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Collapse behavior of soil in a Brazilian region affected by a rising water table

Article in Canadian Geotechnical Journal · January 2011

DOI: 10.1139/T10-065

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 226

Collapse behavior of soil in a Brazilian region

affected by a rising water table
Orencio Monje Vilar and Roger Augusto Rodrigues
Can. Geotech. J. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by ESALQ ESCOLA SUPERIOR DE on 04/29/11

Abstract: Collapsible soils are usually nonsaturated, low density, and metastable-structured soils that are known to exhibit
a volume reduction following an episode of moisture increase or suction reduction. This paper describes the collapsible be-
havior of clayey sand based on controlled soil suction tests carried out on undisturbed samples from the city of Pereira
Barreto, in the State of São Paulo, Brazil. Foundation settlements due to soil collapse are common in this region and oc-
curred during the filling of the reservoir of the Três Irmãos Dam, which induced the elevation of the groundwater table in
different parts of Pereira Barreto. This paper shows that collapse strains depend on the stress and soil suction acting in the
sample and that saturation is not necessary for a collapse to occur. The influence of soil suction, gradual wetting, and the
wetting and drying cycle on the collapsible behavior of the soil is also shown and discussed.
Key words: unsaturated soils, collapse, soil suction, oedometric test.
Résumé : Les sols ayant un potentiel d’effondrement sont généralement des sols non saturés, à faible densité et de struc-
ture métastable qui présentent une réduction de volume suivant un épisode d’augmentation de l’humidité ou de réduction
de la succion. Cet article décrit le comportement en effondrement de sables argileux basé sur des essais de succion contrô-
lés réalisés sur des échantillons non remaniés de la ville de Pereira Barreto, dans l’état de Sao Paulo, au Brézil. Des tasse-
ments de fondations causés par l’effondrement du sol sont courants dans cette région et se sont produits lors du
remplissage du réservoir du barrage Três Irmaos, ce qui a engendré une élévation du niveau phréatique dans différentes
parties de Pereira Barreto. Cet article montre que les déformations lors d’effondrement dépendent de la contrainte et de la
For personal use only.

succion qui agissent sur l’échantillon, et que la saturation n’est pas nécessaire pour qu’un effondrement se produise. L’in-
fluence de la succion du sol, du mouillage graduel, et des cycles de mouillage-séchage sur le comportement en effondre-
ment du sol est aussi démontrée et discutée.
Mots-clés : sols non saturés, effondrement, succion du sol, essai odométrique.
[Traduit par la Rédaction]

Introduction stress applied to the soil. This procedure, albeit valid, does
not consider some issues related to the problem — espe-
Some soils under constant applied load show a volume
cially the soil suction — due to the limitations of the exper-
decrease related to an increase in moisture content. This
imental technique. Field evidence indicates that strain due to
wetting-induced or collapse strain is a typical feature of the
collapse may occur due to the gradual increase in moisture
so-called collapsible soils, which are usually nonsaturated,
content or, in other words, due to the gradual reduction in
low dry density, and metastable-structured soils (Feda 1966;
soil suction such as during rainy seasons or after a water or
Dudley 1970; Jennings and Knight 1975; Vilar et al. 1981).
sewage spill. In this case, volumetric variations can occur
Collapse strains induce settlements and can cause damage,
without saturation, but with the soil still presenting signifi-
such as cracks in walls, floor subsidence, and the impair-
cant soil suction, as shown by Escario and Saez (1973), Ta-
ment of water supply and sewage facilities. Figure 1 illus-
depalli et al. (1992), Vilar (1995), Machado and Vilar
trates architectural and structural problems caused by the
(1997), and others, when using controlled soil suction tests.
collapse of soil in the city of Pereira Barreto, SP, Brazil.
In the city of Pereira Barreto, Brazil, the construction of a
The characterization of soil collapse is traditionally per-
dam and canal have changed the local hydrogeological char-
formed using a conventional oedometric test in which a
acteristics and led to the gradual elevation of the water ta-
specimen, under a constant load and at a certain moisture
ble. As the rising water table induces moisture variations in
content, is flooded. Figure 2 shows typical results of a col-
the soil that can cause collapse strains, this paper describes
lapse test. The vertical lines indicate the stress at which the
the collapse behavior of soil from this city, based on results
samples were fully soaked and the additional deformations
from laboratory suction-controlled tests.
that arose upon soaking, which typically depend on the
Received 31 August 2009. Accepted 5 August 2010. Published Case history
on the NRC Research Press Web site at cgj.nrc.ca on 26 January
2011. The area studied is located in the northwest region of the
State of São Paulo, Brazil. The typical soil stratigraphy can
O.M. Vilar1 and R.A. Rodrigues. University of São Paulo, Av. be described as follows. The top layer consists of colluvium,
Dr. Carlos Botelho, 1465, 13560-250 – São Carlos – SP, Brazil.
which is very loose clayey fine sand, with the thickness
1Corresponding author (e-mail: orencio@sc.usp.br). varying between 5 and 10 m. This soil has been under the

Can. Geotech. J. 48: 226–233 (2011) doi:10.1139/T10-065 Published by NRC Research Press
 Vilar and Rodrigues
Fig. 1. Damage caused by collapsing soils in Pereira Barreto, Bra-
zil.
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For personal use only.
Fig. 2. Soil collapse development in oedometric tests. H, depth; s,
stress.
influence of laterization, a pedogenetic process that takes
away bases and silica, resulting in a soil composed of the
more resistant minerals, such as quartz, with iron oxides
and kaolinite forming its clay fraction. The colluvium layer
227
rests on residual sandstone soil, also clayey fine sand, with a
density index ranging from very loose to medium dense. Be-
tween the layers of colluvium and residual sandstone soil,
there is usually a layer of soil concretions a few centimetres
thick. A representative soil log with standard penetration test
(SPT) values is illustrated in Fig. 3.
In this area, a hydroelectric complex, composed of three
large power plants, was built to supply the electrical energy
for the State of São Paulo and the center-south region of
Brazil. The Três Irmãos Dam is the largest hydroelectric
power plant in this complex and was built on the River
Tietê; it is 50 m in height and 3640 m long with a 785 km2
reservoir.
The construction of the Três Irmãos Dam and the Pereira
Barreto Canal (an interconnection between the Três Irmãos
and Ilha Solteira dam reservoirs) together with the geo-
graphical–geomorphological position of the region resulted
in the city of Pereira Barreto being situated in a peninsula
formed by the Três Irmãos reservoir. Because it was ex-
pected that this new scenario would introduce major changes
in the economy and landscape (Santos 2002), the company
responsible for the hydroelectric power plant project devised
many studies to assess impacts and help with preventive and
corrective measures.
Among the many concerns were the areas in the city of
Pereira Barreto that were known to be susceptible to soil
collapse due to the gradual filling of the Três Irmãos reser-
voir. Thus, an attempt was made to identify the potential in-
fluence of the filling of the reservoir through risk zoning
analysis. More than 1000 buildings were identified as poten-
tially affected by the rise in groundwater and possible col-
lapse strains, and some of these buildings were selected for
settlement and water level monitoring (Albuquerque Filho
2002).
Extensive experimental laboratory and field programs
were carried out by the company that was responsible for
the hydroelectric power plant project to characterize the soil
collapse. Apart from exploratory boring with SPTs, cone
penetration tests and monitoring of both settlements and ris-
ing of the water table were carried out at approximately 20
building sites, specifically to evaluate soil collapse strains.
Figure 4 presents some data from monitoring one of these
buildings and includes the groundwater level rise as well as
the corresponding settlement of three marks with time (Ces-
tari and Celeri 1999). The elevation of the water level in the
residual soil did not introduce settlement, which begins to
develop when water approaches the base of the collapsible
soil. At this point, large collapse settlement begins and is
probably related to capillary water flow, but without satura-
tion of the collapsible soil. When the water level reaches the
base of the collapsible soil and moisture gradually rises to a
high elevation, settlement continues to increase and reaches
about 100 mm at the settlement mark S-5. The different
magnitudes of settlement that were measured in the same
building can be attributed to the different loads acting on
the soil as well as the differences in rigidity of the building
and its foundation components.
Monitoring was systematically performed from 1987 to
1994 and showed that the groundwater rose by 20 m, lead-
ing to settlements and cracks in buildings. As a result of
monitoring and complementary investigation, the owner of
Published by NRC Research Press
 228
Fig. 3. Typical soil profile of Pereira Barreto, Brazil (modified
from CESP 1988).
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For personal use only.
the hydroelectric complex has adopted remediation measures
as part of compensatory actions for the dam construction
(Albuquerque Filho 2002). These actions included the fol-
lowing: fixing damaged buildings, relocating and construct-
ing new wastewater and water pipeline networks,
constructing a new water treatment plant and sanitary land-
fill, and refurbishing the cemetery. As many as 300 build-
ings were refurbished, and many homes were constructed to
accommodate people whose homes had been demolished.
Materials and methods
Soil-water retention curves
Tests were performed to determine the soil-water reten-
tion curves with undisturbed soil specimens and with speci-
mens previously loaded at 50, 100, and 400 kPa. The water
retention curves were obtained following drying paths and
using different techniques. The porous plate funnel method
was used for low soil suction (ASTM 2002); the pressure
plate (ASTM 2009) and filter paper (ASTM 2003b) methods
were also used to cover a wide range of soil suctions.
The results obtained were fitted according to the van Gen-
uchten (1980) equation, expressed in terms of gravimetric
moisture content
 
1 sider two curves: one encompassing the data until
½1 w ¼ wr þ ðws  wr Þ
½1 þ ðasÞn m
where wr and ws are the residual and saturation water con-
tents, respectively; a, m, and n are retention curve form
parameters; and s is the soil suction.
Can. Geotech. J. Vol. 48, 2011
Oedometric tests with controlled soil suction
The tests with controlled soil suction were carried out in
oedometric cells similar to the one developed by Escario
and Saez (1973) using specimens that were 70 mm in diam-
eter and 20 mm high. These cells were equipped with high
air-entry porous stones that allowed the imposition and con-
trol of soil matric suction using the axis translation techni-
que (Hilf 1956). Figure 5 displays the suction-controlled
oedometer. To apply suction, the specimens were first wet-
ted to reduce the soil suction to zero and then the air pres-
sure was raised to the target value, allowing specimens to
drain until equilibrium. The influence of suction on soil
compressibility was studied by testing seven specimens that
were monotonically loaded under constant soil suction that
varied between 0 and 400 kPa.
The strains due to collapse were studied by testing eight
specimens. In these tests, initial suctions of 60 and 200 kPa
were imposed on the specimens. Specimens were then
loaded to a target stress, allowing for the stabilization of the
strains. Subsequently, the specimens were gradually wetted,
thus reducing soil suction in steps. When the suction
reached 10 kPa, a cycle of suction was applied by increasing
the suction to 30 kPa, reducing it to 10 kPa, and finally re-
ducing it to 0 kPa.
Test results and analysis
Soil studied
The soil used in this study was obtained from a site where
it is assumed that the rising groundwater table did not mod-
ify the original soil characteristics. This site is situated on
the highest portion of the city, where the water level is
more than 10 m deep. An exploratory well was dug in this
location for disturbed and undisturbed sample collection at
a depth of 1 m. Tensiometers were installed to measure soil
suction, which varied between 10 and 60 kPa. The larger
value was measured in the drier season of the year, which
extends between June and October.
Table 1 shows the average physical indices of the soil.
The studied soil showed low moisture content and low val-
ues of dry unit mass, and consequently, low levels of satura-
tion, which are typical characteristics of collapsible soils.
The soil was classified as clayey sand (SC) in the Unified
Soil Classification System (ASTM 2003a) and A-2-4 in the
American Association of State Highway and Transportation
Officials (AASHTO) Soil Classification System (ASTM
1994).
Soil-water retention curves
Figure 6 shows the results of tests to determine the soil-
water retention curve, together with the fitted van Gen-
uchten (1980) equation. The large suction range that could
be measured by the paper-filter method showed a soil-water
retention curve typical of soils with a bi-modal pore distri-
bution. To fit the experimental data, it was necessary to con-
approximately 2000 kPa of suction and the other for suction
above that value. Regarding the air-entry pressure, the ob-
served value of approximately 2 kPa was expected due to
the sandy texture and high soil porosity. The sandy nature
of the soil can also be confirmed during draining because
Published by NRC Research Press
 Vilar and Rodrigues
Fig. 4. Water level and settlement monitoring of building in Pereira Barreto, Brazil (data from Cestari and Celeri 1999).
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Fig. 5. Schematic of suction-controlled oedometric cell. Patm, atmo-
spheric pressure.
For personal use only.
most of the water content reduction is associated with a
small variation of suction, between approximately 2 and
100 kPa.
Figure 7 shows the soil-water retention curves for speci-
mens that were tested after reaching equilibrium under a
known load. Loading compressed the samples, reducing
mainly the macropores and affecting the initial portion of
the soil-water retention curve, below 10 kPa of suction. As
a result, the water content at saturation decreased, whereas
air-entry pressures tended to increase slightly with loading.
Most drainage had taken place at up to 100 kPa of suction,
as was the case with the sample tested without any loading.
The characteristics near the residual condition remained un-
altered, thus confirming that loading is capable of reducing
the macropores, but does not affect the micropores.
Table 2 presents the fitting parameters of the van Gen-
uchten (1980) equation that showed the coefficient of deter-
229
mination, r2, higher than 0.94, thus indicating a nice curve
fitting.
Constant suction tests
Figure 8 shows the curves of the tests carried out with
constant suction. These results show that increasing suction
causes an increase of soil rigidity and distinct curves are ob-
tained, with their recompression part increasing with suc-
tion.
To illustrate the influence of soil suction on soil overcon-
solidation, Fig. 9 plots the preconsolidation or yield stress
deduced considering the Casagrande method, where it is evi-
dent that yield stress increases with suction at a rate that
tends to decrease as the larger suction used in the tests is
approached. The influence of moisture reduction on the in-
crease in preconsolidation stress is in accordance with the
information provided by several authors, among them Dud-
ley (1970) and Jennings and Knight (1975), while Alonso et
al. (1990) present similar results taking into account the suc-
tion as a controlling variable. The experimental data were
fitted considering the following empirical relationship be-
tween the suction, s (kPa), and the preconsolidation stress,
sv0 (kPa):
 s 
½2 s v0 ðsÞ ¼ 26:7 þ
0:008s þ 1:153
In this equation, the constant 26.7 kPa is the preconsolida-
tion stress for saturated conditions.
The empirical curve in Fig. 9 separates the (sv – ua, s)
plane, where sv is vertical stress and ua is pore-air pressure,
in two regions and can be considered as a possible represen-
tation of a loading–collapse (LC) curve. This concept was
first proposed by Alonso et al. (1990) when developing an
elastoplastic model for unsaturated soils, now known as the
Barcelona Basic Model (BBM). According to this concept,
any state of stress within the area on the left of the experi-
mental points will produce elastic, recoverable strains. A
state of stress, such as an increase of (sv – ua), decrease of
s or both, that crosses the LC curve will take the curve to a
Published by NRC Research Press
 230 Can. Geotech. J. Vol. 48, 2011

Table 1. Average soil characteristics.

Percent by weight
Sr wL wP
r (g/cm3) w (%) rd (g/cm3) rs (g/cm3) e N (%) (%) (%) (%) Sand Silt Clay
1.574 6.95 1.471 2.682 0.825 44.5 22.8 18 11 79 6 15
Note: r, density; w, water content; rd, dry density; rs; particle density; e, void ratio; N, porosity; Sr, degree of saturation; wL, liquid
limit; wP, plastic limit.
Fig. 6. Soil-water retention curve of undisturbed sample. Fig. 7. Soil-water retention curves of previously loaded specimens.
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new position and enlarge the elastic zone. As a consequence,

some plastic, unrecoverable compressive deformation will
take place. The mechanical behavior of unsaturated soils
can be modeled based on the LC curve and additional elastic
and compressibility parameters as presented in the BBM.
However, collapse strains forecasted by the BBM are known
to increase with suction. This is a characteristic of the BBM
and provisions to adapt the model for soils that have shown
a collapse maximum have been presented, for instance, by
Josa et al. (1992); however, to discuss these adaptations is
beyond the scope of this text.
The influence of suction on the slope of the virgin com-
pression curve or compression index (Cc) is shown in
Fig. 10. The experimental data were fitted with eq. [3] that
shows a hyperbolic relationship between suction, s (kPa),
and compression index, Cc
 s  1 þ e0
½3 Cc ðsÞ ¼ 0:224 þ
19s þ 647:9
where Cc(s) is the compression index for a known suction;
the constant 0.224 is the compression index of saturated soil.
In this figure, the compression index increases with suc-
tion, and the trend of the results foresees a limit for the
slope of the virgin compression curve for high soil suction
because an asymptotic value is approached. In some instan-
ces, a decrease of the compression index with suction has
been reported (Alonso et al. 1990); however, an increase of
that index with suction, as measured in this study, has been
observed by many authors, such as Wheeler and Sivakumar
(1995), among others. In this regard, it can be assumed for a
given stress that the void ratio difference between the soil at
a known suction and saturation will determine the collapse
strain. Thus, increasing the compression index with suction
will result in converging curves and in collapse strains that
reach a maximum with load and then decrease, as is the
case with the results from the studied soil reported in
Figs. 11 to 13.
Soil collapse tests
Figures 11 and 12 show the results of the tests to induce
soil collapse, which were performed with a gradual reduc-
tion of soil suction and wetting and drying cycles. Collaps-
ing can be identified by the discontinuity in the compression
curves, where additional strain arises upon wetting, but
without any load increase. This strain can be calculated us-
ing the Jennings and Knight (1975) equation
Dec DHc
½4 CP ¼  100% or CP ¼  100%
H0
where CP is the collapse potential, Dec is the variation of
the void ratio due to wetting, e0 is the initial void ratio;
DHc is the height variation of the sample after wetting, and
H0 is the initial height of the sample.
Figure 13 plots the collapse potential (CP) against net ver-
tical stress (sv – ua). The collapse potential reaches a maxi-
mum and then reduces with increasing stress. The vertical
stress at which the soil presented greater collapse potential
was nearly 100 kPa for both suctions used in the tests, 60
and 200 kPa. Similar results were obtained for natural and
compacted samples by Dudley (1970), Booth (1975), and
Wheeler and Sivakumar (1995). Although the collapse varia-
tion with stress maintained the same trend for both sets of
tests, the initial soil suction also influenced the magnitude
of collapse strain because the greatest strain occurred for
samples with an initial soil suction of 200 kPa. This behav-

Published by NRC Research Press

 Vilar and Rodrigues 231

Table 2. Fitting parameters of van Genuchten (1980) equation.

Type ws (%) wr (%) a (kPa–1) m n r2

(1) 30.8 4.6 0.4249 0.4282 1.8420 0.940
(2) 4.6 0.9 0.0001 0.9248 13.302 0.960
(a) 28.26 5.58 0.2836 0.5255 1.9556 0.997
(b) 22.90 5.60 0.2796 0.3584 2.4907 0.966
(c) 19.94 6.20 0.0016 10.0261 0.6358 0.998
Note: (1) until approximately 2000 kPa of suction; (2) above 2000 kPa of suction; (a),
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(b), and (c), after applying 50, 100, and 400 kPa of net vertical stress, respectively.

Fig. 8. Compression curves of soil with different suctions. ua, pore- Fig. 10. Influence of soil suction on the compression index (Cc) of
air pressure; sv, vertical stress. the soil.
For personal use only.

Fig. 11. Compression curves of specimens under initial suction of

60 kPa and collapse strains.

Fig. 9. Influence of soil suction on the preconsolidation stress of

the soil.

ior may be associated with the larger rigidity attained by the
soil at larger suction, which tends to compress less than the
same soil with lower suction. As a consequence, there is
room for large deformation when the suction is reduced,
and the soil reaches a new equilibrium condition.
In Fig. 14, the CPs of the tests that used specimens with
200 kPa of initial suction are plotted as a function of the
suction. In this figure, the progressive reduction of the soil
suction, the wetting and drying cycle, and corresponding
collapse development are shown. Each of these curves corre-
sponds to specimens loaded to stresses that varied between
50 and 400 kPa.
The first peculiarity of the test results is that the collapse
potential at zero suction reaches a maximum value, which
tends to decrease as the stress is increased, as already de-
picted in Fig. 13. The collapse development with suction re-
duction tends to begin at a relatively large suction, close to
the initial suction applied to the specimen when the net ver-
tical stress is large; this can be seen in the specimens tested
under 100, 200, and 400 kPa of stress. In addition, for the

Published by NRC Research Press

 232
Fig. 12. Compression curves of specimens under initial suction of
200 kPa and collapse strains.
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Fig. 13. Collapse potential (CP) versus net vertical stress.
For personal use only.
larger stresses used in the tests, most of the collapse strain
arises before zero suction. However, the largest collapse
strain is associated with zero suction for all tested suctions
and vertical stresses.
Soil collapse results in deformations that are linked with a
soil shear strength reduction. As is known, the particles of
collapsible soils are kept in their position by the action of
some temporary bonding, such as soluble cement or soil
suction (Dudley 1970). The present soil is highly weathered,
thus the main mechanism to maintain its structure is suction
as the test results show. When the soil is loaded, some de-
formation is needed to mobilize the necessary shear strength
to resist the shear stresses generated at the contacts between
the soil particles. As suction is reduced, the shear strength is
also reduced and new equilibrium conditions must develop.
For the specimens with an initial suction of 200 kPa, the re-
duction of suction to 100 kPa does not cause collapse defor-
mation because the available shear strength at this suction is
able to resist the shear stresses acting in the soil. However,
when the applied stresses are larger than 100 kPa and the
suction is reduced below 100 kPa, the shear strength is re-
duced to a value not sufficient to resist the acting shear
Can. Geotech. J. Vol. 48, 2011
Fig. 14. Collapse potential after reducing and cycling of soil suc-
tion. Initial suction of 200 kPa.
stresses and the particles slip to a new position, generating
deformation. The continuous process of suction reduction re-
duces the soil shear strength and takes the soil to new equi-
librium conditions that result in additional deformation until
zero suction is reached when the maximum collapse defor-
mation takes place. For the initial suction of 200 kPa and
applied stress of 50 kPa, the shear strength at a suction as
low as 10 kPa is able to support the shear stresses in the par-
ticle contacts and minimal collapse deformation is observed.
Significant collapse deformation only occurs when the soil
suction is reduced below 10 kPa.
In the field, soils are under seasonal climatic variation,
which is responsible for moisture and suction variations dur-
ing the year. Thus, the type of influence that the cycling of
suction could introduce in the strains during the life of a
building was investigated. Figure 14 shows that suction cy-
cling between 10 and 30 kPa did not introduce additional
significant strain regardless of the vertical stress applied to
the specimen. This result suggests that the studied soil, once
reaching equilibrium under some stress and suction, will not
significantly deform by the cycling of suction above the
equilibrium value of suction. However, once the suction is
reduced below that value, additional collapse strain will oc-
cur, bringing the soil to a new equilibrium condition under
the acting stress and suction.
Conclusion
The collapsible behavior of a nonsaturated soil from a
Brazilian region affected by the gradual rise of the ground-
water table was studied using suction-controlled tests. The
test results show that collapse strains depend on the net ver-
tical stress and suction. The soil showed maximum collapse
strains at about 100 kPa of stress, after which they decreased
with increasing stress. Moreover, the initial soil suction of
samples influenced the magnitude of the collapse strain and,
for the same vertical stress, the larger suction induced a
large strain upon soil wetting or suction reduction.
The gradual reduction of suction caused collapse develop-
ment that was dependent upon net vertical stress. The larger
the stress, the more the collapse strain was distributed with
suction reduction. For low stress, significant collapse strain
Published by NRC Research Press
 Vilar and Rodrigues
started to develop only at low suction, below 10 kPa. How-
ever, the largest strain took place at zero suction, regardless
of the net vertical stress.
The cycling of suction did not introduce additional signif-
icant strain in the specimens, suggesting that after reaching
equilibrium under some stress and suction, additional col-
lapse will take place if the suction is reduced below the
equilibrium value.
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Acknowledgment
The authors are indebted to Fundação de Amparo à Pes-
quisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) for funding this re-
search.
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