Modelling the Heave of a Heavily Loaded Foundation

A method is presented to calculate the heave and the rate of heave of foundations resting on expansive soil deposits. The approach is based on a few simple laboratory tests to determine the swell proper of the soil mass and some field observations of the shrinkage crack network. The accuracy of the procedure is illustrated with an application to the cases of two heavily loaded slab foundations of a power plant, on which a long record of heave measurements was available.