One of the most common mitigation heave methods for foundation on expansive clay soil is the full or the partial shallow removal of expansive clay soil and replacement with non-expansive soil, usually used sand cushion (SC). Foundation engineers often suggest some arbitrary thickness for sand cushion without considering the depth of the active zone, which is the zone within which potential volume changes occur.In this study, a deep replacement technique by using sand compaction pile (SCP) was used and compared with the shallow replacement technique, sand cushion. A series of experimental laboratory tests were carried out in modified Proctor mold and a circular footing was used. Different parameters were studied, replacement area ratio (RAR), depth of (SCP), values of external applied pressure and sand cushion thickness. The main obtained results showed that the heave of expansive clay soil decreases as the RAR increases and the maximum RAR equal to about 57% is adequate to obtain the minimum heave.Also, the results showed that the heave of expansive soil decreases as the SCP depth and external applied pressure increase. The tests results showed that using SCP as improvement technique for expansive clay soil is more effective than sand cushion technique.