Penang Island of Malaysia is vulnerable to various natural hazards due to its hilly terrain and weather. Due to recent rapid population and economic growth, the probability of disaster associated with natural hazards has increased. This article characterizes geological and geotechnical parameters collected from field data that relate to natural hazard susceptibility. The areas of investigation were chosen so that each area lay on different geological formations. The variations in selected parameters with depth were obtained. The correlation within parameters was established and was found to be in agreement with that from other researchers. The investigation identifies parameters that can be used to evaluate the degree of hazard susceptibility.

Abstract. Marl, containing primarily carbonate (CaCO3) and clays of different percentages with occasional traces of organic matter, silt or sand is usually used as bases and sub-bases for roads and highways. Marl is usually used as sub-grade layers or as a backfill in base and sub-base layers for highway pavements. This type of soil has poor strength and high water sensitivity; a drastic loss of bearing capacity may occur upon immersion. Due to its poor strength and high water sensitivity, appropriate treatment from engineering perspective is necessary before such soils are recommended for use in any construction project effectively. Critical analysis of different stabilization techniques employed for enhancing the marl soil properties in Saudi Arabia for the last 30 years has been carried out to find the best engineering solution. Mechanical and chemical treatments were found to be more economical than drainage, dewatering and other techniques. It has been noticed that no study was done in stabilization of Marl Soil using Geo-synthetics technique Hence, it can be an alternate way for future research to improve marl.

Problematic soils are those that make the construction of foundations extremely difficult. They include expansive soils, collapsing soils, and sanitary landfill. Their distribution can vary widely, both areally and with depth. However, the ability to identify these soils would be invaluable to developers and geotechnical engineers. This paper aims at discussing criteria for identifying these soils and analyze only the collapse related data to determine their nature and extent of the variability. Analysis of data at different depths showed high dispersion tendencies. Regression model showed linear variation and identified strongly related collapse parameters with validation by factor analysis.