Studying Consolidation Characteristics of Ohio Clays Using GIS

Geographical information systems (GIS) can be useful in gathering information for soil properties especially at the preliminary design phases of projects. However, the usefulness and accuracy of the GIS analysis depend on the database that it relies on. The database becomes usually more populated around metropolitan areas or major cities, simply because of the increased need for infrastructure to serve larger population in and around these cities. A total of 255 consolidation test data collected from numerous transportation projects in the State of Ohio were analyzed, corrected for sample disturbance using Schmertmann\u27s correction, and entered into a GIS database for analysis. The analyses indicate that reasonably accurate compression index (Cc) values can be obtained both in metropolitan areas and statewide. The paper presents the database, the uses of GIS with spreadsheets to analyze the data, and several compression index correlations developed for Ohio soils