Expansive Soil Test Site Near Newcastle

A field site was established in 1993 near Newcastle, Australia, as part of a long-term study into expansive soil behavior. The primary objectives in establishing the site were to collect high quality data with which to check current design methods for lightly loaded building foundations and to devel...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of geotechnical and geoenvironmental engineering Vol. 130; no. 7; pp. 686 - 695
Main Authors Fityus, S. G, Smith, D. W, Allman, M. A
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published New York, NY American Society of Civil Engineers 01.07.2004
Subjects
Applied sciences
Buildings. Public works
Exact sciences and technology
Geotechnics
Soil investigations. Testing
TECHNICAL PAPERS
Australia
Oceania
Suction
Motion
Climate
Instruments
Site analysis
Soil tests
Measurement result
Long term
Time variation
Soil water properties
Heave
Soil test
Water content
Expansive soils
Soil water
Expansive soil
Unsaturated soil
Australia
Comparative study
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Summary:A field site was established in 1993 near Newcastle, Australia, as part of a long-term study into expansive soil behavior. The primary objectives in establishing the site were to collect high quality data with which to check current design methods for lightly loaded building foundations and to develop improved understanding of the physical processes that drive unsaturated expansive soil behavior. The site was instrumented to allow measurement of soil water content, soil moisture suction, and ground movement to depths of 3 m. The site was provided with two ground covers to simulate moisture boundary conditions due to the presence of typical structures. This paper presents some of the more important findings from the 7 years of data acquired so far. These include a qualitative assessment of the overall site behavior, and quantitative observations of the range of total suction and water content changes with depth, the depth to which moisture changes occur, and the contributions to surface movement from ground movement at various depths. The shape of a mound developed beneath a flexible cover on an initially dry site is examined, and the effects of a large tree on moisture changes are reported.
ISSN:1090-0241
1943-5606
DOI:10.1061/(ASCE)1090-0241(2004)130:7(686)