ABSTRACT
Soil mechanics investigators dealing with classical geotechnical problems such as slope stability and settlement of buildings, have always sought to understand the various mechanisms and physico-chemical processes upon which to develop their mathematical models for prediction of soil behaviour. This led to the fruitful cooperation between mineralogists and soil engineers exemplified by I.Th. Rosenqvist and L. Bjerrum in Norway, and by T.W. Lambe and various soil physicists such as H. van Olphen and P.F. Low in the United States half a century ago. Their work deepened our understanding of the relationships between the microstructure and bulk physical properties of illitic and kaolinitic clays, especially in respect to the importance of the physical state of the porewater. Much less was known about smectitic clays – to a very large extent because of the limited use of the material. However, in the past two decades emphasis on the use of swelling clays for buffer and barrier systems in the containment and isolation of hazardous and non-hazardous waste materials requires us to obtain a better understanding of such clays. A considerable portion of the material contained in this book has been developed in conjunction with international and Swedish research and development work on the requirements for safe isolation of high level radioactive waste (HLW).
