Expansive soils are soils that expand when water is added, and will shrink when they dry out. Expansive soils are really another name for "clay" soils. The continuous change in volume of the soils can cause significant damage to a home or other building, in addition to harming flatwork, pools, pipes, roads, etc. .
Geologists or Soils engineers can perform laboratory tests to determine a soils expensively. Soils can be classified from "highly" expansive, to non-expansive. Non expansive soils are also known as sand. Sand does not expand when water is introduced.
Potentially expansive soils find wide distribution. The problems are most often unrecognized until it is too late and most often expansion or heaving is misinterpreted as “settlement”. Most of the time, damage to facilities and infrastructure is significant and very costly to repair and remediate.
Analysis and assessment of expansive soils is very important while founding the structures.
In this project various types of damages caused by expansive soils are introduced and many other characteristics and properties of swelling soils, various important techniques, that have to be adopted, while constructing a foundation on expansive soils are discussed in the present project.
This project include eight chapters, the First One gives definition for expansive soil and describes the behavior of this type of soil and the damage it causes.
Chapter Two provides a brief summary for the Geotechnical conditions for the soil, and Laboratory tests that take place on expansive soil.
Chapter Three gives solutions and methods of improvement and treatment for expansive soil to eliminate or control its damage.
In Chapter Four the loads are computed using tributary area.
Chapter five, study the geotechnical conditions of the site through the soil investigation report prepared for the building under consideration.
Chapters six and seven, shows the design two types of foundations: Mat and pile foundations.
Chapter eight, compare between the two foundations alternatives & give the conclusions.
In any engineering work , the most critical problem that engineers may face are soil and foundations failures, so in any study or design we give a high consideration for soil reports and we did design according to that reports.
Analysis & design for any parts of structures _ not only foundations_ are not just a matter of using theories, equations & graphs from references & text books.
In our opinion, it is science, art & judgment.
Appendix।, Shows the soil investigation report for the building under consideration is attached.
And a result of AllPILE software attached in Appendix॥.