Abstract

The application of conventional non-swelling soil hydrology to predict wetting depths of submerged swelling soil suggests that equilibrium will only be achieved with moisture profiles having constant saturated moisture content throughout the entire depth. Considerable disparity has been observed between the wetting depths predicted by the conventional approach and equilibrium moisture conditions that have been empirically observed in swelling soil profiles many years after construction is complete. This paper uses well established water retention and volume change properties to introduce the mechanisms governing equilibrium moisture profiles in swelling soils as compared to non-swelling soils. The effort extends the work of previous researchers which has shown that the effect of overburden pressure on the volume change of swelling soils produces equilibrium moisture profiles entirely different from those predicted for non-swelling soil. It is shown that soil can be at equilibrium in both saturated and unsaturated states to great depths. Examples of equilibrium moisture profiles and ground heave in swelling soils are worked out using existing data to highlight the consequences of using non-swelling soil theory to analyse swelling soil hydrology.

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