Environmental Impact - Soil/water effects

Smith, D. L. O., & Dickson, J. W. (1990). Contributions of vehicle weight and ground pressure to soil compaction. Journal of agricultural engineering research, 46, 13-29.

Abstract

The results of a series of field experiments to investigate the relative effects of vehicle weight and ground pressure on soil compaction are presented. The compaction resulting from the passage of single wheels, with various combinations of wheel load and ground pressure, tended to substantiate theoretical predictions that increases in ground pressure produce significant soil bulk density near the soil surface but have less effect at greater depth. Conversely, increases in wheel load, at a given ground pressure, produce significant increases in compaction only at greater depth. The compaction resulting from conventional vehicles, and from vehicles which were purpose-built to minimize soil compaction carrying low and high payloads, exemplifies the importance of reducing vehicle weight as a means of minimizing soil compaction.

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