Swelling properties of clays, a major risk factor for the infrastructure projects

Swelling and shrinking properties refers to significant positive or negative variations of volumes due absorbtion dessication water in fine soils under natural anthropic regime moisture. These physical phenomena are worldwide spread had important engineering consequences with associates cost damages several billion annually all climate areas. In spite the fact that these geotechnical studied for more than eight decades, particularities peculiar relations between water, mineral composition geomechanical behavior still unrevealed entirely. Romania, swell/shrink reported regions at different depths, but rarely related accidents such as slope slides road failures. This work presents some obvious hydrogeological structure, presence “large soils”, their mineralogical ubiquitous landslides on Peri Carpathians Hills. Large infrastructure projects offer opportunities put into evidence swelling Upper Pliocene-Lower Pleistocene deposits, which supports Holocene alluvial deposits Argeş River. Analyzed samples allow us define basic correlations plasticity index, colloidal fraction, dry density, pressures free composition.