ABSTRACT
As discussed in Chapter 13, the Shrinkage Limit defines the lower limit of Water Content below which no further reduction shrinkage of a soil mixture takes place. The does not really give an indication of how much shrinkage may occur; it just defines the lower bound. An alternative to the Shrinkage Limit test for evaluating shrinkage characteristics is the Linear Shrinkage test, which gives a direct measure of how much shrinkage a soil undergoes as it dries. Like the Shrinkage Limit test, since it is performed on remolded soil, the Linear Shrinkage test provides a simple index of soil behavior, in this case shrinkage potential. The test provides very good results that are very simple to obtain and does not require expensive or complicated equipment and does not use any hazardous material, e.g., mercury.
