Abstract
Sabkha deposits cover extensive areas along the Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf shores. They are the site of huge industrial complexes in spite of their low bearing capacity of its upper part. The strength of the Sabkha soil is controlled by several factors, among them are the evaporatic salts that cement the grains. The Standard Penetration Test (SPT) is used extensively in this terrain but its results are misleading. The Sabkha soil that may give high N value will lose most of its strength upon wetting as part of the salts are dissolved. Therefore, the design N value was adjusted for Sabkhas to account for salt migration, by relating the SPT (N) value to the Sabkha moisture and salt content. A steel structure factory that was placed in an eastern Saudi Arabian virgin Sabkha deposits was considered. After a few years of operation fresh water leaked through the ground and caused significant differential collapse settlement which threatened the functional integrity of the superstructure. The differential settlement was confined to one area of the structure indicating that localized conditions must have contributed to the observed settlement. The subsurface conditions and the geotechnical properties of the site are presented. A statistical model was developed that quantifies the effect of the moisture and salt content on SPT (N) values. A simple site procedure is suggested to correct the design N value in similar cases. It was found that the increase in the moisture content could reduce the SPT (N) values by as much as 60%, good agreements were found between the measured and predicted N values.