Issues for consideration with arid soils in South Australia

This paper presents some issues that may require consideration during site investigations in arid portions of South Australia. Issues identified include moisture content and strength, the presence of duricrusts and cementation, the potential for collapse settlements and expansive movements, and a few aspects relating to the chemical composition of these soils. The aim of this paper is not to provide a detailed discussion of any of the areas identified. Rather the paper is intended to highlight some important characteristics that may not be considered by practitioners familiar with investigations in wetter climates.

Many of these issues are no more complicated than those addressed by investigations in wetter areas. However, in many cases the issues are less well understood, possibly because the typical remoteness and lower populations of many areas containing arid soils means that fewer investigations are performed and hence practitioners are given less exposure to these soils.

The properties of sand dunes which occur over much of the arid areas of South Australia have not been addressed by this paper as they are considered to be a separate topic.