References for Expansive Soils in Colorado

1. Special Publication 43, A Guide to Swelling Soils for Colorado Homebuyers and
Homeowners.

http://planttalk.colostate.edu/topics/soils-amendments-composting/1617-expansive-soils/
All major population centers in Colorado are partially located on expansive soils. These soils,
called bentonite, contain a clay mineral that swells when it gets wet and shrinks upon drying.

Swelling soils cause damage to thousands of homes every year. The extent of the damage varies
from cracked driveways and sidewalks to severe structural deformation. There are several practices
that will allow you to grow a landscape that complements your home, while avoiding the
potentially damaging effects of swelling soils and perhaps mitigate the damage to your home.

Begin landscaping with a site that has been graded so water drains away from the house. Plant
vegetation no closer than five feet from the foundation, unless the plants have very low water
requirements. Xeriscape-type groundcovers and mulches are especially useful near houses because
they can help reduce extreme moisture fluctuations.

Don’t allow sprinkler systems to spray any closer than five feet from the foundation, and plant
trees no closer than fifteen feet from the foundation. It is important to carefully regulate water
applied near the foundation. Avoid the temptation to remove downspout extensions to harvest
water for flower beds near the house.

For more information, see the following Colorado State University Extension fact sheet(s).

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Most of the Front Range and the Eastern Plains are underlain with soils that are expansive,
including most of Logan, Morgan and Washington Counties in the northeast corner of the state
where more than half of the soils have high swelling potential. Only the eastern portion of El Paso
County, east of Colorado Springs, even falls in the moderate category, with less than half of its
soils showing moderate swelling potential. The rest of the Front Range is average or above.

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Potential Damage
Expansive soil can be found in all 50 U.S. states and, according to the American Society of Civil
Engineers, as many as 25% of U.S. homes are at risk. In fact, expansive soils cause more financial
losses for insurance companies in a typical year than all natural disasters combined.

The term refers to soils that contain water-absorbing minerals, such as certain clays, that expand
as they absorb water. Although all soils contain minerals, it’s those with a high-concentration of
expansive minerals like smectite, bentonite, montmorillonite, beidellite, vermiculite, attapulgite,
nontronite, illite and chlorite that are particularly at risk. Expansive soils are also known as
“expandable soils,” “expansive clays,” “shrink-swell soils” and “heavable soils.”

Not surprisingly, when the ground under and around a structure gets wet and starts moving—and
some expansive soils can expand and shrink by more than 10% depending on the water content—
significant forces are exerted on the structure itself. This can cause damage ranging from
foundation shifting, basement wall and floor cracking and other problems, including damage to
above-ground structures related to these foundation movements.

In addition to swelling when water is added, these expansive minerals also shrink as they dry out,
which can cause ground cracking and foundation pull-back, which removes needed structural
supports and can cause further shifting. Fissures, or cracks in the ground itself, can also form in
dry expansive soils, allowing moisture to penetrate deeper underground, causing further structural
damage and exacerbating the shrink-expand cycle.

Identify the Problems

For homeowners on Colorado’s Front Range, it’s a safe bet that the ground underneath their homes
is at least somewhat expansive. As mentioned, conditions range from moderate to significant
across most of the eastern half of the state, but everywhere there is at least a chance of soil-related
damage. It is only a question of how much risk you face.

Questions about what you see? Wondering what to do if your home is located on particularly
expansive soil?

http://coloradogeologicalsurvey.org/geologic-hazards/swelling-soils/

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From the paper of Thompson, R.W., Swelling Testing as a Predictor of Structural Performance,
7th International Conference on Expansive Soils, 1992, it investigated the correlation of the
damage of the houses to the underlain soil profiles or properties. The factors considered in this
study includes blow count, depth to bedrock, percent swell, swell pressure, water content, dry
density, and inter-relationship of variables. It concluded that when the houses were built with slabs
on claystone, the percentage of houses decreased uniformly as depth to bedrock increased, the
percentage of houses requiring repair increases as the percent swell increases. Houses built on
claystone with a swell pressure of 10 ksf or greater experienced much more damage than those
built on claystone with a swell pressure of less than 10 ksf. Houses built on claystone with a water
content of less than 19 percent have a much higher percentage of houses damaged than those built
on claystone with a water content of 19 percent or greater. This moisture content was judged to be
near the plastic limit for many local claystone. The percentage of houses damaged generally
increased as dry density increased. Most claystones that exceed 4 percent swell have a swell
pressure greater than 10 ksf. When the water content is greater than 19 percent and swell percent
less than 7 percent have a low damage percentage. For slabs on clays, the houses damaged
generally increased as the blow count increased, depth to bedrock less than 14 ft, swell percent
greater than 5 percent, no strong trend with swell pressure, dry density, and water content. The
most important factors were the percent swell and depth to bedrock.

Fuhua Chen, 1975, Foundations on Expansive Soils

Swelling Pressure in excess of 5000 psf, a pier foundation will be required, the swelling pressure
exerted on the shaft of the pier can be many times greater than the pressure exerted at the bottom
of the pier, therefore, sometimes, anchorage of the pier in a zone not affected by moisture change
should be used to assist the dead load pressure requirement.
When swelling pressure less than 5000 psf, a spread footing foundation can be used.
Initial density, whether undisturbed or remolded, is the only element that affects the swelling
pressure.