Design Considerations for Collapsible Soils

Metastable or collapsible soils are defined as any unsaturated soil that goes through a radical rearrangement of particles and great loss of volume upon wetting, with or without additional loading. The existing types of collapsible soils and theories developed to explain collapse phenomenon are reviewed, as are the methods of recognizing collapsible soils in the field and laboratory. Prediction techniques for the magnitude of collapse are presented and summarized; current foundation design methods on collapsible soils are explored. Finally, present methods for the stabilization of collapsible soils and possible future methods of treatment are reviewed.