Effect of Moisture Content in Volcanic Soils 2

[Rakra]

Hi everyone,

I have a lean Sandy SILT (ML) with high moisture content (MC) >60% and its of volcanic origin. A cathedral is to built ontop of it. As there is no depth of soil suction information for this site and no additional test data, does anyone know how I can estimate the design suction depth based on the Atterberg limits test results which were the only tests undertaken on these soils? The soils occur from 0.3m to confirmed depths of 5m and deeper. Also does anyone know of a MC correlation to shrink/swell of soil? The site is in a developed country in the tropics so not much geotech data available.

Thanks

 

[oldestguy]

It would be my guess not many in this group do any testing of soil suction or soil moisture tension, depending on where you-live.

I think going to the forum "thescienceforum.com and post your question under a term "soil science" and you may have better luck.

Do a Google search with that term.

Be aware that many soil scientists do not measure soil moisture as engineers do. They probable don't use Atterberg Limits either. Telling them the location may help determine which clay mineral you are dealing with.

 

[BigH]

To go along with oldestguy's points, I'd like to know the reasoning for your interest. You say that the cathedral is already built atop the soil formation - so are you observing signs of distress in the cathedral? Volcanic sands (Bali) which which I am aware have a fairly high absorption value (4 to 5%). There are a number of papers "out there" that you can download on the topic - one author of note is Fredlund (or his students). I'm sorry I don't have immediately at hand the references. If I find my disk, I'll put them in another post.

 

[Rakra]

Thanks BigH and oldestguy for your comments.

Regarding BigH reply, no sorry I left out the word 'be' after 'to built' in my initial query. The cathedral has not been built as yet. The geotech investigation was done at the proposed site and due to lack of available geotechnical data within the area, I'm trying to get correlation with the limited data (eg AL) that I have for foundation design at this site.

Also thanks for the offer for provision of handy references, look forward to receiving.

Thanks,

Rakra