Use of Locally Available Materials and Stabilisation Technique

Dr. M.S. AMARNATH Bangalore University Bangalore

Soil Stabilization
The soil stabilization means the improvement of stability or bearing power of the soil by the use of controlled compaction, proportioning and/or the addition of suitable admixture or stabilizers.

Basic Principles of Soil Stabilization.

Evaluating the properties of given soil Deciding the lacking property of soil and choose effective and economical method of soil stabilization Designing the Stabilized soil mix for intended stability and durability values

Need for Soil Stabilization

Limited Financial Resources to Provide a complete network Road System to build in conventional method Effective utilization of locally available soils and other suitable stabilizing agents. Encouraging the use of Industrial Wastages in building low cost construction of roads.

Methods of Soil Stabilization

Mechanical Stabilization Soil Cement Stabilization Soil Lime Stabilization Soil Bitumen Stabilization Lime Fly ash Stabilization Lime Fly ash Bound Macadam.

Mechanical Stabilization

This method is suitable for low volume roads i.e. Village roads in low rainfall areas. This method involves the correctly proportioning of aggregates and soil, adequately compacted to get mechanically stable layer The Basic Principles of Mechanical Stabilization are Correct Proportioning and Effective Compaction

Desirable Properties of SoilAggregate Mix

Adequate Strength Incompressibility Less Changes in Volume Stability with Variation in water content Good drainage, less frost Susceptibility Ease of Compaction.

Factors Affecting Mechanical Stabilization

Mechanical Strength of aggregates Gradation Properties of the Soil Presence of Salts Compaction

Mechanical Strength
When the soil is used in small proportion to fill up the voids the crushing strength of aggregates is important

Gradation
A well graded aggregate soil mix results in a mix with high dry density and stability values

Properties of soil
A mix with Plasticity Index, results poor stability under soaking conditions. Hence it is desirable to limit the plasticity index of the soil

Presence of Chemicals
Presence of Salts like Sulphates and mica are undesirable Presence of Calcium Chloride is Beneficial

Compaction
Effective Compaction is desirable to produce high density and stability mix

Soil Cement Stabilization

Soil Cement is an intimate mix of soil, cement and water, compacted to form a strong base course Cement treated or cement modified soil refers to the compacted mix when cement is used in small proportions to impart some strength

Soil Cement can be used as a sub-base or base course for all types of Pavements

Factors affecting soil cement stabilization

Soil
Cement Pulverisation and Mixing Compaction Curing Additives

Soil
THE PHYSICAL PROPERTIES

Particle Size Distribution

Clay content Specific Surface

Liquid limit and Plasticity Index

Cement
A increase in cement content generally causes increase in strength and durability

Pulverisation and Mixing

Better the Pulverisation and degree of mixing, higher is the strength Presence of un pulverised dry lumps reduces the strength

Compaction
By increasing the amount of compaction dry density of the mix, strength and durability also increases

Curing
Adequate Moisture content is to be retained in order to accelerate the strength

Additives
There are some additives to improve properties Lime Sodium hydroxide

Sodium Carbonate
Calcium Chloride

Design of Soil Cement Mix

Soil Cement specimens are prepared with various cement contents in constant volumes moulds The compressive strength of these specimens tested after 7 days of curing A graph is plotted Cement content Vs compressive strength The Cement Content Corresponding to a strength of 17.5 kg/cm2 is taken as design cement content

Soil Lime Stabilization

Soil- Lime has been widely used as a

modifier or a binder
Soil-Lime is used as modifier in high plasticity soils Soil Lime also imparts some binding action even in granular soils

Soil-Lime is effectively used in Expansive soils with high plasticity index.

Factors affecting Properties of Soil-Lime

Lime Content Generally increase in lime content causes slight change in liquid limit and considerable increase in Plasticity index The rate of increase is first rapid and then decreases beyond a certain limit The point is often termed as lime fixation point This is considered as design lime content

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

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 all 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

Use of Locally Available Materials in Road Construction

Necessity

Scarcity of good quality aggregates / soil for road construction

Production and accumulation of different waste materials

Disposal and environmental problem Economical and gainful utilisation

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 poissonous effect The material should be insoluble in water The utilisation should not have a pollutional 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

Thermal Power Stations

* Fly ash

* Bottom ash * Pond ash

Steel Plants
* Blast furnace slag * Granulated blast furnace slag * Steel slag

Utilisation of fly ash

Thermal power - Major role in power

generation

Indian scenario - Use of coal with high

ash content

Negligible utilisation of ash produced Civil engineering applications like construction of roads & embankments

Bulk utilisation -

Utilisation of fly ash

Can be used for construction of

Embankments and backfills Stabilisation of subgrade and sub-base Rigid and semi-rigid pavements

Fly ash properties vary widely, to be characterised 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 selfhardening Amenable to stabilisation 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 Specific Gravity Plasticity Maximum dry density (gm/cc) Range 1.90 2.55 Non plastic 0.9 1.6

Optimum moisture content (%)

Cohesion (kN/m2) Angle of internal friction (j) Coefficient of consolidation Cv (cm2/sec) Compression index Cc Permeability (cm/sec) Particle size distribution (% of materials)
Clay Silt Sand Gravel size size size size fraction fraction fraction fraction

38.0 18.0
Negligible 300 400 1.75 x 10-5 2.01 x 10-3 0.05 0.4 8 x 10-6 7 x 10-4
1 10 8 85 7 90 0 10

Coefficient of uniformity

3.1 10.7

Differences between Indian & US fly ashes

Property compared Indian fly ash US fly ash

Loss on ignition (Unburnt carbon)

SO3 content CaO content

Less than 2 per cent

0.1 to 0.2 per cent 1 to 3 per cent

5 to 8 per cent

3 to 4 per cent 5 to 8 per cent

Increase in concentration of heavy metals

Rate of leaching

3 to 4 times in comparison to source coal

Lower

10 times or more in comparison to source coal

Higher

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 per cent savings in construction cost depending on lead distance

Fly ash for road embankment

Earth Cover Bottom ash or Pond ash Earth Cover

Typical cross section of fly ash road embankment

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

Approach embankment for second Nizamuddin bridge at Delhi

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

Utilisation of fly ash Four laning work on NH-6 (Dankuni to Kolaghat)

Length of stretch 54 km Height of embankment 3 to 4m Fly ash utilisation 2 Million cubic metres
Water logged area
(soft ground conditions)

Compaction of fly ash over layer of geotextile

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

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

Facing panels
Filter medium Geogrids

Pond Ash Fill

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

Hanuman Setu flyover approach embankment

Geogrid reinforced fly ash approach embankment Length of embankment 138.4 m Height varied from 3.42 m to 1.0 m Opened to traffic in 1997

Sarita Vihar flyover approach embankment

Length of embankment 90 m Maximum height 5.25 m Embankment opened to traffic in Feb 2001 Polymeric friction ties used for reinforcement

Laying of friction ties

Sarita Vihar flyover reinforced approach embankment

Arrangement of friction ties before laying pond ash

Compaction of pond ash using static and vibratory rollers

Sarita Vihar flyover reinforced approach embankment

Compaction using plate vibrator near the facing panels

Stabilised soil subgrade & subbase/base courses

Fly ash for road construction

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 stabilised Lime-fly ash mixture is better alternative to moorum for construction of WBM / WMM

Fly ash for road construction

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

Bituminous concrete 40 mm DBM 100 mm BM 75 mm WBM Gr III/WMM 75 mm WBM Gr II/WMM 150 mm GSB 350 mm

Typical cross section of flexible pavement conventional section

Bituminous concrete 40 mm DBM 100 mm BM 75 mm WBM Gr III/WMM 75 mm Fly ash + 6% cement stabilised layer 150 mm Pond ash 350 mm

Typical cross section of flexible pavement using fly ash

Fly ash admixed PQC 300 mm

DLFC 100 mm

Pond ash 300 mm

Typical cross section of rigid pavement using fly ash

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 One rigid pavement section using DLFC and RCCP technology was laid Performance of all the specifications is good

Mixing of lime stabilised pond ash

Demonstration road project using fly ash at Raichur

Compaction of stabilised pond ash using road roller

Construction of roller compacted concrete pavement

Demonstration road project using fly ash at Raichur

View of the demonstration road stretch after three years

Demonstration road project using near Dadri (U.P)

fly ash

A rural road near Dadri in District Gautam Budh Nagar, Uttar Pradesh was selected Total length of road 1.4 km Bottom ash used as embankment fill Base course constructed using fly ash stabilised with 8% cement RCCP Wearing course 10 cm thickness RCCP Mix proportion 1:2:4 30 per cent of cement and 20 per cent of sand replaced with fly ash in RCCP Shoulders 8% cement stabilised fly ash

Demonstration road project using fly ash near Dadri (U.P) Typical section
RCCP wearing course - 0.1 m Stabilised fly ash base - 0.1 m Soil cover Bottom ash Stabilised fly ash Shoulder

Demonstration road project using fly ash near Dadri (U.P)

Stabilised base course

Mixing & laying of RCCP

Compaction of RCCP

IRC Guidelines / Specifications

Guidelines available on pavement construction

IRC 60 Tentative guidelines for use of lime fly ash concrete as pavement base or sub-base IRC 68 Tentative guidelines on cement fly ash concrete for rigid pavement construction

IRC 74 Tentative guidelines for lean cement concrete and lean cement fly ash concrete as a pavement base or sub-base IRC 88 Recommended practice for lime fly ash stabilised soil as base or sub-base in pavement construction

Guidelines for use of fly ash in road embankments

Published recently by Indian Roads Congress (SP- 58:2001) Includes design aspects also Handling and construction Loose layer thickness of 400 mm can be adopted if vibratory rollers are used Moisture content - OMC + 2 per cent Use of vibratory rollers advocated Minimum dry density to be achieved - 95 per cent of modified Proctor density Ash layer and side soil cover to be constructed simultaneously

Utilisation of steel slags

Total production of slag from steel industries is about 8.0 million tonnes 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 stabilisation

Air cooled blast furnace slag

Non reactive Suitable for use as coarse aggregates

CRRI work on utilisation of steel slags

Characterisation of slags produced at different steel plants Laboratory studies on Lime-GBFS mixes Semi-field studies on Lime-GBFS concrete Test track studies on usage of slags in road works

Properties of air cooled slag

Property
Specific gravity Water absorption (%) Los Angeles abrasion value (%) Impact value (%) Soundness value (%) Percentage voids

Durgapur
2.78 2.82 1.53 1.72 18.80

Bhilai
2.82 3.33 0.58 1.38 25.00

Rourkela
2.97 2.99 0.74 1.29 14.28

Delhi Specification Quartzite requirements

2.67 0.48 2% Max

34.00

40% Max

15.79 1.66 46.40

14.80 1.17 43.90

16.90 0.33 43.10

24.50 0.17 43.80

30% Max 12% Max -

Steel slags
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

Road projects executed under CRRI guidance using slags

Plant roads at Visakhapatnam Test tracks in collaboration with AP PWD using slags from Visakhapatnam Steel Plant Test tracks in collaboration with Orissa PWD using slags from Rourkella Plant Test tracks at R&D Centre for Iron & Steel, Ranchi using Slags from Bokaro Plant

Construction of test track using slag at Orissa

Labour based techniques for construction of stabilised layer

Lime stabilisation of iron slags (Orissa)

View of finished surface of road constructed using slags at Orissa

Processed municipal wastes

Processed municipal wastes utilised for construction of test track on village road near Delhi Stabilised municipal waste used for construction of subbase layer Performance of stretch is good

Kimberlite tailings

Kimberlite tailings are waste produced from diamond mining Can be used in base or sub-base course by adopting mechanical or cement stabilisation High value of water absorption makes them unsuitable for use in bituminous pavement

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