A Broad Review on Treatment of Expansive Soils Using Mixing and Reinforcement Inclusion Treatment Techniques: A Comprehensive Review

Expansive soils are considered problematic soil due to the volumetric change occurrence because of moisture content variations. Such soils swell vertically and laterally as the moisture content increases inducing swelling pressures and strains damaging structures and causing distress to roadways. Yearly financial losses are reported due to expansive soil damages. Hung (2003) reported that the expansive soil damage in the USA led to an annual economic loss of 5.5 billion dollars in 1984 which increased to 7 billion dollars in 2003. These soils are estimated to cover 20% to 25% of the USA area. Ruwaih (1987) reported losses of millions of dollars due to buildings and pavement damage caused by swelling soils in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as the expansive soils cover about 800000 km² of the kingdom. In Egypt, severe damage is observed from expansive soils which are found in new desert cities, as the increase in population and economic growth fuel the development of such arid areas for urban expansion. These challenges have motivated the investigation of mixing and reinforcement inclusion techniques in this regard. The objective of this review article is to present two treatment techniques for treating expansive soils which are the mixing treatment technique and reinforcement inclusion treatment technique in order to eliminate the detrimental effect of such expansive soils on structures and make them more feasible for construction purposes. This paper contributes to the selection and application of mechanical and chemical treatment techniques.