Attachment 3 Soil Test Report

Foundation Maintenance

and Footing Performance:
A Homeowner's Guide

csiro

BIF 18
replaces
information
Sheet 10/91

Buildings can and often do move. This movement can be up, down, lateral or rotational. The fundamental cause

  

of movement in bu

ings can usually be related to one or more problems in the foundation si

 

It

 

portant for

the homeowner to identify the soil type in order to ascertain the measures that should be put in place in order to
ensure that problems in the foundation soi! can be prevented, thus protecting against building movement.

This Building Technology File is designed to identify causes of soil-related building movement, and to suggest

methods of prevention of resultant cracking in buildings.

  

1 Types

The types of soils usually present under the topsoil in land zoned for
residential buildings can be split into two approximate groups —
granular and clay. Quite often, foundation soil is a mixture of both
types. The general problems associated with soils having granular
content are usually caused by erosion. Clay soils are subject to
saturation and swell/shrink problems.

Classifications for a given area can generally be obtained by
application to the local authority, but these are sometimes unreliable
and if there is doubt, a geotechnical report should be commissioned.
As most buildings suffering movement problems are founded on clay
soils, there is an emphasis on classification of soils according to the
amount of swell and shrinkage they experience with variations of
water content, The table below is Table 2.1 from AS 2870, the
Residential Slab and Footing Code.

  

Causes of Movement

Settlement due to construction

There are two types of settlement that occur as a result of

construction:

* Tmmediate settlement occurs when a building is first placed on its
foundation soil, as a result of compaction of the soil under the
weight of the structure. The cohesive quality of clay soil mitigates
against this, but granular (particularly sandy) soil is susceptible.

* Consolidation settlement is a feature of clay soil and may take
place because of the expulsion of moisture from the soil or because
of the soil's lack of resistance to local compressive or shear stresses.
This will usually take place during the first few months after
construction, but has been known to take many years in
exceptional cases.

These problems are the province of the builder and should be taken

into consideration as part of the preparation of the site for construc-

tion, Building Technology File 19 (BTF 19) deals with these
problems.

Erosion

All soils are prone to erosion, but sandy soil is particularly susceptible
to being washed away, Even clay with a sand component of say 10%
or more can suffer from erosion.

Saturation

This is particularly a problem in clay soils. Saturation creates a bog-
like suspension of the soil that causes jt to lose virtually all of its
bearing capacity. To a lesser degree, sand is affected by saturation
because saturated sand may undergo a reduction in volume —
particularly imported sand fill for bedding and blinding layers.
However, this usually occurs as immediate settlement and should
normaily be the province of the builder.

Seasonal swelling and shrinkage of soll

All clays react to the presence of water by slowly absorbing it, making
the soif increase in volume (see table below). The degree of Increase
varies considerably between different clays, as does the degree of
decrease during the subsequent drying out caused by fair weather
periods. Because of the low absorption and expulsion rate, this
phenomenon will not usually be noticeable unless there are
prolonged rainy or dry periods, usually of weeks or months,
depending on the land and soil characteristics.

The swelling of soil creates an upward force on the footings of the
building, and shrinkage creates subsidence that takes away the
support needed by the footing to retain equilibrium.

Shear failure

This phenomenon occurs when the foundation soil does not have

sufficient strength to support the weight of the footing. There are

two major post-construction causes:

* Significant load increase.

* Reduction of fateral support of the soil under the footing due to
erosion or excavation.

 Inclay soil, shear failure can be caused by saturation of the soil
adjacent to or under the footing.

 

~ Filled sites

Foundation =
‘ Mast ‘sand and tock sites with litle or no ground movement from moisture changes 2
Slightly reactive clay sites with only slight ground movement from moisture changés

Moderately feactive clay or silt sites, which can experience ‘moderate ground movement from moisture changes
Extremely: reactive sites, ‘which can. experience extreme ground movement from moisture chabiges:

Sites which include soft soils, such as soft clay or silt of loose sands; |
to erosion: reactive sites subject to abnormal moisture conditions or sites which cannot be classified otherwise”

GENERAL DEFINITIONS OF SITE CASES. Z

 

 

Highly reactive clay sites, which can experience high ground thovement from moisture changes ey

 

Jandslip;. mine subsidence; collapsing soils; soils subject