CONSTRUCTION OF LIME STABILISED SUB-BASE

The lime used for stabilisation of the sub-base should have purity of at least 70%. Lime stabilisation
should not be done when the air temperature is below 10°C. The soil first needs to be pulverized
according to the specifications in Table 400-3 of the MORTH. Mixing is done by the mix-in-place method
in general, with the exception of low width of laying, where manual mixing is allowed. The compacted
thickness of the layer to be stabilized should lie between 100 and 200 mm.

The mix-in-place method begins with clearing the soil of all deleterious materials and spreading it
uniformly over the prepared subgrade. Then the rotavator, which can be of single pass or multiple pass
type, is passed over the soil, followed by spreading the lime uniformly, and continuing the mixing with
successive passes.

In the manual method, again first the extraneous vegetation and deleterious material is removed from
the soil and then placed on the subgrade. Then it is pulverized by crow-bars or other such equipment.
Then the lime is spread uniformly all over and mixed with spades. Dry lime is prevented from blowing by
adding water to it. Care has to taken to avoid movement of any other equipment over the soil, and
mixing has to be done uniformly so that there is a uniform colour traction in the standard
phenolphthalein alcohol indicator.

The moisture content should not be less than the IS:2720-Part 8 guidelines and not more than 2 percent
above this value.

Rolling is carried out immediately after spreading, from the edges towards the centre, except on roads
having superelevation, where it is done from the inner to the outer edge. This is done till the density
becomes 98% of the MDD. It needs to be ensured that compaction of the lime stabilised material is
completed within three hours of mixing.

The sub-base is then cured for at least7 days following which, other pavement layers are constructed on
top of it.