SOIL IMPROVEMENT

TECHNIQUES
Soil Treatment with Lime
 Soil Lime Stabilization
• Soil-Lime has been widely used as a modifier or a
binder.
• Soil-Lime is used as modifier in highly plastic
soils.
• Soil-Lime also imparts some binding action
even in granular soils.
.
Type of Lime

• After long curing periods all types of limes produce

same effects. However quick lime has been found
more effective than hydrated lime.
• Calcium Carbonate must be heated at higher
temperature to form Quick lime calcium oxide(CaO).
• Calcium oxide must be slaked ( by the addition of
water) to form Hydrated lime.

Compaction
• Compaction is done at OMC and maximum dry
density.
Curing
• The strength of soil-lime increases with curing
period upto several years. The rate of increase
is rapid during initial period.
• The humidity of the surroundings also affects
the strength.
Additives
• Sodium metasilicate, Sodium hydroxide and
Sodium Sulphate are also found useful
additives.
pH
Clay can be stabilized by the addition of lime and thus
enhancing many of the engineering properties. Clays
containing Montmorillonite respond more rapidly to
lime stabilization than the clays in which Kaolinite is
the predominant clay mineral. Lime stabilization
produces an improved foundation material and so the
technique has been used for highway, railroad and
airport construction to improve subgrades and sub-
bases. When lime is added to clay soils, calcium ions
are combined initially with or adsorbed to clay
minerals. This leads to an increase in the plastic limit of
the clay, generally to a decrease in its liquid limit and
decrease in the plasticity index.
The optimum lime additive for maximum increase of the plastic
limit of the soil is referred to as the lime fixation point. Lime
added in excess of the fixation point is used in the cementation
process and gives rise to an increase in soil strength. The initial
increase in strength has been attributed to the formation of
poorly ordered cementitious products which surround the clay
minerals. However, the development of long-term strength
appears to be due to the gradual crystallization of structurally
ordered new minerals from the initial disordered reaction
products. Stabilization of clay soils with lime leads to an
increase in their optimum moisture content and is
accompanied by a decrease in their maximum dry density. In
addition, the permeability of most clay soils is enhanced by the
addition of lime, as is their resistance to frost activity.
Unconfined Compressive Strength

Lime content, (%)

 Lime (%)

 There is an important point which is termed as lime fixation

point. This is considered as design lime content.
 Clays with Kaolinite as dominant clay mineral show different
behaviour with the addition of lime as shown on the next slide.
Unconfined Compressive Strength

Lime content, (%)

,
It can be estimated

will
τ
 ɤt
( 18 kN/m3 ),

ɤc

εv

ɤw
 pc

(Take So = 5 kPa)

t
 (Take Hc = 10m)

=
LL PL
SOIL IMPROVEMENT
TECHNIQUES
Soil Treatment with Cement
e.g.,
 (t) (to)

(t)

(to)
SOIL IMPROVEMENT
TECHNIQUES
Soil Treatment with Bitumen
 Soil- Bituminous Stabilization
• The basic principles of this stabilization are
Water Proofing and Binding.
• By Water Proofing inherent strength and
other properties could be retained.
• Most commonly used materials are Cutback
and Emulsion.
• Bitumen stabilized layer may be used as
sub-base or base course for the roads.
Factors affecting properties of soil-bitumen
Soil
• The particle size, shape and gradation of the
soil influence the properties of the soil-bitumen
mix.
Types of Bitumen
• Cutbacks of higher grade should be preferred.
• Emulsions generally gives slightly inferior
results than Cutback.
Amount of Mixing
• Increasing proportion of bitumen causes a
decrease in dry density but increases the
stability after a certain bitumen content.
• The optimum bitumen content for maximum
stability generally ranges from 4 to 6%.
Mixing
• Improved type of mixing with low mixing period
may be preferred.
Compaction
• Effective Compaction results higher stability
and resistance to absorb water.
Additives
• Anti stripping and reactive chemical additives
have been tried to improve the properties of
the mixes.
• Portland cement can also be used along with
the soil bitumen.
 SOIL IMPROVEMENT
TECHNIQUES
Soil Treatment with locally available Material
 Necessity
 Scarcity of good quality aggregates/soil
for road construction
 Production and accumulation of
different waste materials
 Disposal and environmental problem
 Economical and gainful utilization
 Limitations of Using Waste Materials

 Quality of waste is not controlled by their

manufacturers
 Characteristics of by-products vary in a wide
range
 Road construction practice is accustomed to
traditional materials of steady quality
 Specifications of layers compaction of traditional
materials are not suitable for waste materials
 General Criteria for Use of Waste Materials

 Amount of yearly produced waste material

should reach a certain lower limit.
 The hauling distance should be acceptable.
 The material should not have a poisonous effect.
 The material should be insoluble in water.
 The utilization should not have a pollution effect
to the environment.
Special Requirement for Using Waste Materials

 Free from organic matter

 Should not swell or decay as influenced by
water
 Should not be soluble in water
 Particles should be moderately porous
 Industrial Wastes
Source 1: Thermal Power Stations
* Fly ash
* Bottom ash
* Pond ash
•
Source 2: Steel Plants
* Blast furnace slag
* Granulated blast furnace slag
* Steel slag
 Types of Fly Ash:
• Fly ash, also known as "pulverized fuel ash", is a coal
combustion product composed of fine particles that are
driven out of the boiler with the flue gases. Ash that falls in
the bottom of the boiler is called bottom ash. Bottom ash is
not quite useful as fly ash.
• Approximately 20% of total ash generated is delivered as
bottom ash into dyke and approximately 80% of total ash is
collected in dry form in ESP/Silo System for dispatch to
cement manufacturers and various fly ash users/trading
agencies. The un-lifted dry ash mixed with water and then
disposed in to the ash dyke. The accumulated ash in the ash
dyke is called pond ash.
• (An electrostatic precipitator (ESP) is a filtration device that
removes fine particles, like dust and smoke, from a flowing
gas using the force of an induced electrostatic charge
minimally impeding the flow of gases through the unit).
 Utilization of Fly-ash
 Can be used for construction of
• Embankments and backfills
• Stabilization of subgrade and sub-base
• Rigid and semi-rigid pavements
 Fly ash properties vary widely, to be characterized
before use
 Major constituents: oxides of silica, aluminum, iron,
calcium & magnesium
 Environmentally safe material for road construction
 Possesses many favourable properties for
embankment & road construction
 Favourable properties of fly ash
 Light weight, lesser pressure on sub-soil
 High shear strength
 Coarser ashes have high CBR value
 Pozzolanic nature, additional strength due to self-hardening
 Amenable to stabilization
 Ease of compaction
 High permeability
 Non plastic
 Faster rate of consolidation and low compressibility
 Can be compacted using vibratory or static roller
 Engineering properties of fly ash
Parameter Range
Specific Gravity 1.90 – 2.55
Plasticity Non plastic
Maximum dry density (gm/cc) 0.9 – 1.6
Optimum moisture content (%) 8.0 – 18.0
Cohesion (kN/m2) Negligible
Angle of internal friction (ɸ) 300 – 400
Coefficient of consolidation Cv (cm2/sec) 1.75 x 10-5 – 2.01 x 10-3
Compression index Cc 0.05 – 0.4
Permeability (cm/sec) 8 x 10-6 – 7 x 10-4
Particle size distribution (% of materials)
Clay size fraction 1 – 10
Silt size fraction 8 – 85
Sand size fraction 7 – 90
Gravel size fraction 0 – 10

Coefficient of uniformity 3.1 – 10.7

 Fly ash for road embankment
 Ideally suited as backfill material for urban/industrial areas
and areas with weak sub soils
 Higher shear strength leads to greater stability
 Design is similar to earth embankments
 Intermediate soil layers for ease of construction and to
provide confinement
 Side slope erosion needs to be controlled by providing soil
cover
 Can be compacted under inclement weather conditions
 15 to 20 percent savings in construction cost depending on
lead distance
 Fly ash for road embankment

Earth
Earth
Cover
Cover

Bottom ash or
Pond ash

Typical cross section of fly ash road embankment

 Reinforced fly ash embankment

• Fly ash - better backfill material for reinforced

embankments
• Polymeric reinforcing materials – Geogrids,
friction ties, geotextiles
• Construction sequence – similar to reinforced
earth structures
 Fly ash for road construction
• Stabilized soil subgrade & sub-base/base
courses:
- Mixing with soil reduces plasticity characteristics
of subgrade
- Addition of small percentage of lime or cement
greatly improves strength
- Leaching of lime is inhibited and durability
improves due to addition of fly ash
- Pond ash & bottom ash can also be stabilized
- Lime-fly ash mixture is better alternative to
moorum for construction of WBM/WMM
• Construction of semi-rigid/ rigid pavements:
- Lime-fly ash concrete
- Dry lean cement fly ash concrete
- Roller compacted concrete
- Fly ash admixed concrete pavements
- Lime-fly ash bound macadam
- Precast block paving
- High performance concrete
 Utilization of Slags

• Types of slags:
- Blast furnace slag
• Granulated blast furnace slag (GBFS)
• Air cooled slag
- Steel slag
 Granulated blast furnace slag
Contains reactive silica
Suitable for lime / cement
stabilization

Air cooled blast furnace slag

Non – reactive
Suitable for use as
coarse aggregates
 Steel Slag
• Obtained as a waste product during production
of steel
• Particle size varies from 80 mm to 300 microns
• Compared to blast furnace slag, steel slag
contains lower amount of silica, higher
amounts of iron oxide and calcium oxide
• Due to presence of free lime, steel slag should
be weathered before using it in construction