Occurrences of technosols in Montevideo city, Uruguay

Abstract

Man-made deposits are widespread in and near urban areas of many countries. In the recent years, researchers of the Department of Geotechnical Engineering, Geotechnical Section, of the Structures and Transportation Institute at the Engineering Faculty of Montevideo, Uruguay, have examined areas in the City of Montevideo that contain similar soils. These man-made deposits are also referred to as urban soils when they are in urbanised areas and have developed a respective pedological structure and principal soil functions. The administrative definition of urban soils for land use planning in Montevideo is inconsistent and needs to be improved. These soils result from spreading of materials in urban and suburban areas and on nearby flood plain sites, and infilling of old quarries. They give rise to difficult ground conditions and may be contaminated, causing health problems. The initial data on these soils have been collected, and further researches are planned.