Expansive clay soils have caused significant damage throughout the world. Chemical stabilizing agents have been used to reduce the swelling potential of expansive clay soils. However, how chemically treating soils affects the matric and osmotic suction of soils has not been investigated. Therefore, this research focused on the soil suction and swell behavior of chemically treated clay.; Two subject soils were chosen. One was from Irving, Texas with high swell potential. The other one was from Slater, Missouri with moderate swell potential. Hydrated lime and KIS (solution containing Potash and Ammonium Lignonsulfurnate) were used as chemical stabilizers. The basic physical and chemical properties and swell potential of selected soils before and after reacting with chemical stabilizers were determined. Also, the soil total suction, matric suction and osmotic suction were determined using a WP4 Dewpoint Potentiometer (WP4), the filter paper method and the electrical conductivity probe. Matric suction arises from capillary forces, soil texture, and adsorption forces of clay particles. Osmotic suction results from the balance of salt concentrations in soil water. When soils were reacted with chemical stabilizers, the osmotic suction dramatically increased due to the ion concentrations in the soil. However, osmotic and matric suctions and their effects on behavior of chemically treated clay have never been investigated before.; This research verified a practical method to determine osmotic and matric suction and determined the swell potential of the chemically treated soils, and correlated these with the soil suction and other soil properties.
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