THE BEHAVIOR OF DENSIFIED SOIL-WATER MIXTURES UNDER VERY ADVERSE WATER CONDITIONS

AN INVESTIGATION WAS CONDUCTED ON THE OMAHA MUNICIPAL AIRPORT RUNWAYS FOLLOWING THE MISSOURI RIVER FLOOD OF APRIL 1943 IN ORDER TO DETERMINE THE EFFECT OF FLOOD WATERS ON THE DENSITY AND WATER CONTENT OF THE DENSIFIED SOIL SUBBASES AND THE SOIL-AGGREGATE BASES. PLASTICITY INDICES WERE DETERMINED ON ALL SUBBASE SAMPLES. RESULTS ARE SUMMARIZED AS FOLLOWS: (1) ALL SUBGRADE SOILS WERE SATURATED; (2) OF 97 SUBGRADE SAMPLES ONLY 14 HAD A DENSITY LESS THAN THE REQUIRED MINIMUM DENSITY, AND ONLY 9 HAD A GREATER WATER CONTENT THAN OPTIMUM FOR THE SPECIFIED DENSITY; AND (3) OF 112 BASE SAMPLES, ONLY 12 HAD A LOWER DENSITY THAN MINIMUM SPECIFIED, AND ONLY 8 HAD A GREATER WATER CONTENT THAN OPTIMUM. IN GENERAL, THE TESTS SUPPORT THE CONTENTION THAT THE WATER HOLDING CAPACITY OF COMPACTED SOILS AND SOIL-AGGREGATE MIXTURES CAN BE RESTRICTED. /AUTHOR/