Henzinger C and Heyer D (2015) Use of demolition waste in soil

improvement. In Geotechnical Engineering for Infrastructure and

Development: Conference Proceedings of the XVI ECSMGE, Edinburgh, UK
(Winter MG, Smith DM, Eldred PJL and Toll DG (eds)). Thomas Telford,
London, UK, pp. 2547–2552.

Use of demolition waste in soil improvement

Utilisation de déchets minéraux pour amendement du sol
C. Henzinger*1 and D. Heyer2
1
Zentrum Geotechnik/TU München, Germany
2
Zentrum Geotechnik/TU München, Germany
*
Corresponding Author

ABSTRACT Large quantities of mineral waste from excavation, construction or demolition works are generated in Germany annually. In
order to protect natural resources, it is required by German law to recycle and reuse as much of these materials as possible. While recycling
of non-hazardous construction and demolition waste has already progressed to a certain point, a considerable amount of (natural) excava-
tion materials is still being landfilled and deposited. Fine-grained soils with in situ water contents above the optimum compaction water
content generally show poor engineering properties, therefore their properties need to be improved by soil treatment or they have to be dis-
carded. At the Technische Universität München the use of demolition waste for the improvement of soft, fine-grained soils is currently in-
vestigated, combining both types of waste materials. This paper summarizes the results of experiments on two treated fine-grained soils,
one clay of low plasticity and one of very high plasticity.

RÉSUMÉ Chaque année en Allemagne il y a de grandes quantités de déchets minéraux. Pour protéger les ressources naturelles, la loi pres-
crit de recycler la plus grande part de celles-ci. Bien que le recyclage des matériaux de construction et de démolition non dangereux est déjà
bien avancé, une partie importante du sol naturel déblayé est encore déposée et éliminée. Les sols à grain fin avec des teneurs en eau supé-
rieures à la teneur en eau naturelle ont des propriétés de construction pauvres. Ces sols peuvent être améliorés ou doivent être jetés. Actuel-
lement à l'Université technique de Munich, l'utilisation des déchets de construction est en étude pour améliorer les sols à grains fins mous.
Dans ce cas, les deux déchets minéraux mentionnés ci-dessus sont mélangés. Ce rapport résume les résultats des expériences sur deux sols
à grain fin, une argile peu plastique et une argile plastique prononcée.

1 INTRODUCTION tion of a soil (mixture of sand and silt) by blending it

Although the use of recycled aggregates (derived
from construction waste) in embankments and earth-
works is the object of numerous publications, little is
known about their use for the improvement of wet
soils. Even from the international point of view this
topic has attracted only little interest up until now.
The impulse to the investigations presented in this
paper was given by a research project at the Tech-
nische Universität München on the behavior of soils
containing mineral impurities (see Baumgärtel et al.
2009) and a report published by Mifka & Thelen in
2008 concerning a soil improvement measure near
Coblenz in Germany. They reported on the stabiliza-
with recycled concrete aggregates (16/32 mm). The
aim of the treatment was actually the conventional
mechanical stabilization by optimization of the grad-
ing curve. In the preliminary studies two additional
phenomena regarding compaction were observed: a
change in proctor dry density and a shift of optimum
initial water content of the soil. This means that the
admixture of porous aggregates to the soil allowed
for the soil to be compacted at higher initial water
contents.
This article summarizes the results of investiga-
tions carried out using recycled aggregates 0/4 mm
derived from demolition waste as additive for the in-
tended soil treatment. Such material arises as waste
from the production of high-grade recycled materials they are henceforth referred to as soil (TL) and soil
for road construction. It mainly consists of crushed (TA).
concrete, natural grains (from crushed concrete),
crushed brick as well as particles of mortar- or plas- Table 1. Characteristic values of soil (TL) and soil (TA)
ter. The investigation was designed to clarify a) what
Soil (TL) Soil (TA) Parameter
kind of soils can be improved by this measure as well 15-20 % 60-63 % Clay content (% < 0,002 mm)
as b) how much the improvement effect (shift in ini- according to DIN 18123
tial water content at proctor optimum point of the 2,75 g/cm³ 2,62 g/cm³ Particle density ρS
blend) is influenced by the added quantity of recy- according to DIN 18124
26,8 % 74,1 % Liquid limit wL (mean value)
cled aggregates, the composition of the construction according to DIN 18122
waste, the used grain sizes of the recycled material 15,5 % 26,9 % Plastic limit wP (mean value)
and its water content. according to DIN 18122
11,3 % 47,2 % Plasticity index IP
according to DIN 18122
39,8 % 132,5 % Water absorbtion wa (Enslin Neff)
2 RESEARCH CONCEPT according to DIN 18132
13,5 % 25,6 % Optimum water content (OWC) wPr
according to DIN 18127
As indicated, the aim of the research was to identify 1,93 g/cm³ 1,47 g/cm³ Standard proctor density ρPr
significant influences on the soil improvement capa- according to DIN 18127
bilities of recycled aggregates derived from demoli- 8,9.10-9 m/s 1,5.10-10 m/s Permeability kf (mean value at wPr)
tion waste. For that reason the following factors were according to DIN 18130-1
varied in several test series:
 Use of different fine-grained soils to be im- The recycled materials of grain size 0/4 and 0/32
proved; mm used as additive (respectively named RC-M 0/4
 Variation of grain size and composition of the and RC-M 0/32) were both attained by sieving from
added recycled aggregates; the grain size 0/56 mm. This material consists of re-
 Variation of the water content of the recycled cycled demolition waste and shows a typical mixed
aggregates. composition for such materials, mainly of a natural
In accordance with the requirements on earth- aggregate, crushed concrete and crushed brick.
works in road construction, investigations regarding
tiles / ceramic / glass others and material lost in
compaction (standard proctor tests in accordance (1 %) the process
with DIN 18127) and bearing capacity (CBR-tests in (1 %)
natural grains
accordance with TP BF-StB Teil B 7.1) have been (29 %)
carried out to evaluate the improvement measures. In
addition, selected mixtures were tested for permeabil- crushed concrete /
concrete products
ity at their respective proctor optimum point (in ac- (49 %)
cordance with DIN 18130-1). clinker / brick /
stoneware
(16 %)
mortar / plaster / lime-sand brick
3 MATERIALS (4 %)

Figure 1. Composition of the demolition waste determined for

Two soils, a clay of low plasticity and a clay of very
high plasticity (soil-types TL and TA, according to
DIN 18196), were used in this study. They represent
a wide range of natural fine-grained soils which are
typically deposited if their in situ water content is
much higher than their respective optimum water
content. The geotechnical properties of the two se-
lected soils are presented in Table 1. For simplicity
fraction 4 mm to 32 mm (according to TP Gestein-StB part 3.1.5)
The material composition was determined accord-
ing to regulation TP Gestein StB part 3.1.5 and is
presented for the fraction 4/32 mm in Figure 1. To il-
lustrate the effect of large variations in composition
of the demolition waste on the properties of the mix-
tures, also pure recycled concrete aggregates and
pure roof tile aggregates (both fraction 0/4 mm and still expected to be fully determined by their respec-
subsequently named RC-C 0/4 and RC-RT 0/4) were tive fines content (see Ostermayer 1976).
used instead of the mixed material RC-M 0/4. These For the evaluation of soil improvement measures
materials of fraction 0/4 mm all show comparable it is of vital importance to consider the initial water
grading curves and were classified as mixtures of content of the soil before it was mixed with the addi-
sand and silt (ST* according to DIN 18196, propor- tive. The results are therefore related either to the ini-
tion < 0,063 mm between 15 and 20 %). The material tial water content of the soil or the water content of
RC-M 0/32 also used in the comparative investiga- the mixture. Consequently when dry densities are
tions was classified according to DIN 18196 as a considered as a function of the water content of the
mixture of gravel and silt (GU, proportion < 0,063 mixture the optimum moisture content of mixture
mm between 6 and 8 %). (OMWC) is defined, while when considered as a
function of initial water content of the soil, the opti-
mum initial water content (OIWC) is obtained. Both
4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION values relate to the same density of DPr = 100 % rela-
tive to proctor density. In some instances also the
Since soil stabilization without binders is usually values for densities of DPr = 97 % relative to proctor
based on the modification of the grading curve, one density are shown. These values relate to the wet side
fact has to be emphasized: In all of the produced of the respective proctor curves.
mixtures of soil and recycled material the content of All blends were mixed for two minutes and were
grains smaller than 0,063 mm was exceeding 60 %. compacted immediately afterwards. Mentioned mix-
Accordingly the bearing behavior of the blends was ing ratios correspond to dry weight of the mixed ma-

1,95 1,60

1,90 1,55
Dry density [g/cm³]

1,85 1,50
Dry density [g/cm³]

1,80 1,45

1,75 1,40

1,70 1,35
soil (TL)
1,65 + 20 % RC-M 0/4 (wRC=2,75%) 1,30
+ 30 % RC-M 0/4 (wRC=2,75%) soil (TA)
1,60 + 40 % RC-M 0/4 (wRC=2,75%) 1,25 + 30 % RC-M 0/4 (wRC=2,3%)
+ 50 % RC-M 0/4 (wRC=2,75%) + 50 % RC-M 0/4 (wRC=2,3%)
1,55 1,20
6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40
Initial water content of soil [%] Initial water content of soil [%]

Figure 2. Proctor curves of soil (TL) and soil (TA) as of their mixtures with RC-M 0/4, based on the initial water content of the soil

18 % 35 %

DPr = 97 %
Water content of mixture

16 %
Water content of mixture

30 %

14 % DPr = 100 %
25 %
DPr = 97 %
12 %
20 %
10 % DPr = 100 %

15 %
8%
valid for the used soil (TL) with RC-M at wRC = 2,75% valid for the used soil (TA) with RC-M at wRC = 2,3%
6% 10 %
10 % 15 % 20 % 25 % 20 % 25 % 30 % 35 % 40 %
Initial water content Initial water content

Figure 3. Relationship between initial water content of soil and water content of mixture with characteristic values (DPr = 100 % and
DPr = 97 % - wet side of the respective proctor curve) of the mixtures
terials. yield values smaller than 5 vol.-% for mixtures with
soil (TL) and values smaller than 10 vol.-% for mix-
4.1 Compaction tures with soil (TA).
The water content of the mixture can either be cal-
The compaction tests were carried out according to culated from the respective water content of the soil
DIN 18127 in a 15 cm diameter CBR-mold. In Fig- and additive or be derived experimentally from the
ure 2 the compaction curves of the soils without im- compacted sample itself. The values correspond well,
provement measures and the curves of the improved deviations, if any, may result from slight inhomoge-
soils are presented. In case of the clay of low plastici- neities in the water content within the samples (be-
ty (TL) a shift in OIWC with increasing mixing ratio fore and/or after blending). The relationship between
is clearly visible (Figure 2, left side), whereas for the initial water content and water content of the mixture
the clay of very high plasticity (TA) there is no con- can be computed for a given mixing ratio and water
siderable change in OIWC (Figure 1, right side). It is content of additive, as presented in Figure 3. This re-
also noteworthy that while the improved soil (TL) lationship by itself does not allow any statement
shows lower dry densities than the untreated soil, im- about the compaction behavior of the mixture for it
proved soil (TA) yields higher dry densities than the contains only information about water contents
untreated one. (which are independent of material properties). If,
Since the particle densities of recycled aggregates however, values for characteristic points of the re-
cannot easily be obtained (because of the porous na- spective compaction curves are added to this Figure,
ture of the grains the value is sensitive to the test set- a useful design-aid can be obtained. In Figure 3 val-
up) the computation of air void ratios of compacted ues for the respective optimum water contents (DPr =
samples has to be handled with caution. For the 100 %) and for the wet side of the optimum (DPr =
shown mixtures, conservative estimations of the air 97 %) of the different mixtures are added. For arbi-
void ratio at the respective compaction optimum

70 70
DPr=100% DPr=100%
DPr=97% DPr=97%
60 60
soil (TL) soil (TA)
+ 20 % RC-M 0/4 (wRC=2,75%) + 30 % RC-M 0/4 (wRC=2,3%)
50 50
+ 30 % RC-M 0/4 (wRC=2,75%) + 50 % RC-M 0/4 (wRC=2,3%)
+ 40 % RC-M 0/4 (wRC=2,75%)
CBR0 [%]

CBR0 [%]

40 + 50 % RC-M 0/4 (wRC=2,75%) 40

30 30

20 20

10 10

0 0
10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Initial water content of soil [%] Initial water content of soil [%]
Figure 4. Bearing capacity (CBR0) of the soils and mixtures based on the respective initial water content of soil

1,95 20 0

1,90 18 2
OIWC and OMWC [%]
Dry density [g/cm³]

1,85 16 4

1,80 14 6
[%]

1,75 12 8

1,70 10 Optimum initial water content (OIWC) 10

soil (TL)
1,65 + 30 % RC-M 0/4 (wRC=2,0%) 8 Optimum water content of mixture (OMWC) 12
+ 30 % RC-M 0/4 (wRC=5,5%)
1,60 + 30 % RC-M 0/4 (wRC=8,4%) 6 Water content of mixture resulting from water 14
+ 30 % RC-M 0/4 (wRC=15,5%) content of RC-M (wRC)
1,55 4 16
6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10 % 12 % 14 % 16 %
Initial water content of soil [%] Water content of RC-M (wRC)
Figure 5. Influence of the water content of the additive on the improvement effect for soil (TL)
trarily chosen values of (initial) soil water content, ing capacities for both improved soils. Summarizing,
the required mixing ratio for optimum compaction the results show that bearing capacity could be in-
can directly be estimated from the Figure (Figure 3 is creased in the treated samples compared to untreated
only valid for the particular materials used in this samples of the same initial water content. As the
study and must not be generalized). CBR-values in Figure 4 are based on the initial water
contents of the soils, this increase in strength may be
4.2 Bearing capacity attributed mostly to the decrease in water content of
the mixture (due to blending of wet soil with dry RC-
Considering the treatment of soil, besides compaction
M) and the higher respective dry densities that are
characteristics the resulting change in bearing capaci-
hereby attainable.
ty is of particular interest. Accordingly CBR – tests
were carried out on each compacted sample (follow-
4.3 Influence of variations in the added material
ing regulatory TP BF-StB, part B 7.1). The results
are shown in Figure 4. The exchange of water between soil and added recy-
At OIWC (DPr = 100 %) the improved soil (TL) cled material was considered to be an important fac-
shows bearing capacities comparable to those of the tor for this type of soil improvement measure. To
unimproved soil at optimum water content. Soil verify this assumption, the water content of the added
(TA), for which no major shift in OIWC could be ob- material (RC-M) was varied for a fixed mixing ratio
tained, yields slightly higher bearing capacities at the with soil (TL). The results of this test series are
respective optimum of the mixtures than at the opti- shown in Figure 5 and confirm the assumed associa-
mum of the soil without treatment. The samples tion. The shift in OIWC for a given increment of wa-
which were compacted on the respective wet side of ter content (of the added material - RC-M) is approx-
the compaction curves (DPr = 97 %) show low bear- imately equal to the part this additional water takes in

24 % 24 %

22 % 22 %

20 % 20 %
Initial water content

Initial water content

18 % 18 %

16 % 16 %

14 % 14 %
RC-M 0/4 - DPr=100%, (wRC=2,75%) 12 %
12 %
RC-M 0/4 - DPr=97%, (wRC=2,75%)
10 % 10 % RC-M 0/4 - DPr=100%, (wRC=2,75%)
RC-C 0/4 - DPr=100%, (wRC=3,7%)
8% RC-M 0/4 - DPr=97%, (wRC=2,75%)
8% RC-C 0/4 - DPr=97%, (wRC=3,7%)
RC-RT 0/4 - DPr=100%, (wRC=2,6%) RC-M 0/32 - DPr=100%, (wRC=3%)
6% 6%
RC-RT 0/4 - DPr=97%, (wRC=2,6%) RC-M 0/32 - DPr=97%, (wRC=3%)
4% 4%
0% 10 % 20 % 30 % 40 % 50 % 0% 10 % 20 % 30 % 40 % 50 %

Added quanity of RC-M, RC-C and RC-RT Added quantity of RC-M 0/4 and RC-M 0/32

Figure 6. Influence of composition and grain size of the additive on the improvement effect for soil (TL)

1,0E-05 1,0E-08
soil (TL) + RC-M 0/4 soil (TA) + RC-M 0/4
Premeability at OIWC [m/s]

soil (TL) + RC-C 0/4

Permeability at OIWC [m/s]

soil (TL) + RC-M 0/32

soil (TL) + RC-RT 0/4
1,0E-06
soil (TL) + RC-M 0/32
1,0E-09

1,0E-07

1,0E-10
1,0E-08

1,0E-09 1,0E-11
0% 10 % 20 % 30 % 40 % 50 % 0% 10 % 20 % 30 % 40 % 50 %
Added quantity Added quantity
Figure 7. Permeability of the soils and mixtures for samples compacted at optimum water content
the overall water content (of the mixture). In a nut-
shell: as the water content of the added material in-
creases, less water can be exchanged between soil
and added material and therefore the shift in OIWC
gets smaller. See also Figure 5 (right side).
The slight shift in OMWC, as seen in Figure 5
(right side), can be attributed to water stored in the
porous recycled aggregates. This water does not con-
tribute to the compaction and bearing capacity but
will necessarily be measured as part of the water con-
tent of the mixture.
As demolition waste can vary in composition, in-
vestigations were also carried out using pure crushed
concrete (RC-C 0/4) and pure crushed roof tiles (RC-
RT 0/4) as additive for the improvement of the clay
of low plasticity (TL). The results of these (limit val-
ue) tests are shown in Figure 6 (left side). Consider-
ing realistic variations in the composition of demoli-
tion waste, the results indicate only a minor influence
on the OIWC.
Figure 6 (right side) shows the advantage of using
finer material (RC-M 0/4) over coarser material (RC-
M 0/32). The smaller aggregates with higher surface
area seem to be capable of exchanging water more
rapidly than the coarser material. As described above,
the workability of the mixture is influenced by this
moisture exchange between soil and additive, so the
shift in OIWC is more distinct for the mixtures with
RC-M 0/4.
4.4 Permeability
Selected mixtures, compacted at their respective op-
timum water contents, were subjected to permeability
tests (according to DIN 18130-1). The results are
shown in Figure 7.
The permeability of compacted mixtures is ex-
pected to be influenced by a variety of factors, in-
cluding the respective permeability of the soil and re-
cycled aggregates (= porous material), as well as the
pore-structure formed by the clay lumps.
As can be seen in Figure 7, the evolution of per-
meability of mixtures with soil (TL) depends on the
grain size of the added material. While permeability
decreased with RC-M 0/32 as additive, it increases
for mixtures with RC-M 0/4. For soil (TA), which it-
self exhibits a much lower permeability than soil
(TL), permeability increases for both added materials
(RC-M 0/4 and RC-M 0/32).
5 SUMMARY
The results show that this type of soil treatment is
more effective for the clay of low plasticity (TL) than
for the clay of very high plasticity (TA). Depending
on mixing ratio, soil (TL) could be compacted at wa-
ter contents well over its optimum water content. For
the clay of low plasticity (TL) the investigations also
showed the following:
 Effects on the OIWC due to the composition of
the recycled material are negligible;
 Fine-grained additives have a greater effect on
OIWC.
 The improvement capability is very much de-
pendent on the water content of the added mate-
rial (demolition waste). The use of dry material
is strongly recommended.
Complementary tests are currently being conduct-
ed, using a greater variety of soils.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
This report is partly based on a research project car-
ried out at the request of the Federal Ministry of
Transport and Digital Infrastructure, represented by
the Federal Highway Research Institute, under re-
search project No. 05.0166/2011/ERB. The authors
are exclusively responsible for the content.
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