A large surface area of Ambo town is covered by expansive soils which has a tendency to undergornvolume change due to change in water content with seasonal moisture variation. Civil engineeringrnstructure constructed on such soils shows damage due to uneven movement caused by swelling andrnshrinking of the soil.rnThe focus of this study is to develop correlation between index properties and swellingrnpotential of the expansive soils found in Ambo town. Conducting swelling pressure and swellingrnpotential tests are time taking and expensive when one compare with a simple index property tests.rnTherefore, it is very important and has engineering implication to develop correlation formulas forrnestimating the swelling potential from simple index properties tests.rnThe thesis investigated the feasibility of single linear regression analysis and multiplernlinear regression analysis in correlating swelling potential with soil index properties. Hence, arntotal of 20 disturbed and 20 undisturbed samples were collected from different parts of Ambo townrnand the necessary laboratory tests were conducted in order to develop the empirical correlations.rnIn this research regression analysis is used to explore the significance of individualrnindependent (index) soil variables. The empirical correlation is given in the form of an equation ofrnswelling potential as a function of natural moisture content, dry density, grain size analysis,rnAtterberg Limits by considering the effect of an individual soil index properties and effect of arncombination of soil index properties on the swelling potential results. The new empirical correlationrnusing single regression analysis results in a good determination coefficient of R-square (R 2) =rn0.5258 and mean confidence level of (CL) =99.99%, whereas multiple regression analysis gaverncomparatively a better correlation with determination coefficient of R-square (R 2) = 0.6401 withrnmean confidence level of (CL) =99.73%. Results of the validity of the newly developed correlationrnwith control test results shows that, the correlation of swelling potential value with soil indexrnproperties is valid only for preliminary design purposes and estimation of swelling potential of soils.