ABSTRACT
In contrast to building materials such as steel and concrete, which can be specified and obtained with desired properties, soils cannot be “designed”. They are just there, they already exist at the construction site, with properties which are adequate or inadequate for the work to be done. There are alternatives for dealing with poor, inadequate soils. These include:
bypassing them, by either moving to a different site, or by carrying the foundation loads to better soils at greater depths
remove the poor soils and replace with better ones
redesign the structure and its foundations to impose lighter loads
treat the soil to improve its characteristics.
