Reducing Settlement and Collapse of Gypseous Soil Using Geotextile Reinforcement

Collapsible soils are problematic soils that have substantial strength while dry but lose strength when wet, resulting in excessive settlements. Soil collapse occurs when increasing moisture weakens chemical or physical connections between soil particles, allowing the soil structure to collapse. The existence of these soils, often with significant gypsum concentration, created serious challenges for structures and major projects. The primary goal of this study is to conduct a series of model tests subjected to static vertical stress to assess the ability of soil stabilization using geosynthetics material by employing single, double, and triple geotextile layers put at various places. A unique model test configuration was employed for this testing. The gypseous soil used was brought from near Sawa Lake by coordinates (31◦18′42.83″N, 45◦00′49.36″E) in Al-Muthanna Governorate. The gypsum content was more than (37%). It was found that, the ultimate bearing capacity of dry and wet gypseous soil models had been determined by using Two Tangent Intersection technique. The results show the Settlement Reduction Factor (SRF) % and the ratio of decreasing the collapse magnitude (Δed )