Problems and Treatment of Black Cotton Soil

Abstract

Black cotton soil covers more than twenty percentage geographical area of India. It is spread over Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and some other parts of India as well. Expansive soils containing high clay content are susceptible to unfavorable volumetric changes. Volume change occurs with change in the moisture content of soil. Black cotton soil shrink and swell with decrease and increase in water content respectively. This behaviour is attributed to the presence of a clay mineral called as montmorillonite. Light weight and small structures are more susceptible to damages due to relatively small overburden pressure.