Drying shrinkage problems in high-plastic clay soils in Oklahoma.

PDFTech ReportOTCREOS11.1-09-FDTRT06-G-0016Clay soilsPlastic soilsShrinkageLongitudinal crackingSubgrade (Pavements)SpecimensMoisture contentTensile strengthPavement crackingOklahomaOklahoma Transportation CenterBulut, RifatZaman, MusharrafAmer, OmarMantri, SruthiChen, LizhouTian, YiTaghichian, AliOklahoma State University. School of Civil & Environmental EngineeringUnited States. Dept. of Transportation. Research and Innovative Technology AdministrationUS Transportation CollectionLongitudinal cracking in pavements due to drying shrinkage of high-plastic subgrade soils has been a majorproblem in Oklahoma. Annual maintenance to seal and repair these distress problems costs significant amount ofmoney to the state. The longitudinal cracks occur usually within the so-called edge moisture variation distance,where the climate plays a significant role in terms of changes in moisture content. The current study investigatedthe longitudinal drying shrinkage problems in pavement subgrade soils at three sites in Oklahoma. Two of thesites located in Norman and Oklahoma City are bike trails and the third site is along the Interstate Highway I-35 inArdmore. The soil specimens collected from these sites were tested for the basic index properties as well assuction and unsaturated diffusivity measurements. Various ranges of the test results have been implemented in asuction profile and tensile stress prediction models for evaluating the typical suction changes and thecorresponding tensile stresses in subgrade soil