Collapsible soil engineering in highway infrastructure development

Rapid growth in and and semiarid regions has brought increased focus on volume change characteristics of moisture sensitive unsaturated soils. One such soil type of concern is collapsible soil. There are numerous reports of pavement problems resulting from soil wetting-induced collapse. The purpose of this paper is to review methods for detecting moisture sensitive collapsible soils and to explore the value and feasibility of various testing and evaluation methods and mitigation alternatives for highway design applications. Findings on site variability for several collapsible soil deposits are presented. The advantages and disadvantages of laboratory and in-situ direct response to wetting tests are discussed. The advantages and limitations of qualitative and nondestructive methods for assessing soil collapsibility are also addressed.