductivity slowly dropped by about a
factor of three. Neither soil underwent a large decrease in hy-
draulic conductivity or returned to its initial (as-compacted)
hydraulic conductivity.
Small decreases in hydraulic conductivity should occur as
the clay rehydrates, but after hydration is complete no addi-
tional decrease in hydraulic conductivity should occur. Thus,
healing appears unlikely to occur during long-term permeation
at constant effective stress, unless other factors become im-
portant, such as biological clogging (Clement et al. 1996; Den-
nis and Turner 1998).
Decreases in hydraulic conductivity did occur when the ef-
fective stress was increased. The hydraulic conductivity of the
Sauk County and Houston Red soils decreased nearly expo-
nentially with effective stress, and dropped below 10⫺7 cm/s
when the effective stress was increased beyond 60 kPa. How-

FIG. 12. Hydraulic Conductivity versus (a) Time and (b) Effec-
tive Stress
ever, neither the Houston Red or Sauk County soils reached
their initial hydraulic conductivity, even at an effective stress
of 74 kPa. Boynton and Daniel (1985) reported similar results,
although they showed a more dramatic drop in hydraulic con-
ductivity when the effective stress was increased.
These results indicate that the effective stress typically ex-
isting in cover applications (i.e., <30 kPa) is not sufficient to
close cracks caused by desiccation. In liner applications, the
effective stress may be sufficient to reduce the hydraulic con-
ductivity to acceptable values after sufficient overburden is
placed. However, if soil from an overlying layer washes into
desiccation cracks [e.g., as in Hawkins and Horton (1967)], it
is unlikely that any reasonable effective stress will result in a
decrease in hydraulic conductivity to its original value.
SUMMARY
The volumetric shrinkage strain occurring in compacted nat-
ural clays during desiccation is a direct function of the volume
of water/volume of soil when the soil is saturated. Factors that
affect the amount of water contained in the soil include soil
properties and compaction conditions. Soils with higher clay
content and higher plasticity index generally have a greater
volume of water and thus are more prone to large volumetric
shrinkage strains during drying. Specimens compacted near
optimum water content with higher compactive effort have less
water/unit volume when saturated, and lower volumetric
shrinkage strains. These findings are consistent with theory
originally proposed by Haines (1923), which showed that the
primary drying stage, i.e., the removal of water before inter-
particle stress impedes volume change, is the most important
factor affecting volumetric shrinkage strain. Thus, to minimize
74 / JOURNAL OF GEOTECHNICAL AND GEOENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING / JANUARY 2001
the effects of volumetric shrinkage strain, compacted clay bar-
riers used in covers should be constructed with soils of lower
plasticity and clay content, and compacted near optimum water
content with high compactive effort.
Testing of specimens that cracked during drying indicated
that the hydraulic conductivity increased by as much as 500
times, and the largest increase in hydraulic conductivity oc-
curred for specimens compacted wet of optimum water con-
tent. The largest increases in hydraulic conductivity and
shrinkage strains occurred after the first drying cycle. Thus,
one drying cycle appears sufficient to severely damage com-
pacted clay barriers if they are not protected.
Healing of damage caused by desiccation is unlikely to oc-
cur during extended periods of hydration unless the effective
stress is increased considerably. No significant decrease in hy-
draulic conductivity was observed in specimens permeated for
a period of 350 days, suggesting that even under extended
periods of hydration desiccation cracks will not close. Tests at
various effective stresses showed that an effective stress of at
least 60 kPa was needed to close desiccation cracks so that
the hydraulic conductivity is ⱕ10⫺7 cm/s. This effective stress
is higher than that found in most cover applications, suggest-
ing that desiccation damage to covers will be permanent.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Financial support for this study was provided by the National Science
Foundation through Grant No. CMS-9157116 and WMX Technologies,
Inc. The results and opinions expressed in this paper are those of the
writers and are not necessarily consistent with policies or opinions of the
National Science Foundation or WMX. Da-Tong Jong and John Chapman
conducted some of the tests on the Houston Red soil and Lisa Blotz
conducted some of the tests on the Lodgement soil.
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