Abstract: Wetting collapse induced subsidence and freezing induced heave are the common hazards of engineered facilities in saline soils. This paper presents the investigation results of saline soils in Xinjiang Uygur Mannas region. The both field and laboratory tests were performed in order to characterize the wetting collapse and other geotechnical properties. The results indicate that, the soluble salt contents in the saline soils varies from 0.421% to 1.989% and it belongs to medium saline soil. The wetting collapse mainly belongs to the nonselfweight collapse type. The degree of collapse can be categorized as minor to severe. The nonselfweight collapse is Class I (minor) and the selfweight collapse can be classified as Class IV (strong). The average initial pressure is 71.1 kPa. Engineering Mitigation suggestions are also provided in the paper based on investigation results.

Key words: Saline soil, wet sinking coefficient, engineering geology, strength and salt content