Engineering correlations for the characterisation of reactive soil behaviour for use in road design

Reynolds, Peter William (2013) Engineering correlations for the characterisation of reactive soil behaviour for use in road design. [USQ Project]

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Abstract

In the field of road design and construction, expansive or reactive soils are problematic materials. Clay minerals within reactive soils are subject to large volume changes when exposed to water, and conversely when they are exposed to prolonged periods of drying.

The surface movements resulting from the wetting or drying of a reactive soil can cause distress to structures that are founded on them. This creates safety and serviceability issues for road users and high maintenance costs to the road authorities and the community.

Whilst there is a body of data and published information on some of the relationships between certain material parameters, a definitive engineer’s guide on the correlations of engineering parameter for expansive soils within Queensland does not appear to exist.

Currently, the primary reference for site classification in respect to the degree of reactivity is the Australian Standard AS2870 – Residential Slabs and Footings. Within
this standard, methods are provided to enable an estimation of the range of vertical movement due to swelling and shrinkage. These estimates are based on the Shrink Swell Index (Iss), which is determined by as simple soil test method on an undisturbed soil sample taken from the site of investigation.

In situations where it may be difficult to obtain undisturbed soil samples for shrink swell testing, using an approximation of the relationship between other test
parameters and the Shrink Swell Index, it may be possible to determine the site classification and estimate the amount of potential heave or shrinkage, as an alternative to the Shrink Swell Index.


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Item Type: USQ Project
Item Status: Live Archive
Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: Historic - Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences - School of Civil Engineering and Surveying (1 Jul 2013 - 31 Dec 2021)
Supervisors: Ghabraie, Kazem
Date Deposited: 13 May 2014 05:08
Last Modified: 13 May 2014 05:08
Uncontrolled Keywords: engineering correlations; charachterisation; reactive soil behaviour; road design
Fields of Research (2008): 09 Engineering > 0905 Civil Engineering > 090507 Transport Engineering
Fields of Research (2020): 40 ENGINEERING > 4005 Civil engineering > 400512 Transport engineering
URI: https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/24682

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