This paper aims to explore the influence of silt content on frost heaving properties of gravel soil, and provide theoretical basis for anti-freezing expansion design in practical engineering. A series of indoor frost heave tests were conducted to study the heaving properties of gravel soil under the same degree of saturation with different silt content, and under the same silt content with different moisture content using the improved experiment device. The test results show that the frost heaving ratio increased with the increase of silt content at unchanged degree of saturation in sealed environment, indicating high silt content can result in large frost heaving, so the control of silt content is an effective measure for prevention of gravel soil frost heaving. The frost heaving ratio increased with the increase of moisture content at unchanged silt content in sealed environment, indicating the frost heaving ratio is influenced by both the silt content and moisture content, so waterproof and drainage and control of the silt content are both important. It is conventionally believed that gravel soil does not have obvious frost heave due to large grain size; however, our research results indicate that gravel soil with a certain amount of silt and moisture can also generate obvious frost heave, which may exert considerable influence on the construction. Therefore, gravel soil frost heave in practical engineering cannot be ignored.

gravel soil  /  frost heaving  /  seasonal frozen area  /  geotechnical construction