FLYASH IN

GEOTECHNICAL
ENGINEERING
By
NIRANJAN
S. L.N College of Engineering,
Raichur.
 This presentation includes:
 INTRODUCTION
 FLY ASH
 PROBLEMS DUE TO FLY ASH
 GEOTECHNICAL PROPERTIES OF
FLY ASH
 PHYSICAL & CHEMICAL PROPERTIES
 ENGINEERING PROPERTIES
 GEO ENVIRONMENTAL APPLICATIONS
 CONCLUSION.
ENVIRONMENTAL GEO-TECH:
Environmental Geotechnic is a field in which:

• Investigating

• Planning

• Characterisation

• Foreseeing & forecasting

• Designing of engineering works to

protect the environment.

• Avoiding future environmental problems.

problems
FLY ASH:
 Flyash is a waste product from
thermal power stations.
 100 million tones of flyash is
produced as a by-product
annually in India alone.
 The ash generated is disposed
off in the vicinity of the plants
as a waste material covering
several thousand hectares of
land.
PROBLEMS FACED DUE TO FLY ASH:
 Fly ash stored affects the ecology of
the land, water and air in the region.
 Fly ash causes ailments like allergic
bronchitis, silicosis, and asthma.
 The World Bank has cautioned India
that by 2015, disposal of fly ash would
require 1000 sq km, in its report on
environmental issues in the power
sector.
 PROBLEMS FACED DUE TO FLY ASH
CONTINUED….
 Fly ash contaminates
• surface water
• underground water.
 Affects aquatic life.
 Is harmful for plants.
 Corrodes exposed metallic structures in its
vicinity.
 Fineness is about 4000-8000 cm2/g.
 Fly ash contains traces of heavy metals.
Geotechnical properties of fly ash:

 Chemical composition.
 Specific gravity.
 Grain size distribution.
 Atterberg limits.
 Engineering properties.
 Chemical composition:
CONSTITUENTS PERCENTAGE
Silica (Sio2) 49 - 67
Alumina (Al2O3) 16 - 29

Iron oxide (Fe2O3) 4 - 10

1-4
Calcium oxide (CaO)
0.2 - 2
Magnesium oxide
(MgO)
Sulphur (SO3) 0.1 - 2

Loss on Ignition 0.4 - 0.6

Specific Gravity:
MATERIAL SPECIFIC GRAVITY
Bottom ash 2.28-2.78
Fly ash  
USA 2.03-2.49
India 1.84-2.67
Pond ash  
India 1.58-2.39
UK 2.10-2.24
Poland 1.90-2.31
Soils 2.60-2.80
 Grain Size Distribution
MATERIAL EFFECTIV D50 UNIFORM COEFFICI
E SIZE ITY ENT OF
(mm)
D10 (mm) COEFFICI CURVATU
ENT RE
Fly ash 0.0027- 0.036- 13.3-10.0 2.16-
0.02 0.2 0.73

Pond ash 0.014- 0.1-0.2 7.1-5.3 1.20-

0.038 0.95
Bottom 0.08-0.7 0.46-6.4 5.8-9.1 0.83-
ash 1.03
Liquid Limit
 Liquid limit is determined by
cone penetration method.
 As per the Unified Classification
system, fly ash will fit into ML
group.
 It is non-plastic in nature.
ENGINEERING PROPERTIES:
• Permeability characteristics
• Consolidation and compressibility
characteristics
• Strength characteristics.
Shear strength parameters
California Bearing Ratio
APPLICATIONS OF FLY ASH
Geo-technical applications
• Embankments
• Fills
• Sub base and Pavements
• Stabilization
Okhla flyover approach embankment
 First geogrid reinforced fly ash approach
embankment constructed in the country
 Length of embankment – 59 m
 Height varied from 5.9 to 7.8 m
 Ash utilised – 2,700 cubic metre
 Opened to traffic in 1996
 Performance has been very good
Okhla flyover approach embankment
Filter
Facing medium Geogrids
panels

7.8 to
5.9 m

Reinforced foundation mattress of bottom ash

 Erection of facing panels

Okhla flyover approach embankment

Rolling of pond ash

 Support provided to facing
panels during construction

Okhla flyover approach embankment

Laying of geogrids
 Approach embankment for second
Nizamuddin bridge at Delhi
– Length of embankment - 1.8 km
– Height varies from 6 to 9 m
– Ash utilised - 1,50,000 cubic metre
– Embankment opened to traffic in 1998
– Instrumentation installed in the embankment
showed very good performance
– Approximate savings due to usage of fly ash is
about Rs.1.00 Crore
 Spreading of pond ash

Second Nizamuddin bridge approach embankment

Compaction of pond ash

 Stone pitching for slope
protection

Second Nizamuddin bridge approach embankment

Traffic plying on the

embankment
Stabilization:

Stabilization of soil using fly ash

Field construction using soil stabilized with fly ash:

Village road to Nandawala, Haryana.

Ghaziabad bye-pass joining SH and NH.
A village road section at Panipat, Haryana.
Construction of base coarse for Container
Corporation of India’s container yards at
Ludiana, Punjab.
Fills
• DMRC (Delhi Metro Rail Corporation) has used fly
ash for construction of railway embankments and land
filling.

• The DMRC has used 950 000 cubic metres of fly

ash for filling up land in the Shastri Park in New
Delhi.
Sub base and Pavements
Fly ash has been used as sub base and pavements in:

• Rural roads near Raichur, Karnataka.

• Roads at Delhi, Calcutta, Dadri, Ramgundam and
Vishakapatnam. 
Demonstration road project
at Raichur
 Total length of the road – 1 km
 Five sections of 200 m each with different
pavement sections
 Pond ash has been used for replacing
moorum in sub-base course
 Stabilised pond ash used for replacing
part of WBM layer
 Performance of all the specifications is
good
 Construction of roller
compacted concrete
pavement

Demonstration road project using fly ash at Raichur

View of the demonstration

road stretch after three years
CONCLUSIONS:
Fly ash is a by product obtain from
thermal power stations
Fly ash pollutes the ecosystem of the
area drastically.
 Fly ash poses a lot of health problems
in the area.
The storage of fly ash is problematic
and the safe disposal of fly ash is
challenging.
The September 14, 1999 notification
issued by MOEF makes mandatory use of
25% flyash within 50 Km radii of thermal
power plants for manufacture of bricks,
tiles etc.
The quantity of fly ash available is higher
than that being utilised.
The maximum quantity of fly ash can be
used in geotechnical application.
Use of fly ash in various geotechnical
applications in India is gaining momentum .
 REFRENCES:

National seminars presented in I I Sc, Bangalore.

• “Characterstics of flyash and its applications” by Narasimha Rao
(1999).
• “Flyash as pesticides in agriculture” by Narayanaswamy P (1999)
• “Flyash utilisation in embankment with geogrids and anchor
reinforcement” by Singh.R.B, Pallavi Khanna and
Agarwall R.K.(1999)
• “Characterisation of flyash in cement based grouts” by
Shorff A.V (1999)
• “Utilisation of flyash in construction of base course for
pavements” by Tike.G.K, Satender kumar, seehra S.S, and
sikdar P.K.(1999)
• “Flyash-A multi facet resource material” by Vimal kumar,Mukesh
Mathur, Chandi Nath Jah and Goutam Goswami.
Presentation on “Flyash characterisation” by Sridharan A,(2000) in
S.J.C.E Mysore.
THANK YOU.