This paper aims to provide guidance for field practitioners on the vulnerability of different subsoils to compaction under different field conditions and on the tyre pressures necessary to reduce or avoid damage. It also indicates ways of identifying situations where some compaction alleviation may be necessary to improve subsoil conditions and methods for alleviating subsoil compaction problems, without increasing the risk of more extensive compaction damage in the future. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.