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If a soil is composed of at least 5 percent of these clay minerals by weight, it could have the ability to shrink and swell. [3] This property is measured using coefficient of linear extensibility (COLE) values. If a soil has a COLE value greater than 0.06, then it can cause structural damage. [2] A COLE value of 0.06 means that 100 inches of ...
Synthetic polymers began replacing other chemical binders for soil stabilization in agriculture in the late 20th century. [1] Compared to traditional chemical binders, polymer soil additives can achieve the same amount of strengthening at much lower concentrations – for example, mixtures of 0.5-1% of various biopolymers have strength levels that match or exceed those of 10% cement mixtures ...
Caliche fossil forest on San Miguel Island, California. Caliche (/ k ə ˈ l iː tʃ iː /) (unrelated to the street-slang "Caliche" spoken in El Salvador) is a soil accumulation of soluble calcium carbonate at depth, where it precipitates and binds other materials—such as gravel, sand, clay, and silt.
Alkali, or alkaline, soils are clay soils with high pH (greater than 8.5), a poor soil structure and a low infiltration capacity. Often they have a hard calcareous layer at 0.5 to 1 metre depth. Alkali soils owe their unfavorable physico-chemical properties mainly to the dominating presence of sodium carbonate , which causes the soil to swell ...
Dispersion is a process that occurs in soils that are particularly vulnerable to erosion by water. In soil layers where clays are saturated with sodium ions ("sodic soils"), soil can break down very easily into fine particles and wash away. This can lead to a variety of soil and water quality problems, including:
A fundamental problem with using natural materials (wood, cotton, etc.) in a buried environment is the biodegradation that occurs from microorganisms in the soil. With the advent of polymers in the middle of the 20th century a much more stable material became available.
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Rammed earth is both an old and newer take on creating walls, once made by compacting clay soils between planks by hand; nowadays forms and mechanical pneumatic compressors are used. [10] Soil, and especially clay, provides good thermal mass; it is very good at keeping temperatures at a constant level. Homes built with earth tend to be ...