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Foundations on Expansive Soils, Sudan Experience

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 Foundations on Expansive Soils
Sudan Experience

Ahmed M Elsharief
Building and Road Research Institute
Abstract
This paper presents an overview of the different foundation options on expansive clay
soils in Sudan and the criteria for their selection and adoption. It reviews the research
projects on foundations on expansive soils performed by graduate students at Building
and Road Research Institute. The basic research outcomes have been outlined and
summarized. Design and construction issues aimed at improving the existing practice
have been discussed. Recommendations have been given for the parameters needed for
the design of bored concrete piles in expansive soils.

1. Introduction
Expansive soils are soils that have potential for swelling and shrinkage under
changing moisture conditions. The volume change resulting from swelling and
shrinking causes damages to structures founded on them. The expansive soil area
includes nearly all the agricultural schemes and most of the development projects in
the country (Figure 1) and covers about 40% of the total area of Sudan (Osman and
Charlie 1983).

Damages of structures caused by expansive soils have been reported from different
locations in the clay plain (Lates et al 1983). The damages include buildings, roads,
factories, hydraulic structures etc. and were attributed to lack of proper identification
and classification of expansive soils and improper design of the foundations of the
damaged structures.

Several attempts have been made by graduate students at Building and Road Research
Institute (BRRI) of the University of Khartoum, since the seventies of the last century
to identify and classify expansive soils and to study the various factors affecting their
swelling and shrinkage characteristics (Hamadto, 1985; Elturabi 1985,

1
Elsharief,1987; Elhag and Gasmelseed, 1984; Ahmed 2002; Rahmatalla, 2007).
These attempts resulted in better understanding of the factors affecting swelling and
shrinkage of Sudanese expansive soils and hence sound guides for their identification
and classification. Parallel research continued to study the causes of damages of
structures founded on expansive soils, the performance of foundations on these soils
and guidelines for their selection (Elsharief, 1987; Abu Sara, 1994; Saeed, 2004;
Omer, 2003; Ahmed 2006).

This paper discusses the different foundation options for light structures founded on
expansive soils, guidelines for their selection, design and construction with special
reference to the experience in Sudan.

•
Figure 1: Expansive soil plains in Sudan (Osman and Charlie 1983)

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2. Factors Affecting the Selection of Foundations on Expansive Soils
The types of foundations commonly used worldwide to support structural loads in
expansive soil environment are: shallow individual or continuous footings, rigid or
stiffened raft and bored concrete piles.

Shallow footings are preferred where the expansive soil stratum is relatively thin to
allow placing the footing on a low expansive or low swelling stratum. Strip footings
are used for load bearing structures but lack the three dimensional rigidity needed to
resist small movements. Isolated or pad footings offer some structural rigidity needed
to resist small movements therefore perform better than strip footings. Stiffened raft
foundation consists of thin concrete slab stiffened with cross beams to provide
additional stiffness of the slab. They are applicable with good performance in areas
where soils possess large amounts of movements (Zeitlen and Komornik, 1980).
However, bored concrete piles have been found to perform satisfactorily in
expansive soils with high to very high potential (Mohan, 1955;Chen, 1975; Poulos
and Davis, 1973; Ahmed 2006). They are favored in expansive soils mainly because
of their ability to resist uplift forces when properly installed. Piles with sufficient
length develop upholding forces which can resist the uplifting forces due to swelling
of clay layers in the upper zones.

The performance and selection of a technically viable foundation type for a certain
structure founded on expansive soil will depend on:
• The swelling characteristics of the encountered soils, i.e., the swelling
potential of the expansive clay layer(s), depth and layering sequence of
the encountered deposits within the influence range of the foundation
system
• The environmental conditions; these include the moisture content of the
swelling soil layers, depth of water table, rainfall intensity, temperature
and vegetation cover. These factors affect and control the depth of the
active clay zone. The utilization of water in certain buildings (e.g.
factories) is detrimental and affects future performance of foundations.

3
 • The type of the structure, its shape, rigidity/flexibility and tolerance to
movements
• Constructional considerations such as availability of certain construction
tools (e.g. piling rigs) and the experience of local contractors and home
owners.

3. Geotechnical Properties of Expansive Soils in Sudan

Several researchers investigated and compiled the data on the geotechnical properties
of expansive soils in Sudan (Osman and Charlie 1983; Suhad 2003; Mohamed
(2004); Saeed 2004; Rahmtalla 2007). Their work was based mainly on data collected
from service reports carried out at BRRI and at other engineering firms. Osman and
Charlie (1983) concluded, based on information from various sources, that soils from
the clay plains of Sudan are potentially very expansive and that the mean plasticity
index and swelling pressure are 45 and 265 KN/m2, respectively.

Suhad (2003) tested samples from 16 sources from the Central, Eastern and Southern
clay plains. She measured the physical and chemical properties which could affect
their swelling characteristics. A statistical analysis was performed on the data. The
average liquid limit, plasticity index, cation exchange capacity (CEC) and free swell
were 70%, 44%, 25 meq./gram and 124%, respectively.

Saeed (2004) measured the physical properties of the upper clay blanket at 13
locations in the area covering the Gezira Scheme in Central Sudan. The upper clay
was found to be potentially expansive. The depth of the clay blanket ranges from 1.5
m to more than 10.0 m. Summary of the average basic physical properties of the
upper 3.0 meters of the clay cover is given in Table 1. The Table shows dominance of
clays having high to very high swelling potential.

Mohamed (2001) studied data from 78 sites in Khartoum city and found that the city
is covered by a blanket of low/highly plastic montmorillonitic clay. The clay depth
exceeds 10 m close to the Blue Nile at Burri power station and Friendship Hall. The

4
average liquid Limit and Plasticity Index for the CH clays are 73% and 44%,
respectively. Values higher than 159% were measured for liquid limit and higher than
119% for plasticity index.

Table 1: Average physical properties of the upper 3.0 m in Gezira

Location Plasticity Fines Clay
Index Content Content %
%
Barakat 35 93 33
Elmasalamia 32 82 29
Wad 33 87 22
Haboba
Turis 39 75 43
Elmaseed 34 --- ---
Alfatagoba 10 61 22
Elhuda 31 64 33
Umshadida 24 75 21
Matoog 48 79 ---
Elmaturi 43 81 52
Gaboga 32 79 27
Elmanagil 31 55 35
Elroof 33 86 23

The research and experience from service jobs at BRRI have shown that:
• Expansive soils are predominantly found within the upper horizon of the clay
plains and extend from the ground surface down to more than twenty meters
in some locations (e.g. Singa in Blue Nile State; Fao in Gedarif state;
Tharjath in Wuhda state). However, there are exceptions, e.g. in greater
Khartoum (south of Khartoum international Airport and Alfaiha east of the
Blue Nile) where swelling soils are covered by a thin layer, up to 4.0m in
depth, of non-expansive soil.
• Expansive soils in Sudan have high to very high potential for swelling and are
mostly classified as CH soils. Very high values of LL and PI have been
measured, as stated above. Swelling pressures exceeding 1000 KN/m2 were
measured (Elsharief, 1987).

5
 • The dominant clay mineral common for all the clays in Central, Southern and
Eastern clay plains is montmorillonite (Suhad 2003), whereas kaolinite is
always found with montmorillonite but in lesser amounts. Illite was found
with montmorillioniite in the clays of the Southern and Central plains close to
the White Nile.

4. Cracks and Damages Caused by Expansive Soils

Several development projects constructed in the seventies in the Central and Eastern
clay plains of Sudan experienced severe problems and distresses caused by the
expansive soils on which they were built. Examples are the civil works of Rahad
Scheme, Gezira University buildings in Nisheshiba, Asalaya Sugar Factory etc..

Hamadto (1985) carried out field survey of damages caused by expansive soils in
different parts of the clay plain. The surveyed buildings included those founded on
short piles and isolated footings in Rahad Scheme and reinforced strip foundations in
Nisheshiba, Gezira University. The surveyed sites are dominated with clays having
high to very high potential for swelling. The reinforced strip foundations used in
Gezira University at Nisheshiba were 0.5 m wide and 0.8 m deep. The surveyed
buildings showed moderate to severe cracking. It was observed that houses built with
flexible mortars in Mademedani showed lesser damage compared to those built with
cement mortars. Observations and investigations of buildings founded on strip
foundation in areas covered by expansive soils in Greater Khartoum have shown that
cracking of the walls is very common for light buildings founded on strip foundation.
Buildings founded on hard-core perform better than those founded on reinforced
concrete strip foundation.

Isolated footings with columns and ground beams were surveyed in Village 10 of
Rahad Scheme (Hamadto 1985). The footings were 2.0 to 4.0 m2 in size and were
placed at 3.0 m depth. All the surveyed houses showed light cracks except three
houses which showed moderate to severe damages. The author is aware of several
two to four story buildings founded on pad footings in Khartoum which experienced

6
 severe cracking of the walls and beams mainly because the grade beams were placed
directly on the expansive soils. Movements of the grade beams increase the upward
forces and hence cause heaving of the foundations. A house in Erkewit south of
Khartoum experienced severe cracks of the walls and hogging of the grade beams.
The grade beams were isolated from the ground but the walls covering the beam
were bonded with it by very strong mortar. The heaving of the cover walls exerted
upward pressures on the grade beams and caused the distresses. Experience has
shown that severe damages of building founded on isolated footings are often
connected to uncontrolled wetting and failures of the drainage systems.

The bored piles used in Fao town of Rahad Scheme were 3.0 m long and 0.30
diameter originally designed as fully reinforced. For economical reasons partially
reinforced (upper 3.0 meters) piles were executed. The piles failed in tension at the
bottom of the reinforcement due to vertical pull forces of the swelling clays and the
separated upper part moved resulting in severe distresses. The writer has experience
with distresses of a two story building founded on bored piles in expansive soil
media in Omdurman city. The piles were extended to satisfactory length but grade
beams were placed directly on the expansive soil. Swelling forces acting on the grade
beam caused hogging of the beam and pulled out the piles. The result was severe
cracks on the walls and crushing of the columns.

5. Foundations on Expansive Soils – Review of Local Research

The important factors which contribute to the selection and performance of
foundations on expansive soils in Sudan are: i) the swelling potential is generally
high to very high; ii) expansive soils extend to depths usually much greater than the
depth of seasonal moisture variations; iii) the expansive plains in the central and
eastern Sudan are found in dry arid climate, i.e. with long dry season and evaporation
much higher than precipitation and ground water table is very deep. The clays are
therefore desiccated having low moisture content and high affinity to water "suction
potential".

7
5.1. Shallow Foundation
The tradition of building on strip foundation is very common mainly for the following
reasons, given the fact that conditions are very unfavorable for their selection and use
(Elsharief and Saeed, 2002):-
- Homeowners, local builders and contractors lack the proper understanding of the
expansive soil problem and the knowledge of identification and classification of
these soils
- Limited budgets are usually available for construction and the strip option is
thought to be economical
- Other technically viable alternatives e.g. bored piles and stiffened raft need
specialized equipments and contractors and expensive imported materials.

To minimize the deleterious effects of expansive soils on structures when the

swelling potential is high improvement techniques have been suggested and
practiced by local builders. Those involve using intercepting layers of earthen
materials between the natural soil and the foundation material and/or strengthening
the structure. These techniques are detailed as follows:
- Placing rubble masonry "hardcore" on the native soil in the strip trench and then
building on it. The practice in some areas is to construct the hardcore foundation
before commencement of the rainy season and leave it exposed during the rainy
season and then resume construction.
- Placing well compacted cohesive non-expansive soil (CNS) or sand between the
native soil and foundation material. The idea was borrowed from India and is
advocated to be technically viable for soils with high swelling potential.

Research was carried out at BRRI to evaluate several intercepting layers as effective
measures to absorb heave of foundations on expansive soils (Saeed, 2004 ).
Laboratory and field experiments were performed. The field experiments were
performed in Barakat, the headquarter of the Gazira Scheme. The intercepting layers
used for the two experiments included plain concrete, plain concrete with 30% voids
(honeycomb foundation), CNS, sand and expansive soil treated with lime. Typical

8
brick walls 1.2 m long and 1.9 m high were built for each treatment option (Figure
2). Trenches were excavated parallel to the walls on each side to allow for even
wetting of the foundation soil. Steel rods were placed at four locations of the each
wall for heave measurements. Heave measurements were taken by a precise level for
a total testing time of 18 months. This time was divided into two cycles, 261 days of
wetting, 99 days of drying and then 127 days of wetting and 50 days of drying. The
result of the experiment are shown in Figure 3. The laboratory and field experiments
showed consistent trends. The CNS and hardcore were found to be the best options
for absorbing and minimizing heaving of strip foundations on expansive soil. The
hardcore was very effective when subjected to cycles of wetting and drying.

Figure 2: Set-up of field experiment of different intercepting media

9
Figure 3: Results of field experiment of different intercepting media

5.2. Raft Foundation

Omer (2003) reported the a case study in Barakat where several labor houses built in
1964 were founded on stiffened raft foundation. The house is comprised of a single
room founded on reinforced concrete raft 20 cm thick. The house is built with brick
walls bonded with sand-cement mortar and covered with 12 cm reinforced concrete
slab. The houses experienced considerable tilting without any signs of cracks on the
walls or the other structural elements (Figure 4). The house first heaved in the side
where the roof downspouts were located; the residents were obliged to change the
location of the downspouts in order to allow drainage of the water from the roof.
After a while the house tilted in the other direction and therefore acted like a boat

10
floating on the expansive clay. However, the rooms were intact and did not show
signs of distresses and cracks.

Omer (2003) evaluated the different stiffened rafts design methods (Walsh 1974;
Wray PTI 1978; "Swinburne" Fraser and Wardle 1975) and applied them to

Figure 4: A labor house founded on stiffened raft in Barakat

conditions in Barakat. He concluded that the existing methods are of limited use and
may not suit conditions in Sudan where the maximum heave exceeds the maximum
heave value for the three methods which is 101 mm, Only finite element programs
could suit the very high swelling soils of Sudan.

5.3. Pile Foundation

Piles in expansive soils are designed to act as anchors against uplift forces generated
by these soils. They should develop sufficient capacity to carry structural loads and
the movement of piles due to the net effect of uplift forces and structural loads
should be less than a prescribed limit [Poulos and Davis 1980]. The ultimate bearing

11
capacity Q u is the summation of the ultimate skin friction Q s and ultimate base
resistance Q b . For a circular pile Q s is obtained using the following equation:

Qs = п d L α Cu (1)

Where:
d: is the pile diameter
Cu: is the undrained shear strength of the soil along the pile shaft
L: is the pile length, and
α: is the adhesion factor

The undrained strength of the soil around the pile shaft is often obtained through
laboratory testing of representative soil samples around the pile, whereas the
adhesion factor varies according to the soil type, pile type and method of pile
installation. The ultimate base resistance is obtained using the following equation:

Q b = A b N c C ub (2)

A b : is the pile base area

N c : is end bearing capacity factor, and
C ub : is the undrained shear strength of the soil below the pile base

The end bearing capacity factor is a function of the soil type and its friction angle. A
factor of safety of about 3 is adopted for the computation of the allowable pile
capacity.

The design for uplift generally follows the simplified Chen (1975) method. Figure 5
shows the uplift forces within the active zone and the withholding (resisting) forces
within the anchorage zone. For a safe pile the withholding forces will resist the
uplift forces. The method assumes that uplift force is a function of the soil swelling
pressure within the active zone. The unit uplift pressure f u is the soil swelling

12
 pressure (SP) multiplied by an uplift factor (β). The uplift force along the active zone
is obtained using the following equation:

F u = п d Z a β SP (3)

Here Z a is the depth of active zone. Therefore, to compute the uplift force, the
designer needs to know the uplift factor, soil swelling pressure within the active zone
depth and active zone depth.

The resistance to uplift (W) is offered by the adhesion resistance of the withholding
part of the pile (L-Za) in Figure 5 and by the allowable load from the superstructure
(Q d ). It is given by the following equation:

W = п d α C u (L – Z a ) + Q d (4)

A safe design requires that the uplift force (F u ) should be less than or equal to the
withholding force or resistance (W). Equations (3) and (4) are equated and solved for
the safe pile length.

From the above, the parameters needed for the design of piles in expansive soils are:
the adhesion factor α, bearing capacity factor N c , uplift factor β and active zone
depth Z a .

Research was carried out at BRRI (Elsharief, 1987; Abu Sara 1991; Ahmed 2006) to find
the geotechnical parameters of interest for the design of piles in expansive soils.
Laboratory experiments showed that the adhesion factor is 0.45 for moisture content
below the plastic limit and linearly increased with moisture above the plastic limit. The
adhesion factor may be obtained using the following equation for moisture content (m.c.
in percentage) above the plastic limit

α = 0.045 m.c. - 0.407 (5)

13
 Qd

Ground Level

Za Fu
Active Zone

L Fa
Anchorage Zone

Figure 5: Forces acting on a pile in expansive soils

The end bearing capacity factor was back calculated from instrumented full scale load
tests and a value of 9 was attained. Uplift factor was found to be 0.2 from model pile
tests. Two piles 0.3 m diameter and 3.0 m long were casted in a site south of Khartoum.
One of the piles was load tested to failure under natural field conditions. The area around
the piles was flooded with water for 3 months and then the two piles were load tested to
failure. The results are given in Figure 6. The pile load tests showed significant drop in
ultimate capacity caused by wetting. This resulted in recommending higher factor of
safety (minimum 4.0).

14
 Load (Ton)
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55
0

10
Cumulative Settlment(mm)

20
Before Wetting (P2)
After Wetting (P1)
After Wetting (P2)
30

40

50

60

Figure 6: Load settlement curves for Test Piles (P1 & P2) before and after wetting.

Steel pipe piles have been extensively used to support light structures and pipe racks
in the clay plain of southern Sudan by petroleum companies. They are driven into the
clay by driving hammers. They have been chosen mainly because of the fast
installation and non-availability of construction materials, i.e. aggregates and sand in
these areas. Their performance is doubtful mainly because of the expected large drop
in capacity (skin resistance) of these piles on wetting of the surrounding clay.
Research is going on at BRRI to study their performance.

6. Conclusions
This paper reviewed and summarized the outcome of the research carried out by
graduate students from Building and road Research Institute in Sudan on the design
and performance of different foundation systems on expansive soils in Sudan. It
covers the local experience and also the suitability of worldwide existing design and
construction methods to conditions in Sudan. The topic is broad and diverse, therefore
the author could not cover the experience of other researchers and practitioners from

15
Sudan. For more detailed evaluation the reader is directed to review/go through the
cited references.

References
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Khartoum, Khartoum, Sudan

Ahmed, E. O (2005)” Guidelines for the Design of Piles in Expansive Soils”, M.Sc
in Building Technology (Geotechnical), Building and Road Research Institute,
University of Khartoum

Chen, F. H. (1975) ”Foundation on Expansive Soils”, Elsevier Co. Amsterdam

Elsharief A. M. (1987) “Foundation on Expansive Soils: A laboratory and Field

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16
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