Part 7

PROBLEMS WITH
SLABS-ON-GRADE
 Cracked slab-on-grade built on expansive soils in
south Orange County, CA. This problem was
exacerbated by poor drainage about the perimeter of
the slab.
 Edge curling (case 1) is usually associated with water
infiltrating the perimeter of the foundation. It can also be
caused by asymmetric framing loads, as shown here.
Interior doming (case 2) can be caused by soil moisture
build-up beneath the interior of the slab, or by asymmetric
framing loads.
 All exterior concrete flatwork on expansive soils
should be reinforced to reduce separations caused by
differential heave. Rebar should never be more than
18 apart @ ACI Code, unlike the example shown here.
Perimeter trench subdrains are an
effective means of limiting
subsurface flow beneath a home
founded on expansive soils
 Under extreme circumstances, distressed
homes may be detached from their original
foundation so new, deeper, foundations can
be constructed, which are more capable of
withstanding expansive soils action.
 Two kinds of slab-on-grade that can be
employed on expansive soils are depicted
here: 1) thickened post-tension slabs; and 2)
double-T slabs with conventional
reinforcement.
 The heave potential of expansive soils is greatly diminished by
conditioning near-surface layers to be well wet-of-optimum
moisture content, as sketched here.
In this case soils dry of optimum were observed to swell as
much as 51%, while those compacted wet-of-optimum swelled
less than 20%.
 In some areas, graded pads for post-tensioned slabs-
on-grade are ponded with water for several weeks to
elevate soil moisture levels, and thereby, reduce
subsequent heave (at left).
Preparing PT slabs for pouring at the same site (right).
This procedure usually includes placement of moisture
membrane, sand cushion, excavation of perimeter
footings, layout of embedded plumbing, and laying of
the tension strands
 Another method employs wax-coated boxes
as disposable forms for crossing double-T
footings, which create a deep waffle slab
foundation.