Computer-Aided Design for Estimating Foundation Uplift on Expansion Soils

Abstract

This work presents a methodology to determine in-situ heave of foundations due to soil expansion. A total of 206 soil specimens from a semi-arid region (lrbid city in northern Jordan) were tested in the laboratory to produce a model for predicting the swell percent, SP. The results indicate that SP is strongly dependent on the placement conditions (initial water content and dry unit weight), clay content of the soil and the initial applied pressure. Utilizing this model, an Advanced BASIC computer program was written to evaluate in-situ heave. It was verified using actual field data: The program provides a Simple means for approximately determining foundation heave.