Unpredictable Behaviour of Gypseous/Gypsiferous Soil: An Overview: Fid-Bau Portal

Unpredictable Behaviour of Gypseous/Gypsiferous Soil: An Overview

Jha, Arvind Kumar / Sivapullaiah, P. V.

Abstract Geo-climatic environmental conditions lead to the formation of gypsum-rich soils which occur in dry condition throughout world where the annual quantity of rain water is insufficient for leaching the gypsum from these soils. Soils containing gypsum, also known as gypseous/gypsiferous soil, are not preferred as a construction material; however, the scarcity of land and an increase in the utilization of soils for construction purpose have drawn an attention of research community to address the associated problems for its effective uses. The present article reviews the physico-chemical behaviour of gypsum, sources of gypsum in the soils, and also reveals the misconceptions on the suitable terminology used for soil containing gypsum. Further, the various methods proposed to identify the gypsum containing soil are discussed. The problems due to the phase transformation and its solubility characteristics of gypsum on the different construction activities are also reviewed in brief. The purpose of present article is to acquaint the impact of gypsum in the properties of different soils and to bring out the different methods available for stabilizing the gypsum containing soil. The refinements herein proposed aim to help understand the various aspects of gypseous soil and to institute the further research to be done in this topic.