Development and Application of Meso-scale Soil Test System

Abstract

This paper describes the design and fabrication of a new Mesoscale Soil Test System. This equipment is developed to find out innovative solutions for the construction of civil infrastructures on problematic soils, such as expansive clays. Expansive clays occur in the city of Regina and exhibit large amount of volume change due to seasonal climatic changes. The conventional laboratory test methods are not able to capture the field conditions of expansive clays. Development of modified testing methods can support geotechnical investigations for expansive soils. Meso-scale Oedometer Test System (MOTS) was fabricated at The University of Regina to take the advantage of testing an undisturbed Meso-scale soil samples (24 inches diameter). The (MOTS) is developed with approximate cost of $ 285,000 and is funded by Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI). A high quality undisturbed sample of Regina clay was recently retrieved with the help of the Saskatchewan Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure. The cost of sample acquisition was about $5,000 including the personnel time, backhoe operation, and transportation. MOTS apparatus will be provided with different sensors to measure the changes in loading, deformations and soil pressures.