INDIAN HIGHWAYS

A REVIEW OF ROAD AND ROAD TRANSPORT DEVELOPMENT

Volume 41 Number 6 June 2013

Contents ISSN 0376-7256
Page
2-3 From the Editor’s Desk
4-5 Glimpses of First Regional Level Initiative of IRC with Research Institutions
5 Green Initiative of IRC
6 Geosynthetics Reinforced Flexible Pavement : Gateway of the Sustainable Pavement
G.S. Ingle and S.S. Bhosale
16 Optimal Slope Stability Protection Strategies for Road Construction in a Hilly Terrain : A Concept
S.S. Seehra
25 Bamboo as Subgrade Reinforcement for Low Volume Roads on Soft Soils
Raja J and G.L. Siva Kumar Babu
35 Stabilisation of a Black Cotton Soil with Pond Ash & Cement Mixed with Fiber & Sodium Silicate
Alok Ranjan, R.K. Swami and Sudhir Mathur
43 Compaction and Subgrade Charactertistics of Clayey Soil Blended with Beas Sand, Fly Ash and Waste Plastic Strips
Ravi Kumar Sharma, Deen Bandhu, Rounak Maheshwari and Sukhendra Kumar
49 Obituary
50 A Study on the Performance of Sugarcane Fibre in Stone Matrix Asphalt
P.Vilvakumar, N. Senthil, S. Lakshmi, C. Kamaraj and S. Gangopadhyay
59-60 Call for Technical Papers
61 Pan India Initiative on Road Safety Audit
61 Announcement
62-66 Circulars Issued by MORT&H
67 Tender Notice of NHs Madurai
68 Tender Notice of NHs Bareilly
70 Advertisement Tarrif

The Indian Roads Congress Founded : December 1934

E-mail: secretarygen@irc.org.in/indianhighways@irc.org.in IRC Website: www.irc.org.in
Jamnagar House, Shahjahan Road, Kama Koti Marg, Sector 6, R.K. Puram
New Delhi - 110 011 New Delhi - 110 022
Tel : Secretary General: +91 (11) 2338 6486 Tel : Secretary General : +91 (11) 2618 5303
Sectt. : (11) 2338 5395, 2338 7140, 2338 4543, 2338 6274 Sectt. : (11) 2618 5273, 2617 1548, 2671 6778,
Fax : +91 (11) 2338 1649 2618 5315, 2618 5319, Fax : +91 (11) 2618 3669

No part of this publication may be reproduced by any means without prior written permission from the Secretary General, IRC.
Edited and Published by Shri Vishnu Shankar Prasad on behalf of the Indian Roads Congress (IRC), New Delhi. The responsibility of the
contents and the opinions expressed in Indian Highways is exclusively of the author/s concerned. IRC and the Editor disclaim responsibility
and liability for any statement or opinion, originality of contents and of any copyright violations by the authors. The opinions expressed in the
papers and contents published in the Indian Highways do not necessarily represent the views of the Editor or IRC.
 From the Editor’s Desk

SMALL COMPONENT BUT BIG IMPACT

Dear Readers,

Do Geotextiles make substantial difference in the sustainability of Roads? The Historical evidence shows
that Geotextiles were used in roadways construction in the days of Pharaos to stabilize the right ways of their
edges. Babylonians used palm fronds and hemp to strengthen the soil reinforced structures called “Ziggurats”
more than 3000 years ago. The Chinese have used “reeds” to construct a type of road since pre historic times.
The concept of soil reinforcement by using natural fibers in a part of Great Wall of China is one of the
shining examples in this area. The Dutch and Romans have made use of willows fascines to reinforce dike
and to protect them against sea wave actions. This shows that mankind has recognized & realized the huge
potential of Geotextiles many centuries ago but its true potential have yet not been harnessed fully.

Coming to the modern time, the early use of Geotextiles as a means of strengthening road pavements is
documented in respect of the attempts made by the South Caribbean Department of Highways in USA in
1930’s. The British army used this technique during the World War II for the invasion of Normandy. Since
then the various types of Geotextiles, synthetic, woven, fabric, etc. are used for different application in the
areas of soil stabilization, controlling soil erosion specifically in the coastal areas and in other large number
of civil engineering applications.

The term Geotextiles is not much in use, as most of the time the material used is synthetic material and
“Geo-synthetic” is the term commonly used which are used as geo-membrane, geogrids, geonets, etc. In fact
it is one of the fastest growing segments in the textile sector. When we talk specifically to road sector, which
is now one of the sunrise sectors of the economy, the geotextiles finds applications in subsurface drainage,
erosion control, separation of layers, filtration, protection of slopes and embankments in pavement, etc.

In India also the Geotextiles have been used since time immemorial for different applications. Many few
are aware that the English word “Coir” comes from tamil/malayam word “Kayara”. It is not surprising that,
out of total world’s coir fiber production of about 2.5 lakh ton per year, India, mainly Kerala state produces
20% of the total world’s production. The usage of coir in various fabrics was made popular in 1840’s by
Capt. Widely who founded a well-known carpet firm of Trelor & Sons in England for manufacturing of
Coir based floor coverings. Even though coir is eco-friendly, bio-degradable and can also provide suitable
substrate for horticultural use as a “Soil less potting media”, its usage is not made so popular in roads and
other civil engineering applications. The scope is available but it requires some innovative approach so that
the connected areas of durability, sustainability, economics and technical viabilities are addressed to a larger
extent.

Another natural Geo-fiber in which India is having dominated 60% world’s production share is that of jute
and allied fibers. The other natural available fibers materials like Bamboo, Straw, Wood, etc. have also

2 INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013

 EDITORIAL

find applications in strengthening the soil properties. The biodegradable nature of natural Geotextiles has
its own advantages as well as limitations. The related aspects of eco-friendly weather resistant, bacterial
decomposition, strength, etc. needs careful systematic study for harnessing their beneficial applications in
the road sector. Polymer based Geotextiles commonly known as Geosynthetics have its own advantages
of strengthening and resistance to weathering, fungal and bacterial decomposition but they have their own
limitation when the issue of eco-friendly and bio-degradable qualities are considered.

Considering that Geotextiles needs due consideration to optimize enhancing design flexibility, cost
effectiveness, aesthetics, functionality and long term durability of transport infrastructure, their applications
should invariably be made an integral part for big ticket projects in road and multi-modal transport
infrastructure projects involving roads, railways, airports, seaports, etc. It may be heartening to mention
that, IRC has long back realized the potential of Geotextiles, Geosynthetics and published in the year
1994 the State of Art Report on Application of Geotextiles in highway engineering. Subsequently, with
the enhancement of application of Geotextiles with a focus on locally available materials a State of Art
Report titled “Use of Geotextiles in Road Construction and Prevention of Soil Erosion and Landslide” was
published. In between, the Guidelines for Use of Geotextiles in Road Pavements and associated works were
formalized and published in IRC:SP:59:2002.

It may be of interest that the current Geotextiles market in the country is about Rs.300 crores only. Considering
the amount of trillions of investment in the road infrastructure in the country by the Central government and
State government organizations, the extent of Geotextiles usage in the road infrastructure sector demands for
relook about its usage versus its usage potentiality.

Possibly the time has come to blend the tradition and innovation in this important segment which is small
but have big impact on the sustainability and cost effectiveness factors. This combination of tradition and
innovation can be termed as “Tradonnovation” Such a combination may create avenues for wider application
as well as acceptability as use of local available materials & machines to solve local issues & demand with
the help of modern scientific instruments and techniques/technology may create a win-win situation for all. It
may also help in providing more opportunities for employment besides increasing level of confidence in the
users as well as road developers. The imperative need is for more innovative handling of Geotextiles to make
its usage more popular in road sector applications by addressing the issues of strength, durability, economics
and technical viability to make its use really preferable at all stages of projects right from conceptualization,
designing to execution and maintenance. This may require synergic efforts of all stakeholders, which it
is hoped may help in furthering the versatile usage of Geotextiles in the civil engineering applications
including the road sector.

“Any process of inquiry related to learning is finding out what is transient and what is permanent”

His Holiness Sri Satya Sai Baba

Place: New Delhi  Vishnu Shankar Prasad

Dated: 24th May, 2013 Secretary General

INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013 3

 GLIMPSES OF FIRST Highlights
REGIONAL LEVEL INITIATIVE OF
IRC WITH RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS

In the endeavor to increase the reach of Indian Roads
Congress (IRC), new initiatives have been taken
to collaborate with research institutions to conduct
Workshops-Cum Seminars to bring together various
stakeholders on the same platform to deliberate
upon the various possible solutions to address the
road infrastructure related issues. In this series, a
Workshop-cum Seminar on “Possible Solutions
to the city transport system including pedestrians
segregation & Automated Parking facilities”
organized in collaboration with Highway Research
Station (HRS Chennai) on 26th April, 2013. The same
was attended by various departments of Government
of Tamil Nadu i.e. Police Department, Transport
Planning Department, State PWD, CMDA, Experts
from Educational Institutions & Research Institutions
from Chennai, Bangalore, Mumbai & Delhi besides
a number of Public and Private Sector entities and
NGO’s.
3. “Feasibility for Development of PRT System
– A Case Study in Thiruvananthapuram”
by Prof. P.K. Sarkar, School of Planning &
Architecture, New Delhi.
4. “Automated Parking Technology – The
Robotic Valet Parking” by Shri S. Elango,
Director, Galaxy Group, Bangalore.
5. “Integration of Pedestrian Movements” by
Shri R. Narendra Kumar, Manager, Traffic
Planning, CMRL.
6. “Pedestrians & Parking – Problems & Solution”
by M. Geetha, Senior Planner, CMDA.
7. “Automatic Parking” by Er. Uganandan, ADE,
Highways
8. “Pedestrian Segregation” by Thiru. S. Santhosh
Kumar, PRO, TN Police Warden, Coimbatore.
9. “Pedestrian Facilities by Dr. Geetha Krishnan
Ramadurai, IIT, Chennai.
10. “Pedestrian Solutions” by Thiru. Utpal
Chakravarty, V.P., M/s. S.N. Bhobe.
11. “Automated Parking Facilities” by Thiru.
Sanjog Bawane, CCCL.
12. “Personal Rapid Transit (PRT)” by M/s. Ultra
Fair Wood, Gurgaon.
13. “Pedestrian Crossing Facilities in Chennai” by
Ms. Sahaya, STUP Consultants.

During this One Day programme the following

presentation were made:-
1. Presentation entitled “How to Design Safe
Streets.” By Ms. Shreya Gadepalli, RD,
ITDP.
2. ‘Parking – the Problem, the Demand
Assessment & the Solution’ by
Dr. G. Malarvizhi, Anna University.

4 INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013

 Highlights

The presentations were followed by a panel discussion
which was interactive in nature. The important
aspects which emerged from this successful One Day
initiative are:-
 The traffic scenario in the cities required
concerted efforts of all stakeholders. There is a
need to reduce traffic conflicts at road junctions
and the areas where pedestrian pressure is
high.
 The provision of IRC Codes especially related
to pedestrian facilities/transport facilities/
bus ways needs to be impressed upon by all
stakeholders while designing and implementing
the projects to enhance the safety of the road
users including pedestrians.
 The automated parking facilities may
provide viable and cost effective solutions
in metropolitan cities and all options may be
explored to arrive at the best solution.
 PRT is one of the solutions to reduce pressure
on the roads and may play an important role in
multi model/integrated transport networking
in the city conditions.
 Skywalks may also be considered as an integral
part of big commercial/shopping mall projects.
The feasibility of their stand-alone viability as
well as covering the same with solar panels
to increase their financial viability may be
explored while considering the pedestrian
friendly/conducive facilities.

 The pressure on the city roads are increasing
at a much higher pace and due attention
is required for parking facilities as well
as segregation pedestrian by planning and
providing dedicated facilities for the same.
 Vehicle parking complexes may be explored
at strategic location in the cities. They may be
stand-alone facilities or as a part of shopping
malls and/or such commercial establishments/
office complex.
 IRC Codal provisions in respect of road safety
needs to be emphasized by all stakeholders and
safety of road users should be given paramount
importance.
 IRC may consider initiating pan India
initiatives on road safety involving the young
school going children.
 While considering new cities or transforming
semi urban areas to urban areas, due provisions
should be made for public transport system.

GREEN INITIATIVE OF IRC

It is pleasure to inform that now Indian Roads Congress (IRC) have taken initiative to start E-Version
of its monthly magazine “Indian Highways”.
The esteem members of IRC are requested to support and cooperate in this new green initiative
of IRC. Accordingly, esteem members are requested to forward their willingness to receive
“Indian Highways” on regular basis in E-Version.
The esteem members of IRC are also requested to reconfirm/forward their e-mail IDs to
IRC at:- membership@irc.org.in
or
alternatively at :- indianhighways@irc.org.in.

INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013 5

 TECHNICAL PAPERS
Geosynthetics Reinforced Flexible Pavement :
Gateway of The Sustainable Pavement
G.S. Ingle* and S.S. Bhosale**
Abstract
Pavement is the most severely dynamically loaded structure under
varied environmental conditions. Long lasting pavement with
good riding surface has always been remained challenge to the
pavement engineers. Present day traffic loading for important
roads, such as Expressways, National highways is increasing at
an accelerated rate. Most of the times vehicles are overloaded
than the legal limits. Due to such overloading pavement life
reduces drastically, particularly if the desired quality materials
are not used. Day by day the demand for good quality pavement
materials is increasing at an accelerated rate due to which natural
good quality material getting depleted rapidly. This will be threat
to an environment in near future. Geosynthetics reinforcement
has a potential in improving the engineering characteristics of
the pavement materials as well as layers, which improves the
pavement service life. In addition to this, based on stiffness
characteristics of geosynthetics it greatly reduces the thickness
of flexible pavement, an illustration presented shows typically
saving of 40% in base course thickness.
In addition to direct saving of pavement materials there are
significant environmental benefits associated with it, viz. less
transportation of aggregate by trucks, hence less air pollution (dust,
gasoline vapors), less noise, carbon emission, diesel consumption,
etc. and hence geosynthetics will open gateway to greener, more
sustainable construction. Paper also presents brief information on
geosynthetics products and their standards.
1 Introduction
In India, the main problems which the roads are facing
that majority of them fail before their service life, due
to the fact that the load accounted during the design
of road is far lower than ground reality. The structural
adequacy of the pavement system is based on the
amount of stress that is acting on the subgrade layer.
For the low value of subgrade stresses, the life of the
pavement system is longer. In a multi-layered flexible
pavement system, subgrade stress can be lowered by
either increasing the thickness of the base course layer
or by increasing the rigidity (E-value) of the different
layers by using good quality of natural materials.
* Research Scholar in Civil Engineering Department, College of Engineering Pune, E-mail: ganeshsingle@yahoo.co.in
** Professor in Civil Engineering Department, College of Engineering Pune, E-mail: ssb.civil@coep.ac.in
6 INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013
In many areas of the world, quality natural materials
are unavailable or are in short supply. Also bringing
quality materials from a far distance increase the fuel
consumption. Secondly for increasing the thickness
of base course layer, additional sourcing of natural
aggregate from quarries is required which is not
economical.
Due to the above mentioned facts, engineers are
concentrating towards locally available materials
i.e. soil, while the available soil may not possess
the required strength characteristics. The strength of
this soil may be increased by using soil stabilization
technique. Alternatively, use of polymeric material
namely geosynthetics could be resorted to.
2 GEOSYNTHETICS REINFORCED
PAVEMENT
A geosynthetics material is a synthetic material
manufactured from polymers such as polyethylene,
polypropylene, or polyester. Although geosynthetics
have many forms and uses (Koerner 2005), the two
forms of geosynthetics that are specifically used for
separation and reinforcement in flexible pavement
systems.
Geosynthetics have been studied and used for more
than 40 years as reinforcement in the base course layer
of flexible pavements. Early uses of geosynthetics in
roadways included separation, filtration, and drainage
in paved and unpaved roads and reinforcement in
unpaved roads (Steward et al. 1977; Bender and
Barenberg 1978). Geotextiles were first examined
for use as reinforcement in paved roads in the early
1980s (Brown et al. 1982; Ruddock et al. 1982), while
geogrids were first studied in the late 1980s (Barker
 TECHNICAL PAPERS

1987; Haas et al. 1988; Barksdale et al. 1989). The between the geosynthetics and the aggregate, thus
focus of this paper is reinforcement applications. the mechanism is one of a shear-resisting interface
(Perkins 1999). When an aggregate layer is subjected
Geosynthetics material is typically placed in the
to traffic loading, the aggregate tends to move
interface between the aggregate base course and
laterally unless it is restrained by the subgrade or
the subgrade or within a base course to increase the
geosynthetics reinforcement. Interaction between the
structural or load-carrying capacity of a pavement
base aggregate and the geosynthetics allows transfer
system by the transfer of load to the geosynthetics
of the shearing load from the base layer to a tensile
material. (Hufenus et al. 2005)
load in the geosynthetics. The tensile stiffness of the
The two main benefits of the reinforcement are to geosynthetics limits the lateral strains in the base
(1) improve the service life and/or; (2) obtain layer. (Zornberg, J.G 2010)
equivalent performance with a reduced structural
section. Fig.2.1 shows the benefits of geosynthetics in
terms of reduction of granular base thickness.

Fig. 2.1 Benefits of Geosynthetics in Terms of Reduction of

Granular Base Thickness (After Giroud and Noiray 1981)
This improved performance of the pavement due
to geosynthetics reinforcement has been attributed
to three main mechanisms, as follows: (1) lateral
restraint, (2) increased bearing capacity, and (3) the
tensioned membrane effect (Giroud and Noiray 1981,
Giroud et al. 1984, Perkins and Ismeik 1997, Holtz et
al. 1998) which are presented in next paragraph.
3 MECHANISM OF REINFORCEMENT
Three fundamental reinforcement mechanisms have
been identified involving the use of geosynthetics to
reinforce pavement materials are as follows.
3.1 Lateral Restraint
The primary mechanism associated with the
reinforcement function for flexible pavements as
shown in Fig. 3.1 is lateral restraint or confinement
(Bender and Barenberg 1978). The name is misleading
as lateral restraint develops through interfacial friction
Fig. 3.1 Lateral Restraints Due to Geosynthetics
(After Perkins and Ismeik 1997)
Furthermore, a geosynthetics layer confines the base
course layer thereby increasing its mean stress and
leading to an increase in shear strength. Both frictional
and interlocking characteristics at the interface
between the soil and the geosynthetics contribute to
this mechanism. For a geogrid, this implies that the
geogrid apertures and base soil particles must be
properly sized.
A geotextile with good frictional capabilities can
also provide tensile resistance to lateral aggregate
movement.
3.2 Increased Bearing Capacity
Fig.3.2 shows the increased bearing capacity
mechanism leads to soil reinforcement when the
presence of a geosynthetics imposes the development
of an alternate failure surface. This new alternate
plane provides a higher bearing capacity. The
geosynthetics reinforcement can decrease the shear

INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013 7

 TECHNICAL PAPERS
stresses transferred to the subgrade and provide
vertical confinement outside the loaded area. The
bearing failure mode of the subgrade is expected to
change from punching failure without reinforcement
to general failure with reinforcement.
Fig. 3.2 Increased Bearing Capacity Due to Geosynthetics
(After Perkins and Ismeik 1997)
3.3 Tensioned Membrane Effect
The geosynthetics can also be assumed to act as a
tensioned membrane, which supports the wheel loads
as shown in Fig. 3.3. In this case, the reinforcement
provides a vertical reaction component to the applied
wheel load. This tensioned membrane effect is induced
by vertical deformations, leading to a concave shape
in the geosynthetics. The tension developed in the
geosynthetics contributes to support the wheel load
and reduces the vertical stress on the subgrade.
Fig. 3.3 Tensioned Membrane Effect Due to Geosynthetics
(After Perkins and Ismeik 1997)
However, significant rutting depths are necessary to
realize this effect. Higher deformations are required to
mobilize the tension of the membrane for decreasing
8 INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013
stiffness of the geosynthetics. In order for this type of
reinforcement mechanism to be significant, there is a
consensus that the subgrade CBR should be below 3%
(Barksdale et al. 1989).
3.4 Relevance of the Various Mechanisms
The aforementioned mechanisms require different
magnitudes of deformation in the pavement system to
be mobilized. Since the early studies on geosynthetic
reinforcement of base course layers focused on
unpaved roads, significant rutting depths (in excess
of 25 mm) may have been tolerable. The increased
bearing capacity and tensioned membrane support
mechanisms have been considered for paved roads.
However, the deformation needed to mobilize these
mechanisms generally exceeds the serviceability
requirements of flexible pavements. Thus, for the case
of flexible pavements, lateral restraint is considered to
contribute the most for the improved performance of
geosynthetics reinforced pavements.
4 DESIGN APPROACHES FOR
GEOSYNTHETICS REINFORCED
PAVEMENT
The beneficial effect of using geosynthetics
reinforcement in road sections has been studied by
many researchers both theoretically and experimentally
from last three decades. (J.G. Collin et.al 1996)
This research may be in the form of small scale
laboratory plate load tests (Al-Quadi et al. 1994;
Haas et al. 1988) theoretical evaluations using finite
element analysis (Barksdale et al. 1989; Burd and
Houlsby 1986), and full scale wheel load tests (Fannin
and Sigurdsson 1996; Webster 1992, J.G. Collin, T.C.
Kinney 1996, Perkins S.W. 1999, Rudolf Hufenus and
Rueegger 2005). This beneficial effect is expressed in
terms of extension of life or by savings in base course
thickness. Extension of life is defined in terms of a
Traffic Benefit Ratio (TBR). TBR is defined as the
ratio of the number of cycles necessary to reach a given
rut depth for a test section containing reinforcement,
divided by the number of cycles necessary to reach
 TECHNICAL PAPERS

this same rut depth for an unreinforced section with
the same section thickness and subgrade properties. A
TBR > 1 also provides a safety factor on the pavement
load-carrying capacity against significantly increased
EASLs or weaker subgrade from design values.
The Base Course Reduction (BCR) is expressed as a
percentage savings of the unreinforced base thickness.
Information on base course reduction is extracted from
those studies where unreinforced and reinforced test
sections with equal AC thickness and subgrade were
created, but where the reinforced section contained
less base course material and resulted in identical
performance.
Table 1 shows some of the Design Approaches with
mode of design method and maximum range of
improvement for Base/Sub base Reinforcement by
some developer/ Organization, which indicate that the
geosynthetics material improves the performance of
road in terms of extension of service life or reduction
in the base course thickness.

Table 1 Design Approaches and Procedures for Base/Sub Base Reinforcement

Developer Geosynthetic Applicability Distress mode and Empirical Maximum Range of

Type Design Format Support Improvement
Giroud and Geotextile Empirical method 75 mm Rut depth Quasistatic 30% to 50% reduction
Noiray (1981) analysis in base course
thickness
Penner et al. Specific geogrid Based on C.B.R 20 mm Rut depth/ Lab Test 30% to 50% reduction
(1985) 4.3 to 5.7% Equation and chart in base course
thickness
Burd and Genetic Isotropic surface F.E.M Improvement after
Houlsby (1986) Geosynthetic elastoplastic deformation/ 4 mm surface
FE M Computer deformation
Programe
Barksdale et al. Genetic Isotropic surface Field Result 4% to 18% reduction
(1989) Geosynthetic elastoplastic deformation/ base thickness
FE M Computer
Programe
Barksdale et al. Geogrid C.B.R 2.4% Vertical Field Test 4% to 18% reduction
(1989) deformation charts, in base course
computer programe thickness
Webster (1993) Specific Based on C.B.R 3 Rut depth (25 mm)/ Field Test BCR = 5% to 45%
Geogrid to 8% Design charts
Tensar (1996) Specific Based on C.B.R 20 to 30 mm rut Lab & test track Traffic Benefit Ratio
Geogrid 1.9 to 8% depth/equations, correlate to field (TBR) = 1.5 to 10
charts, computer test
programe
J.G. Collin, T.C. Geogrid C.B.R 1 to 8% Surface rutting Full Scale Lab. Traffic Benefit Ratio
Kinney (1996) test (TBR) = 2 to 10%
Akzo-Nobel Specific GG-GT Not stated Bearing capacity/ Plate Load Test BCR = 32% to 56%
(1998) Composite Equation & charts (Meyer 7 Elias,
1999)
Perkins S.W. Geogrid - Permanent surface Full Scale Lab. At least 30% reduction
(1999) deformation test in base course
thickness

INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013 9

 TECHNICAL PAPERS

Giroud & Han Geogrid Theoretical design allowable rut depth, Empirical test Up to 30% reduction
(2004) method e.g. 75 mm. calibrated with in base course
field test thickness
Rudolf Hufenus, Geogrid C.B.R 1 to 4% Rut depth Full scale Field Up to 30% reduction
Rueegger et. at test in base course
(2005) thickness
Bassam Saad Geogrid - Surface 3D F.E.M Reduction of Rutting
and Hani Mitri deformation strain up to 16 to 34%
(2006)
Imad L. Al-Qadi Geogrid C.B.R 4% Surface rutting Full scale test Reduction in
et.at (2010) pavement response up
to 23-31%

5 PAVEMENT LIFE Most of the researchers observed this increased

Stevenson (2008) highlighted graphically (as shown
in figure 5.1) the variation of surface rut depth
of pavement with and without geosynthetics for
number of load repetition. As shown in Fig.5.1, for
an illustration surface rut depth (r) geosynthetics
pavement is able to resist higher number of repetition
as compared to unreinforced section (without
geosynthetics), which clearly indicates the increase of
pavement life due to the use of geosynthetics material
as reinforcement. Field observations and research
results confirm this increased pavement life due to
geosynthetics utilization.
Fig. 5.1 Surface Rut Depth of Pavement With and Without
Geosynthetics (After Stevenson 2008)
pavement life in terms of a dimensionless parameter
called as TBR. In general, geosynthetics have been
found to provide a TBR in the range of 1.5 to 70,
depending on the type of geosynthetics, its location
in the road, and the testing scenario (Carthage Mills
2002). Table no.1 shows few literatures which
highlight the range of TBR, apart from this the field
observations in terms of TBR, obtained by various
researchers are highlighted below.
United States of Army Corps of Engineers performed a
field test on unpaved road with and without a geotextile,
the test result indicate that for a rut depth of 0.28 m
the TBR is 12.5.Webster (1993) performed field test
on flexible pavement, where the researcher found that
reinforced section with a stiff geogrid carried 21 times
the number of traffic loads as compared to unreinforced
section. Barksdale et al. (1989) conducted a field
test, for comparing the performance of different
geosynthetics products; the researcher found that for
12.5 mm rut depth TBR values are 17 and 2.5 for
the geogrid and geotextile sections respectively. J.G.
Collin et.al (1996) performed a full scale field test on
two different geogrid, where the researchers obtained
the range of TBR in between 2.2 to 4.4 for 25 mm rut
depth.
The above field result obtained by various researchers
clearly shows the increase of pavement life due to the
use of geosynthetics material as reinforcement.

10 INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013

 TECHNICAL PAPERS
6 SUSTAINIBILITY IN PAVEMENT
Bruntland Commission’s (1987) defines the sustainable
development as “meeting the basic needs of the present
generation without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their needs”.
Ludomir Uzarowski (2008) have stated that over one
quarter of the world’s Greenhouse Gas emissions
(GHG) are caused by transportation and especially road
transportation. It is critical for the road construction
industry to become part of the solution by proactively
implementing technology and construction practices
that assist in achieving these challenging green house
gas emission reduction goals, and more attention
needs to be focused on pavement sustainability.
Pavement sustainability can be defined as a pavement
that minimizes environmental impacts through the
reduction of energy consumption, natural resources and
associated emissions while meeting all performance
conditions and standards. In essence, this is a pavement
that has less maintenance demands and longer time
between major rehabilitation interventions (Ludomir
Uzarowski 2008). Currently there are numerous
innovative pavement preservation technologies that
conserve aggregates, reduce GHG emissions, and
minimize energy consumption (Kazmierowski 2012);
one of the technologies is to use geosynthetics material
in a pavement as reinforcement.
Colascanada (2008) states that there is a 20% reduction
in the energy consumption and GHG emissions for the
reduced granular structure of the reinforced section.
Table 1 highlights the benefits of geosynthetics in
terms of reduction in the Base Course Thickness
(BCR), in our paper indirectly we are achieving this;
hence we can say that the geosynthetics reinforced
flexible pavement is a sustainable pavement.
The environmental savings associated with the reduced
granular structure are offset by the environmental
costs associated with the manufacturing, transport
and placement of the geosynthetics. Although there
INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013 11
is a potential environmental savings anticipated with
the reinforced pavement structure, these savings
cannot be confirmed without knowing the energy
consumption and GHG emissions associated with the
manufacturing and production of geosynthetics (Brian
Morrison 2011).
To find out the sustainable benefits of pavement, it is
essential to determine pavement lifecycle assessment
for environmental and economic effect. This can be
determined by using Sustainability index, which is
a non-monetary cost-benefit analysis that includes
environmental and social impact assessment into the
benefit-cost calculation. It also ties sustainability to
human development goals. Therefore, a Sustainability
Index (SI) or a Sustainability Condition (SC) must
include marginal present and future benefits and
costs, where costs must account for all damages to
the Natural and Social Environments (NSE) that
may possibly restrain future well-being. (Hasnat
Dewan 2011)
Therefore a working definition of sustainable
development can, be to find the optimal human
development (H), with minimal damage to natural
and social environments (D) and Future Development
Potentials (FDP), in order to maximize the well-being
of the largest number of people in present and future
generations (Dewan A.H 1998).
It emphasizes end goal such as human development,
rather than consumption expenditures, focuses on
intra-generational as well as inter-generational
equity, includes both monetary and non-monetary
indicators, and also emphasizes both ecological and
social sustainability. Hence, the set of sustainability
indicators should include the Human Development
Index (H), a damage index (D), an equity index (E) and
the indices for Future Development Potentials (FDP).
The Capital-Debts Index (CDI) and the Productivity
Index (P) can be good measures of FDP. Therefore,
a possible set of sustainability indicators could be:
{H, D, E, CDI and P}. In the Human Development
 TECHNICAL PAPERS

Index, two-third weight is assigned to quality of life, geosynthetics products are available. Following
i.e. income and education, and one-third to longevity, table 2 shows the list of geosynthetics standards which
which is a better indicator than consumption, though are available at international level.
the Human Development Index and consumption Table 2 List of Geosynthetics Standards Available at
should be highly, but imperfectly correlated (Hasnat International Level
Dewan 2011)
Sr. No. Geosynthetics Product Standards
The damage index is defined as: D = Max {ENV, 1 ASTM Standards
NAT, AMN, SOC}, where ENV = an index for
2 ISO Standards (ISO/TC221)
environmental degradation, NAT = an index for
natural resource depletion, AMN = an index for the 3 Indian Standards (BIS)
destruction of natural amenities, and SOC = an index 4 AASHTO Standards
for the change or degradation of socio-cultural political 5 FHWA Standards
and institutional conditions. All indices are in [0, 1].
6 NORDIC Guidelines
Since maximum damage to a sub-system of Natural
7 British Standards
and Social Environments (NSE) is used to calculate
D, the coefficient of variation (V) of various damage 8 International Geosynthetic Society Standards
(IGS)
indices also needs to be monitored (Hasnat Dewan
2011). The computational details of these indices are 9 Geosynthetic Research Institute (GRI)
beyond the scope of this paper. 10 Geosynthetic Materials Association (GMA)
Sustainability issue is not about computing benefits 11 US Provinvcial Standards
and costs; it’s about ensuring sustainable levels of 12 Industrial Fabrics Association International
ecological resources, which can be determined by (IFAI)
comparing Human Development Index (H) with 13 Geo-synthetica
damage index (D). Hence sustainability indices is a
14 International Erosion Control Association
need of any nation or region for finding out the level (IECA)
of economic development, the nature of damage
15 European Center For Standardization (CEN)
to Natural and Social Environments (NSE), social
perceptions etc. (Hasnat Dewan 2011) Numerous geosynthetics product manufacturing
industries are available at international level;
table 3 highlight the list of few geosynthetics product
7 GEOSYNTHETICS PRODUCT
manufacturing industries with their URL Site.
STANDARDS
Table 3 List of Geosynthetics Product Manufacturing
To obtain reliable material parameters and guidelines Industries and Their URL Sites
for adequate pavement design construction, apparently
Sr. Geosynthetics Product URL Site
standardized testing is critical in selecting the No. Manufacturing Industries
proper geosynthetics materials and providing basis 1 ACE Geosynthetics Inc. www.geoace.com
for specification (Guang-xin Li et.al 2008). These 2 Agru America, Inc. www.agruamerica.com
standards reassure consumers that product is safe,
3 Belton Industries www.beltonindustries.com
efficient and good for environment. Geosynthetics
4 Carthage Mills www.carthagemills.com
products in the form of geotextile, geogrid or geocell
www.gxgeogrid.com
are easily available in market; also custom-made

12 INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013

 TECHNICAL PAPERS

5 Crown Resources LCC www.crownresources.net per IRC:37-2001, Plate No.2 page No.29 are as
follows:
6 Dalco Nonwovens www.dalcononwovens.com
7 Fibreweb Geosynthetics www.fibreweb.com Total pavement thickness = 916.46 mm say 920 mm
8 GSE Lining Technology inc. www.gseworld.com Base course = 250 mm
9 Huesker Inc. www.huesker.com Subbase course = 460 mm
10 L & M Supply Co.Inc. www.landmsupplyco.com
Bituminous surfacing = 210 mm
11 Maccaferri Inc. www.maccaferri-usa.com
12 Mattex Geosynthetics www/mattexgeo.com
IRC:37-2001 considers three layer but Giroud and
Han design methodology is for unpaved road consider
13 Propex Geosynthetics www.geotextile.com
only base course layer. Hence if the surface course is
14 SKAPS Industries www.skaps.com
not provided the remaining layers i.e. base and sub
15 TechFab India www.techfabindia.com base course, their thickness is bound to increase, so it
16 TenCate Geosynthetics www.tencate.com will be additional saving as shown in Fig. 2.1
www.miraffi.com
Conclusion for base course thickness by using Giroud
17 Tensar International Corp. www.tensarcorp.com
and Han (2004) design methodology:
a) For unreinforced section base
8 ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLE
course thickness = 450 mm
To find out the maximum range of improvement for a
b) For reinforced section base
geosynthetics material in flexible pavement, a data for
course thickness = 260 mm
a fictitious flexible pavement has been considered, and
the effectiveness of geosynthetics in terms of reduction Hence
of Base course thickness has been found out by using Reduction in base course
Giroud and Han (2004) design methodology. thickness is = 190 mm
The design data as follows The reduction of base course thickness is up to 40 %
i) Traffic = 10964 ESAL Per Day for a geogrid, placed at the interface of subgrade &
ii) C.B.R For Subgrade soil = 2% base course of the pavement, similarly the
effectiveness of geosynthetis can be find out for
iii) C.B.R For Base course material = 35% different reinforcement location such as within the
iv) Wheel Load = 40 KN base course or combination of both.
v) Tire pressure = 550Kpa
9 CONCLUDING REMARK
vi) Assume allowable rut depth = 75 mm
Result for above illustrative example shows that the
vii) Geogrid of Aperture stability modulus impact of geosynthetics material in terms of reduction
= 0.65 mN/degree of the base course thickness up to 40% as compared
vii) Design life = 15 Years to unreinforced section, this effect may be increased
for different geosynthetics stiffness and quality of
In Indian condition the flexible pavement is to be
designed as per IRC:37. subgrade. Also the design methodologies proposed by
various researchers shows the benefit of gosynthetics
for CBR 2% & Traffic 43.17 msa, the total pavement materials in terms of extension of service life or
thickness and configuration of pavement layers as reduction in the base course thickness. In addition to

INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013 13

 TECHNICAL PAPERS
the basic economical benefits discussed above, there
are significant environmental benefits associated with
aggregate savings: less transportation of aggregate by
trucks, hence less air pollution, energy consumption
and less GHG emissions. Since geosynthetics
reinforcement addresses these issues it will open
gateway for the sustainable pavement.
10 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The Director, College of engineering Pune is hereby
acknowledged for permitting this research paper.
Indian institute of Technology Delhi and of Bombay
are acknowledged for providing library facility for the
literature survey.
REFERENCES
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and Behavior of Soil-Fabric Aggregate Systems”,
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Transportation Research Board. No 671. Washington, DC:
Transportation Research Board of the National Academies,
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2. Burd, H.J. and Houlsby, G.T. (1986), “A Large Strain Finite
Element Formulation for one Dimensional Membrane
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pp 3-22.
3. Bassam Saad and Hani Mitri (2006), “3D FE Analysis of
Flexible Pavement with Geosynthetic Reinforcement”,
Journal of Transportation Engineering Vol.132,
pp. 402-415.
4. Brian Morrision (2011), “ Geosynthetics as component of
sustainability in pavement Structure Design for Arterial
Roadways”, 2011 Annual Conference of the Transportation
Association of Canada.
5. Bruntland Commission (1987), “Our Common Future.
Oxford University Press, Oxford”.
6. Chan, F. Barksdale, R.D. and Brown, S.F. (1989),
“Aggregate Base Reinforcement of Surfaced
Pavements”, Geotextiles and Geomembranes, Vol. 8,
No. 2, pp. 165-189. Collin.
7. Colascanda (2008), “The environmental road of the future:
Analysis of Energy Consumption and Greenhouse Gas
Emissions”, 2008 Annual Conference of the Transportation
Association of Canada, Toronto, Ontario.
8. Carthage Mills (2002), “A Handbook of Geosynthetics”,
Geosynthetics Material Association.
14 INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013
9. Collin J.G, Kinney T.C and Fu, X., (1996), “Full Scale
Highway Load Test of Flexible Pavement Systems With
Geogrid Reinforced Base Courses”, Geosynthetics
International,Vol. 3, No. 4, pp. 537-549.
10. Dewan A.H. (1998) “Measuring Sustainable Development:
Problems and Prospects” Ph.D. dissertation, The
University of Texas, Austin.
11. Fannin, R. J. and Sigurdsson, O. (1996), ‘‘Field
Observations on Stabilization of Unpaved Roads with
Geosynthetics.’’ Journal of the Geotechnical Engineering,
Vol.122 No.7, pp. 544–553.
12. Giroud, J.P. and Noiray, Laure (1981), “Geotextile
–Reinforced Unpaved Road Design” Journal of the
Geotechnical Engineering Division, ASCE 107,
pp.1233–1254.
13. Giroud, J.P.and Jie Han (2004), “Design Method for
Geogrid -Reinforced Unpaved Roads Calibration
and Applications” Journal of Geotechnical and
Geoenvirinmental Engineering, ASCE pp.787-797.
14. Guang-xin Li, Yunmin Chen and Xiaowu Tang (2008),
“Geosynthetics in Civil and Environmental Engineering”
Geosynthetics Asia 2008, proceeding of the fourth Asian
Regional Conference on Geosynthetics in Shanghai,
China.
15. Hasnat Dewan (2011), Does the Primary Condition for
a Sustainable Human Development Meet the Feasibility
Condition of Cost-Benefit Analysis? Journal of Sustainable
development Vol.4, No. 2.
16. Hausmann, M. R. (1987), “Geotextiles for Unpaved
Roads -- A Review of Design Procedures.” Geotextile and
Geomernbrane Vol. 5, pp. 201-33.
17. Hass, R., Walls, J., and Carroll, R.G., (1988), “Geogrid
Reinforcement of Granular bases in Flexible Pavements”,
Transportation Research Record. No. 1188, Washington,
DC, 19–27.
18. Koerner, R.M. (2005), “Designing With Geosynthetics”,
5th Edition, Prentice-Hall Inc., Englewood Cliffs,
NJ, 1998.
19. Kazmierowski Tom (2012) “Quantifying the Sustainable
Benefits of Flexible Pavement Preservation Techniques
in Canada”, 2012 National pavement preservation
conference.
20. Loyns,C.K.and Fannin, J.(2006), “A Comparision of
Two Design Methods for Unpaved Roads reinforced
with Geogrid” ,Canadian Geotechnical Journal 43
pp.1389-1396.
21. Ludomir Uzarowski (2008), “Sustainable Pavements –
Making the Case for Longer Design Lives for Flexible
Pavements” 2008 Annual Conference of the Transportation
Association of Canada, Toronto, Ontario.
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22. Penner, R., Haas, R., Walls, J. (1985), “Geogrid
Reinforcement of Granular Bases”, Presented to Roads and
Transportation Association of Canada Annual Conference,
Vancouver.
23. Perkins, S.W. and Ismeik,M.(1997),“A Synthesis and
Evaluation of Geosynthetics Reinforced Base Course
Layers in Flexible Pavements: Part I Experimental
Work”,Geosynthetics International, Vol. 4, No. 6,
pp. 549-604.
24. Perkins, S.W. (1999),“Mechanical Response of
Geosynthetic-Reinforced Flexible Pavements”,
Geosynthetics International, Vol. 6, No. 5, pp. 347-382.
25. Perkins,S.W. and Christopher, B.R. (2009),“ A
Mechanistic – Empirical Model for Base Reinforced
Flexible Pavements”, International Journal of pavement
Engineering Vol.10 No.2 pp.101-114.
26. Rueegger, Rudolf Hufenus, R., Robert Banjac and Mayor
P (2005),“Full Scale Test on Geosynthetic Reinforced
Unpaved Roads on Soft Subgrde”,Geotextile and
Geomebrane pp. 21-27.
27. Stevenson P. E. (2008),“Geosynthetics — Characteristics
and Applications”, Engineering materials for technological
needs Vol.1 page 299.
INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013 15
28. Tang Xiaocho and Chehab Ghassan R. (2008), “Evaluation
of Geogrids for Stabilizing Pavement Subgrade”
International Journal of pavement Engineering Vol. 9
No. 6 PP. 413-429.
29. Tom Kazmierowski (2012),“ Quantifying the Sustainable
Benefits of Flexible Pavement Preservation Techniques
in Canada” 2012 National pavement preservation
conference
30. Venkatappa Rao G., Banerjee P.K.,Shahu J.T.and
RamanaG.V ( 2004),“Geosynthetic - New Horizons“
Asian books private limited, New Delhi.
31. Venkatappa Rao G. and Pothal Goutam K.
(2002),“Geosynthetics Testing- A Laboratory Manual”
Technical Publication Division.
32. Webster, S.L. (1993), “Geogrid Reinforced Base Courses
for Flexible Pavements for Light Aircraft, Test Section
Construction, Behavior Under Traffic, Laboratory Tests
and Design criteria.” Technical Report GL-93-6, USAE
Waterways Experiment Station,Vicksberg, MS, USA,
pp 86.
33. Zornberg, J.G. and Gupta, R. (2010),“Geosynthetics
in Pavements: North American Contributions”
9th International Conference on Geosynthetics, Brazil.
 TECHNICAL PAPERS
OPTIMAL SLOPE STABILITY PROTECTION STRATEGIES FOR
ROAD CONSTRUCTION IN A HILLY TERRAIN : A CONCEPT
Dr. S.S. Seehra*
Abstract
Slope failures are always the major issues for the highway
safety and stability in a hilly terrain. The optimal Slope Stability
protection strategies generally mean the engineering feature of
providing selectivity a protective layer of suitable material on a
slope which is otherwise vulnerable to erosion. Slope failure are
the result of gravitational forces acting on a mass which can creep,
slide or flow as slurry. The failures of slopes take place in the form
of landslides or landslips.
Slope stability is affected by the factors such as topography,
geology, weather, pore water pressure characteristics and
seismic activity. Increased stability will result by eliminating or
controlling the factors contributing to sliding. Elimination factors
can be the measures such as relocating the route, removing the
landslide material at the toe and providing drains to intercept
seepage, bridging over the two extremities of the sliding area
etc. Controlling factors can be measures such as providing rock
fall barriers or retaining devices like buttresses, retaining walls,
gabion walls, piling etc.
Soil investigations are important for determining the type of
distribution of geology material in the slope, the geologic structure,
existing ground water conditions and the potential for future rise
in seepage pressure during rainy periods. Seismic refraction
profiling is also valuable in identifying the likely failure planes
in rocky strata. Once the fact of land movement is established,
the type of likely landslide can be identified and optimal slope
protection strategies can be decided.
1 Introduction
Gravitational forces are always acting on a mass of soil
or rock beneath a slope. As long as the strength of the
mass is equal to or greater than the gravitational forces,
the forces are in balance, the mass is in equilibrium
and movement does not occur. An imbalance of forces
results in slope failure and movement in the forms
of creep, falls, slides, avalanches, or flows. Failure
occurs when driving forces exceed resisting forces.
Slope failures are a major issue for the highway
safety and stability. Such slope failures as landslides
are predominant in warm, humid climates and occur
* Advisor (Technical), LEA Associates South Asia Pvt. Ltd, New Delhi E-mail: seehra62@Yahoo.co.in
16 INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013
during years of unusually heavy precipitation or during
period’s heavy concentration of rainfall or during wet
years. However, prediction of landslip failure is often
uncertain and slope stability is an important element
depending upon slope geometry, inherent soil strength
and ground or pore water pressure characteristics.
A landslide is triggered if the shearing (tangential)
stresses appearing in a soil mass exceed the magnitudes
that the soil is able to resist. An increase of active
shearing force can be due to erection of an engineering
structure on the slope, increase in the weight of soil
mass, higher gradients etc. A reduction of resisting
forces can be due to removal of lateral support, say,
when excavating a cut across the slope. In such a case,
the prediction of landslide failure is often uncertain
and slope stability becomes frequently costly.
Erosion is the natural process of removing soil
particles by external agents such as wind or water.
This involves rainfall which is responsible for the
removal of surface layer, resulting in gullies of about
10-60 cm depth. However, over time the sills and
gullies deepen further and cause slope to overstepped,
thus precipitating slope instability the slope protection
generally means the engineering feature composed of
suitable material constructed as a selectively thin layer
on a slope otherwise vulnerable to erosion.
Vegetation is an important slope stabilizer. Planting the
slope with thick native vegetation serves to strengthen
the shallow soils with root systems, prevents erosion,
deters infiltration and increasing seepage pressures.
Vegetation also discourages desiccation which causes
fissuring. Deep fissures provide channels for rain water
to enter the slide mass, increasing seepage pressure
within the mass as well as applying hydrostatic
pressure against the walls of the fissure or crack.
 TECHNICAL PAPERS

Seeding can also be used for slope treatment. Asphalt
mulch technique can be used in which the slopes
are prepared into vast seed beds. Asphalt mulch is
then spread by a sprayer. The asphalt film gradually
disintegrates, its place being gradually taken up by a
carpet of green vegetation. The carpet of grass, that
supplants the asphaltic film, acts as an immediate
cover for the slopes till the more deep rooted species
of shrubs and trees develop and take root.
2 CAUSES OF SLOPE FAILURE
Slope failures are the result of gravitational forces
acting on a mass which can creep slowly, fall freely
or slide along some failure surface, As stresses are
usually highest at the toe of the slope, failure often
begins there and may progress upslope. Stability
generally depends on the following variables:
- Topography – in terms of slope inclination and
height
- Geology – in terms of material structure and
strength
- Weather – in terms of seepage forces and run
off quantity and velocity
- Seismic activity in terms of interial forces
only.
The basic factors that must be considered in the
evaluation of slope instability are the type and
distribution of geologic materials in the slope, the
geologic structure, existing ground water conditions,
and the potential for future rise in seepage pressures
during rainy periods and the inclination and height
of slopes. On these conditions are imposed changes
brought about by construction activity, such as the
excavation for cuts or the placement of fill. These
activities change the natural slope stability.
A landslide is triggered if the shearing (tangential)
stresses acting in a soil mass exceed the available
resistance of that soil is able to resist. In the majority
of situations, slope failures are caused by water either
acting on the surface or through the subsurface. On
the surface, heavy flows result in erosion down slope
or along the toe of slope, increasing slope angles and
slope inclination as well as natural drainage conditions.
The removal of vegetation also tends to decrease slope
stability. Over the geologic long term, slope stability
can decrease naturally due to decomposition of the
geologic materials and also by seismic activities. A
rising ground water table results in increased pore
pressures in soil masses and increased ‘cleft’ water
pressure acting along fractures in rock masses.
In rock masses slope failures will occur along
discontinuities representing weakness planes, the
major forms which are joints, faults, foliations,
bedding planes and slickensided surfaces. Even in
highly weathered rock it is the discontinuities that
generally control the strength of the mass. Fig.1
shows the control of seepage forces and driving
forces and increasing the resisting forces for slope
stabilization (6).

Fig.1 The General Methods of Slope Stabilization : Control of Seepage Forces and (B) Reducing the Driving Forces and Increasing
the Resisting Forces. (Reference 6)

INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013 17

 TECHNICAL PAPERS

Once the fact of land movement has been established measures shall be made. Fig. 2 shows the benching
the next step is to identify the type of landslide. scheme for cut in highway erodible soils. Low benches
Having identified the land slide type together with the permit maximum inclination to reduce the effect of
necessary data, appropriate choice of the corrective run off erosion (6).

Fig.2 Benching Scheme for Cut in Highway Erodible Soils in a Tropical Climate. Low Benches Permit Maximum Inclination to
Reduce the Effect of Runoff Erosion (Reference 6)
3 SLOPE STABILITY PROTECTION For a given land slide problem there can be more than
MEASURES one method of correction and the decision is reduced
to a problem of economics. For example, a retaining
3.1 General wall can be designed sufficiently large to withstand
any given landslide. However, a wall design that will
Increased stability will result by eliminating or
be successful may be outside a reasonable range of
minimizing the effect of any contributing factor for economics for a given landslide, Correction measures
sliding, particularly that of the effect of the force for a landslide can be by elimination or control
of gravity. Water is also a contributing factor in methods. Fig.3 shows various types of retaining walls
practically all landslides. to withstand landslides (6)

Fig.3 Various Types of Retaining Walls: (a) Rock:Filled Buttress: (b) Gabion Wall; (c) Crib Wall; (d) Reinforced Earth Wall;
(e) Concrete Gravity Wall; (f) Concrete-Reinforced Semi Gravity Wall; (g) Cantilever All; (h) Counterfort Wall;
(i) Anchored Curtain (Reference 6)

18 INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013

 TECHNICAL PAPERS

3.2 Elimination Mehod

The elimination method avoids or removes the
landslide. The following measures can be taken when
the elimination method is used:
(i) Route relocation. Geologic conditions often
differ from one side of a valley or mountain
slope to the other, even where the materials are
similar. For example, on one slope dipping beds
or foliations may incline downward and out of
Fig.4 Proper Drainage Provisions for a Side Hill Fill.
a cut slope representing an unstable condition, (Reference 6)
whereas on the opposite side of the valley or
mountain the dip of the beds or foliations is into
the slope providing stable conditions.
Where colluvial soils exist they often are
thickest and most unstable along the lower
slope elevations and at times can be avoided
by locating an alignment at higher elevations
up slope. Residual soils can also be found with
higher strengths and less exposure to changes
Fig.5 Slope and Drainage Management (Reference 13)
in seepage conditions upslope.
(ii) Bridging, whereby the landslide area is avoided 3.3 Control Method
by a bridge between the two solid extremities The control method produces a static condition of the
of the moving area landslide for a finite period of time. The following
measures can be taken when the control method is
(iii) Cementation of loose material. The material
used:
to be cemented should be permeable. Cement
grout is injected into the moving area in order (i) Rock fall barriers, retaining devices such as
buttresses, retaining wall of masonry stone
to achieve stability. It produces a material that
or concrete, gabion walls and piling can be
has higher shear resistance. In cohesive soils
used. Rock-filled buttresses are used when
vertical columns are obtained and their effect good foundation is available at toe in shallow
is that of a system of piles. The resisting forces or deep soil. Buttress should extend below
are increased by transference of load from the the slip plane. The buttresses are constructed
moving mass to the underlying stable material. with non degradable, equi-dimensional rock
fragments with at least 50% between 30 to
(iv) Heavy inflow of surface and Sub-Surface water
100 cm and not more than 10% passing 50mm
from the uphill slide to the landslide zone is
sieve. Gradation is important to maintain free-
shown in the Fig.4 (7). draining characteristics and high friction angle.
(v) Fig.5 shows the slope and management of roads Retaining walls of masonry stone or concrete
in high precipitation areas (13). are effective for shallow soil where good

INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013 19

 TECHNICAL PAPERS
foundations are available. A wall requires a
foundation in bedrock or good soil below the
slip surface. Standard practice is to include
weep holes in designing the wall. The design
formula for the safety factor may be used to
estimate resistance required to lateral thrust.
(ii) Covering of the freshly cut slopes to protect
from weathering and erosion can enhance
the stability of the rock mass for a very long
duration.
(iii) For slope protection ‘soft’ or ‘green’
approach such as turfing is much less
expensive, aesthetically pleasing as well as
environmentally- friendly. Even for the ‘green’
or bio-engineering solution, one has to be
judicious in selecting which measure one wants
to employ to suit one’s needs based on climatic,
soil types and budgetary constraints. In addition
like all living things, plants need time to grow,
mature and establish before they can truly
function with maintenance programme in terms
of fertilising, watering, weeding etc. is essential
depending on the type of plants one is dealing
with good design during the planning stage,
careful selection of quality planting materials
that meet specifications, correct planting and
maintenance techniques. It can confidently be
said that good outcomes will be achieved with
the full potential of plants being realized.
(iv) Fig.6 shows the rock fall barrier to control the
falling rock boulders (12)
Fig.6 Rock Fall Barrier to Control the Falling Rock Boulders
(Reference 12)
20 INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013
(v) Gabion walls are also used as retaining walls.
They are wire baskets, about 50 cm each side
and filled with broken stone of about 10-15 cm
across. The baskets are then stacked in rows.
They are free draining and retention is obtained
from the stone weight and it’s interlocking.
Typical heights are about 5 to 6 meters. Fig.7
shows the Gabion Baskets for constructing the
Gabion walls.
Fig.7 Gabion Baskets Ancient Concept in a Modern Form
(Reference 11)
Rock buttresses and retaining walls can be used
to correct small slides especially rotational
ones, but are not generally speaking effective
on large slides. Retaining devices are seldom
applicable for correction of falls and flows.
Retaining devices placed in the path of a flow
slide receive the entire force of the moving
mass because of the fact that there is little
inherent resistance of the soil involved in the
flow. Piling can be used in shallow soil to hold
the slide mass temporarily.
For retaining rock slopes, rock bolts, wire mesh
and shotcreting can be used. Rock bolts can
retain exfoliating slabs and other loose blocks.
Wire mesh needs periodic removal of blocks.
Shotcreting stabilizes local areas of highly
fracture rocks. Additional retaining measures
 TECHNICAL PAPERS

are cutting back of the rock slope, sealing
fractures and installing drains
(vi) Control of surface water (infiltration) by
providing appropriate drainage and thus creating
a direct rebalance of the ratio between resistance
and shearing force. Generally drainage should
be designed to intercept water before it enters
the slide. Water affects the stability of natural
slopes by increasing pressures in the soil or
rock interstices, thereby reducing strength
and increasing the overburden weight, which
result in increased driving force. Prevention or
stabilization of slides is often simply a matter
of controlling infiltration into the mass and of
relieving water pressures within the mass.(9).
Fig. 8 shows the installation of geogrid on rock
slope by bolting/nailing
(e) Removal by cuts of thick mantle or
pervious soil if such pervious soil happens
to be a natural restraining blanket over a
soft core.
(f) Increase in seepage pressure caused
by cut or fill that changes direction and
character of ground water flow.
(g) Exposure by cut of stiff fissured clay that
is liable to soften and swell when exposed
to surface water.
(h) Removal of mantle of wet soil by side hill
cut. Such a cut may remove toe support
causing soil above cut to slide along its
contact with stable bed rock.
(i) Vulnerable soil erosion due to water
action
(j) Fig.9 shows the distance view of
landslide area and Fig.10 shows the
close view of landslide area.

Fig.8 Installation of Geogrid Rock Slope by Bolting/Nailing

(Reference 9)

(vii) Landsliding induced by proposed cuts or fills

and these are controlled as under in severe
Fig.9 Distance View of Landslide Area (Reference 9)
climatic conditions (11):
(a) Restriction of ground water by side hill
soils.
(b) Overloading of relatively weak underlying
soil layer by fill.
(c) Overloading of sloping bedding planes
by heavy side hill fill.
(d) Oversteepening of cuts in unstable rock
or fill.
Fig.10 Close View of Landslide Area. (Reference 9)

INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013 21

 TECHNICAL PAPERS

4 GEOTECHNICAL INVESTIGATIONS FOR of the location of the surface of rupture in borings

SLOPE STABILIT and samples. In many cases the surface of rupture is
The geotechnical investigations for slope stability determined finally by correlating zones of high water
are carried out where gravitational forces are always content and low penetration resistance in several
acting on a soil mass or rocks beneath a slope. As borings.
long as the strength of the mass is equal to or greater The laboratory tests are routine identification tests
than the gravitational forces, the forces are in balance, such as field moisture content, Atterberg Limits,
the mass is in equilibrium and movement does not mechanical analysis etc. and/or shear tests such
occur. However, an imbalance of forces results in as the direct shear, the triaxial or the unconfined
slope instability which occurs in the forms of creep, compression test, cohesion and angle of internal
falls, slides, avalanches or flows. Slope failure occurs friction. Laboratory strength testing should duplicate
when driving forces exceed the resisting forces.
the field conditions of pore water pressures, drainage,
In rocks and soil masses, slope failures will occur
load duration and strain rate that are likely to exist as a
along discontinuities representing weak planes, the
consequence of construction operations, and samples
major forms which are joints, faults, bedding planes
should usually be tested in a saturated condition. It
and soil erosion. Even in highly weathered rock, the
must be considered that conditions during and at the
discontinuities generally control the strength of the
mass. Table -1 shows the slope values for different end of construction are short term conditions and
materials (6) will therefore be different from long-term stability
condition
Table 1 Slope Values for different Materials.
(Reference 6) Seismic refraction profiling has been found to be
particularly valuable in determining stratigraphy where
Type of Slope Material Design Slope soil thickness in hill sides can range from 1 meter to
Rock 30 meters or more. The seismic refraction surveys are
Hard masses of igneous or metamorphic 1:4 (76°) made both longitudinal and transverse to the slope.
rocks and hard sedimentary rocks with
bedding dipping vertically or dipping
Their primary purpose is to determine the depth to
into the face of the slope sound rock and the probable ground water table. They
Moderately weathered rock 1:3 (70°) are also useful in differentiating colluviums from
Highly weathered fractured rocks 1:2 to 1:1 (63°) - (45°) residuum. Resistivity profiling is also considered as
covered by clayey silty sandy soil a means of determining the depth to water table and
mixed with angular gravels and cobbles rock (12). Fig.11 and Fig.12 show rock fall occurring
(based on height of slope)
on slopes in the landslides zones.
Soil
Residual soils (strong) (based on height 1:2 to 1:1 (63°) - (45°)
of slope)
Colluvial soils (based on height of 5:1 to 5:2 (10°) - (20°)
slope)
Terrace Soil (Silt-sand-gravel mixtures 1:1 to 3:2 (45°) - (34°)
with angular cobbles and boulders)
(based on height of slope)
Most other soils (based on height of 2:1 to 3:2 (26°) - (34°)
slope)
Clay Shales, Black cotton soils 6:1(9.5°)

Relatively higher water content and lesser resistance to

penetration may often prove more reliable indication Fig.11 Control of Rock Fall Using Wire-Mesh (Reference 10)

22 INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013

 TECHNICAL PAPERS
Fig.12 Rock Fall on Mumbai –Pune Expressway (Reference 9)
When residual soils are formed on steep slopes they
are subjected to movement ranging from shallow
creep to failure and total displacement. Fig. 13 shows
the vulnerable soil erosion due to water action. Fig.14
shows the vegetative surface cover for slope protection
such as turfing
Fig.13 Erosion and Slope Failures (Reference. 10)
Fig. 14 Vegetative Surface Cover (Reference 10)
INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013 23
5 CONCLUSIONS
The adverse effects of landslides due to a slope failure
can be prevented to a considerable extent by taking
due care at the time of hill road project conception,
alignment design, construction and during subsequent
maintenance-soil erosion and landslides occur due
to both natural and man-made causes. Some of
the natural causes are geology of the area, rainfall
including cloudbursts and consequent flash floods,
toe erosion, seepage and earthquakes. The geological
and geotechnical investigations are carried out to
investigate the causes of landslides. Based on the
results of these investigations and salability analysis
of the slopes, remedial measures have to be adopted
for the slope stabilization. Some of the conclusions
are as follows:
(i) There are many natural as well as manmade
factors which are mainly responsible for the
stability. Rocks present in the area which are
soft highly jointed, folded and faulted. These
rocks are highly weathered and easily erodible.
Steep slopes present in the area are again
responsible for the instability of slopes.
(ii) The hilly road network without proper design
and lack of sufficient drainage system are the
main causes for the instability for hill slopes.
(iii) Field investigations often indicate heavy inflow
if surface and sub-surface water from the uphill
side to the landslide zone, further improvement
of the existing drains with the new drains and
culverts is a viable solution to divert the flow of
water from the landslide area.
(iv) Gabion walls are viable solution to provide
the toe support and surface erosion which is
controlled by laying of geogrids on the slopes.
(v) The back cut slopes should be as per prescribed
slope angle as per soil strata so as to avoid
occurrence of landslides from the freshly cut
hill slopes
(vi) It is also emphasized that the landslide
awareness programme should be arranged for
 TECHNICAL PAPERS
the local people. Therefore, people should be
aware about the do’s and don’ts They should
not use the slopes as dump yard for the garbage.
It should be ensured that the adjoining slopes of
landslides should not be used for any activity
such as agriculture.
(vii) Covering of the freshly cut slopes to protect
from weathering and erosion can enhance
the stability of the rock mass for a very long
duration.
(viii) For slope protection ‘soft’ or ‘green’
approach such as turfing is much less
expensive, aesthetically pleasing as well as
environmentally- friendly. Even for the ‘green’
or bio-engineering solution, one has to be
judicious in selecting which measure one wants
to employ to suit one’s needs based on climatic,
soil types and budgetary constraints. In addition
like all living things, plants need time to grow,
mature and establish before they can truly
function with maintenance programme in terms
of fertilising, watering, weeding etc. is essential
depending on the type of plants one is dealing
with good design during the planning stage,
careful selection of quality planting materials
that meet specifications, correct planting and
maintenance techniques. It can confidently be
said that good outcomes will be achieved with
the full potential of plants being realized.
(ix) Manmade geotextiles and natural goetextiles
made of jute (JGT) help reduce the velocity of
overland flow and entrapping the dissociated soil
particles while fostering growth of vegetation
concurrently that is very much effective for
slope protection.
REFERENCES
1. IRC: SP:48 – 1998,” Hill Road Manual,” The Indian
Roads Congress New Delhi, 1998.
2. Bishop A.W. The Use of the Slip Circle in the Stability of
Earth Slopes-Geotechnique Vol. 5 (pp.7-17), 1955
24 INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013
3. HRB SR.No.12, State- of -the -Art “Application of
Geotextiles in Highway Engineering,”The Indian Roads
Congress, New Delhi, 1994.
4. Gray, D H and Leiser, AT . Biotechnical slope protection
and erosion control. Van nostrand Rheinhold New
York.,1982
5. Seehra S.S “UNDP Fellowship Programme to USA on
Geotechnical Engineering relating to Highways with
special emphasis on Pavement Engineering, Pavement
Materials, their characteristics and Pavement Design”
Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Washington,
D.C, USA, 1985
6. Ethiopian Roads Authority (ERA), “Material and
Geotechnical Investigation Working Manual for Highway
Design Services”, Federal Democratic Republic of
Ethiopia, (Africa), July 2008.
7. Seehra, Dr. S. S. et. al, “A Technical Paper on Planning and
Design of Roads in High Precipitation Areas” published
in the proceedings of International Seminar on “Roads in
High Precipitation Areas”, organized by IRC at Guwahati
(Assam), 19-20 Feb, 2010.
8. Seehra, Dr. S. S. et. al, “ A Technical Paper on “Ground
Improvement for strategic Highway Construction in
problematic Black Cotton Soil Areas and Remedial
Measures : A Case Study” Published in the Journal of
‘INDIAN HIGHWAYS’ Vol. 38, No.11, Special Number,
November 2010, New Delhi, India.
9. Sudhir Mathur (CRRI), “A Technical presentation made in
the training course on Landslide and Corrective Measures”
Indian Academy of Highway Engineers (IAHE), Noida,
2011.
10. Sudhir Mathur (CRRI), “ A Technical presentation made
in the training course on PRS Slope and Earth solutions”,
Indian Academy of Highway Engineers (IAHE), Noida,
2011
11. Seehra, Dr. S.S., “ A Technical presentation made in the
training course on Slope Stability, Erosion control and
Landslide correction “, Indian Academy of Highway
Engineers (IAHE), Noida, 2011
12. Indian Roads Congress, “Draft Guidelines for Rock fall
protection Systems”, H-4 Committee of Indian Roads
Congress (IRC), 2012, New Delhi.
13. OPUS- Asset Management Services, PIARC International
Seminar, Road Asset Management (RAM), March, 2008,
Chandigarh, India.
14. Bagui, S.K Slope protection using vegetation and bio-
engineering”, Proceedings of the Seminar on Road in high
precipitation areas, February, 2010, Guwahati Assam,
India.
15. HRB SOAR No. 15-1995, “State- of -the -Art: Landslide
Correction Techniques” The Indian Roads Congress
1995.
 BAMBOO AS SUBGRADE REINFORCEMENT FOR LOW
VOLUME ROADS ON SOFT SOILS
Raja J* and G.L. Siva Kumar Babu**
Abstract
Problems with subgrade having low CBR values are stability and
large deformations or settlements. In many cases the thickness of
soft soils with low CBR values extends to greater depth and is not
economical to construct roads on this type of subgrade. However
as demand for infrastructure increases, the construction on this
type of subgrade with low CBR values is unavoidable. In rural
areas most of the unpaved sections lies in soft soil and in marshy
environment and the removal of the soft soil and backfilling it
makes the unpaved section uneconomical. In view of the above
considerations bamboo, owing to its availability and low cost it can
be used as subgrade reinforcement. In this article the potential use
of natural material bamboo as subgrade reinforcement is analysed
for different poor subgrade CBR values. The present objective
of the study is to determine the potential use of using bamboo
as subgrade reinforcement for different subgrade strengths. It is
shown that bamboo grids serve as effective reinforcement in soft
soils and also result in savings of aggregate material. The savings
in aggregate are presented in terms of reduction of carbon foot
print with a typical example.
1 Introduction
In most places soft soils are highly plastic fine
grained soils with natural water content higher than
the liquid limit. Soft soils are characterized by high
compressibility and low shear strength (generally less
than 25 kPa). Soft to medium dense silty and clayey
soils are found in many parts of India. In India, the
major proportion of soft clays are marine and river
delta deposits and cover more than 30% of the total
land area. Typically these types of soils will have
CBR values less than 5.0 due to which construction
of pavements on these types of soils is difficult. The
innovative concept of reinforced soil dates back from
1960s where it can be economically applied to large
structures. According to Jewell (1996), reinforced
earth can be defined as a construction material
composed primarily of soil whose performance has
* Project Associate, IISc, Bangalore; E-mail: jraja@civil.iisc.ernet.in
** Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, IISc, Bangalore
INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013 25
been improved by the introduction of small quantities
of other materials in the form of solid plates or fibers or
fibrous membranes to resist tensile forces and interact
with soil through frictional resistance. In the recent
decades the materials employed as reinforcement in
soils are presently expensive and would require a
cheaper and abundant material with similar strength
and durability. In India alone at about two million
hectares of land is in current use for bamboo production
for various uses. According to Mayank (2008) India
has the largest recorded bamboo resources globally
at around 13.47 million tons harvested annually. So,
there is need for effective utilization of bamboo as
reinforcement in soft soils. The use of bamboo had
also been demonstrated by Loke (2000) in which they
presented that it could give saving of up to 45-65%
compared with using high strength geotextile alone
and conventional filling method. It may be mentioned
that the studies of bamboo as reinforcement material
in soil are limited which make them limited use in
practical purposes. Another major reason for limited
usage of bamboo as soil reinforcement is due to the
more design methodologies available for geosynthetic
material. Some of the case studies with bamboo as soil
reinforcement are detailed in the present section. Marto
and Othman (2011) discussed the potential use of
bamboo as reinforcement of soft clay in embankment
construction and concluded that the performance
in terms of settlement and lateral movement of the
bamboo geotextile composite was better compared
with high strength geotextile embankment and also
with unreinforced embankment. Bergado et al.(1987)
compared the results of the laboratory pull-out tests
using bamboo and polymer geogrid and concluded that
the bamboo has higher pull-out resistance compared
 TECHNICAL PAPERS
with polymer geogrid. Anusha and Emmanual (2011)
studied two case histories and concluded that the
geotextile bamboo composite construction can be
successfully used for stabilization and reclamation
of deep soft soils. Construction of unpaved road
section with poor subgrade CBR values is very often
in many rural areas Subgrade strength and stiffness
are prominent characteristic for pavement design,
construction and performance evaluation, as the
subgrade is the substructure for the pavement. Some
of the studies on bamboo as concrete reinforcement
possessed high tensile and compressive strength
and have been used as reinforcement in concrete
especially when it is properly seasoned and have
lasted more than 3 years. Prasad et al. (2010) studied
the performance of reinforced gravel sub base layer
with three different materials, such as bitumen
coated bamboo mesh, waste plastics and waste tyre
rubber in model flexible pavement construction laid
on expansive soil subgrades. They concluded that the
load carrying capacity was substantially increased
for subgrade reinforced with bitumen coated bamboo
mesh compared to addition of waste plastics and
waste tyre rubber.
In the recent decades, there is enormous use of
geotextile and geogrid for subgrade stabilization and
base course reinforcement. By using geogrid placed
between subgrade and base course the performance of
the unpaved roads is expected to be improved. The
improvement is in terms of the increased volume
of the traffic and reduction in the thickness of the
base course. The three prominent reinforcement
mechanisms (Giroud et al. 1985) that occurs due
to addition of geogrid are discussed below. The
improvement of performance of the reinforced unpaved
section is due to its) Improvement in bearing capacity
II) increase in stiffness of base course layer and III)
tensioned membrane effect. Reinforcement increases
the bearing capacity of the subgrade, the aperture in
the geogrid interlock the base course layer and thus
stiffens the base course. Since most aggregates used
in pavement systems are stress-dependent materials,
improved lateral confinement results in an increase
26 INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013
in the modulus of the base course material. The
effect of increasing the modulus of the base course
is an improved vertical stress distribution applied to
the subgrade and a corresponding reduction in the
vertical strain on the top of the subgrade. The third
prominent reinforcement mechanism is tensioned
membrane effect which is based upon the concept of
an improved vertical stress distribution resulting from
tensile stress in a deformed membrane. Grids made
of bamboo behave similar to polymer geogrids. For
rural areas procurement of materials is often difficult
and the use of geogrids as polymer based material is
fraught with apprehension as the use of plastic material
in rural settings is discouraged. In many rural areas
the availability of bamboo is abundant and bamboo
available as bamboo grid provides an attractive
alternative. It also leads in reduction of carbon foot
print in the areas.
2 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
The study presented in this paper explains the use of
bamboo as subgrade reinforcement in unpaved roads.
Unpaved roads are also called as channelized roads or
secondary roads which separate certain flows of traffic
from the main traffic lanes. This paper focuses on the
scope of use of bamboo as subgrade reinforcement
for conventional geogrid and geotextiles in unpaved
roads with poor subgrade CBR values. The studies
conducted on bamboo as subgrade reinforcement
in unpaved sections are very limited. In view of the
above context, the use of bamboo as reinforcement in
unpaved roads is evaluated in terms of required base
course thickness for poor subgrade CBR values using
design method developed by Giroud and Han (2004a)
for geogrid-reinforced unpaved roads.
3 DESIGN PROCEDURE
The design method used for bamboo grid reinforced
unpaved roads is according to the design method
developed by Giroud and Han (2004a). It is used
to determine the required base course thickness
for unreinforced unpaved section and reinforced
unpaved section using a unique equation given in the
 TECHNICAL PAPERS

following section. This method can also be extended 75 mm and is less than unity for rut depths less
to different types of geogrids and geotextiles by using than 75.0 mm. The bearing capacity mobilization
suitable material properties. In the following section coefficient for rut depths different from 75.0 mm is
the design methodology adopted by Giroud and Han given by the following Equation.
(2004a) is discussed briefly. The serviceability failure
s     r  n  
of the unpaved road occurs when the rut depth reaches m=   1 − ε exp  −ω      ... (5)
a certain predetermined value called the allowable rut  fs     h   
depth. The rut depth depends on the deformation of The stress distribution angle (α) defines the capability
the subgrade soil. The deformation of the subgrade of the base course material to transfer traffic loads to
depends on the stresses applied at the base course/ the subgrade. The effect of traffic, geogrid properties,
subgrade soil interface. The normal stress (pi), at the base course and subgrade properties on the rate of
interface between base course and subgrade soil is change of stress distribution angle as the unpaved
given by the following equation: roads deteriorate under repeated loading is considered
P in stress distribution angle. The following design
Pi =  ... (1)
π(r + h tan α) 2 equation for base course thickness was developed
Hence through calibration and verification with laboratory
and field data (Giroud and Han, 2004b)
r  P 
h=  − 1   ... (2)  1.5

tan α  πr 2 Pi r
 1.26 +  0.96 − 1.46J 2   log N 
 
 h  P 
The distributed normal stress at the interface between h=  − 1  r ... (6)
 πr mN c c u
2
fE 
the base course layer and subgrade soil shall be less
than or equal to the bearing capacity of the subgrade
soil to prevent subgrade failure. This criteria is given fE = 1 + 0.204 (RE – 1) ... (7)
by the following equation
pi ≤ mNccu ... (3) 4 DESIGN PARAMETERS
The bearing capacity mobilization coefficient lies The detailed parameters used for unreinforced unpaved
between 0 and 1which accounts for the amount of section and reinforced unpaved section are given in
the bearing capacity mobilized in the subgrade soil the following sections:
Combining Eqs. (2) and (3) gives
4.1 Geometry of the Pavement
r  P 
h≥  − 1  ... (4) The subgrade soil is assumed to be homogenous over
tan α  πr mN c c u
2 
 a sufficient depth to allow development of subgrade
Equation (4) gives the required thickness of the base soil failure. This value is adopted as 1.5 m (Giroud
course layer for both unreinforced and reinforced and Han 2004a). The thickness of base course is of
sections for different types of wheel load, radius of uniform thickness as shown in Fig. 1. Only one layer
equivalent contact area and stress distribution angle. of bamboo grid is used at the interface between base
The bearing capacity mobilization coefficient (m) course and subgrade soil. The bamboo grid is placed at
defines the level of mobilized bearing capacity the interface due to two important reasons, the first is
which depends on the deflection at the top of interface it decreases the rut depth occurring in the base course
(rut depth). If the serviceability criteria against rutting layer and latter it increases the stiffness of the base
is assumed as an allowable rut depth of 75.0 mm then courses by interlocking the aggregates in the apertures
m is equal to unity for the maximum rut depth of of the bamboo grid. A minimum thickness of 0.1 m

INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013 27

 TECHNICAL PAPERS
is adopted for base course to reduce the disturbance
of subgrade soil during trafficking and to provide
sufficient anchorage for the bamboo geogrid.
Fig.1 Geometry of Unpaved Road Section
4.2 Channelized Traffic
Channelized traffic can be characterized by the number
of passes (N) of a given axle during the design life of
the pavement. In the present analyses the thickness
of the base course for unreinforced unpaved section
and reinforced unpaved section is analysed for 1000,
10000 and 100000 axle passes.
4.3 Axles and Loads
A standard axle load (of 80.0 kN which is referred
in American-British standards and Indian Roads
Congress is adopted in the present analyses. The wheel
load is half of the axle load (P) which is equal to 40.0
kN as shown in Fig. 1. The tyre contact pressure can
be calculated from the following equation:
P = pA ... (7)
The radius of the equivalent tyre contact area which
is assumed as circular area having same surface area
as the tyre contact area is given by the following
equation
P
r=  ... (8)
πp
From the above equation with tyre inflation pressure
of 550.0 kPa, the radius of the equivalent tyre contact
area is 0.152 m.
4.4 Properties of Subgrade and Base Course
Materials
A relationship between undrained cohesion and
subgrade CBR is developed by Giroud and Noiray
28 INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013
(1981). It is assumed that the subgrade soil is saturated
and the permeability is same as that of fine grained
value. The relationship between undrained cohesion
of subgrade soil and subgrade CBR (for CBRsg < 5.0)
is given by the following equation
cu = fc CBRsg ... (9)
The CBR of subgrade soil is measured either using
standard laboratory method or insitu. In the present
analyses CBR values ranging from 0.5%-3.5% are
considered. The resilient modulus (Esg) of subgrade
soil is calculated from the correlation developed by
Heukelom and Klomp (1962) for CBRsg < 10.0 with
resilient modulus and CBR values data measured in
the field
Esg = 10.35 × CBRsg ... (10)
The CBR value of base course layer is assumed
as 15.0% which is higher than the CBR value of
subgrade soil. As the properties of the base course
layer used in paved roads are more similar to unpaved
roads, AASHTO (1993) design guide for paved
roads information resilient modulus of base course
is calculated for the present analyses. A correlation is
developed between resilient modulus (Ebc) and CBR
for paved road granular base course material is used
for calculating resilient modulus of base course layer
which is given by equation
Ebc = 36.0 × CBR 0bc.3  ... (11)
4.5 Mechanical Properties of Bamboo
Bamboo can be considered as a composite material,
reinforced axially by aligned cellulose fibres embedded
in a lignin matrix. The distribution of the fibres in
the cross section of a bamboo shell varies across
the thickness of the culm, increasing from the inner
surface to outer surface. The mechanical properties
of bamboo also depend on the species or types, age,
moisture content, density and culms height. Some of the
important tests done in consideration for geotechnical
application are presented in the following sections.
 TECHNICAL PAPERS
Fig.2 shows the setup for determining the tensile
strength of bamboo. Fig.3 shows the stress strain
curve for wet bamboo and dry bamboo. Results of the
tension test show that the maximum tensile strength of
dry bamboo is higher than the wet bamboo.
Fig.2 Tensile Test on Bamboo
Fig.3 Stress Strain Response of Wet and Dry Bamboo
Many studies conducted on bamboo showed that it is
a rough material which develops sufficient interaction
with soil for developing tensile stresses when used
as a reinforced material. Strength and deformation
characteristics of bamboo compare very favourably
with geosynthetics. It fact, with regard to the
deformation modulus and creep, natural materials such
as bamboo are superior to geosynthetics (Sivakumar
2006). Due to higher stiffness of bamboo compared
to geogrid, bamboo grid will have higher aperture
stability modulus than conventional geogrids. So, on
the conservative side the aperture stability modulus (J)
which is measure of the in plane stiffness and stability
of bamboo grid is assumed a value of 0.65 N-m/o.
INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013 29
5 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
For poor subgrade CBR values the required thickness
of the base course layer is determined for unreinforced
unpaved section and reinforced unpaved sections using
bamboo grid. In the present case the required base
course thickness is evaluated for allowable rut depth
of 50, 60, 70, 80 and 90 mm. The base course thickness
of the unpaved section for unreinforced and reinforced
with bamboo grid are determined for subgrade CBR
values of 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5 and 3.0 and 3.5%.A
minimum of 0.1 m thick base course is assumed to
ensure minimum disturbance of the subgrade soil
during trafficking and to provide sufficient anchorage
to the geogrid. During the design life of the structure
channelized traffic can be characterized by the
number of passes of the axle. In the present case the
value of thickness of the base course is evaluated for
1000, 10000 and 100000 number of standard axles
for unreinforced unpaved section and reinforced with
bamboo grid. In the following sections the effects
of different design parameters used in determining
the required base course thickness for unreinforced
unpaved roads and reinforced unpaved roads using
bamboo grids are discussed.
5.1 Effect of Allowable Rut Depth on Thickness
of Base Course
The allowable rut depth is a serviceability criterion.
This criterion does not necessarily correspond to the
actual failure of the base course or the subgrade soil. In
the present analyses the required base course thickness
for unreinforced unpaved section and reinforced
unpaved section using bamboo grid is determined for
allowable rut depths of 50.0, 60.0, 70.0, 80.0 and 90.0
mm. From Table 1 it is observed that the maximum
reduction in thickness of the pavement is marginal
for different allowable rut depths. As the allowable
rut depths increases the reduction of the base course
thickness increases for low CBR values compared to
higher CBR values of the subgrade. This shows that
contribution of bamboo geogrid is less for higher CBR
values of the subgrade.
 TECHNICAL PAPERS

Table 1 Percentage Reduction of Base Course for 5.2 Effect of Subgrade CBR Values
50.0 and 90.0 mm Allowable Rut Depth
The required base course thickness for unreinforced
CBR For Allowable rut depth For Allowable rut depth unpaved section and reinforced unpaved roads using
(%) of 50.0 mm of 90.0 mm bamboo grids is determined for subgrade CBR
values of 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0 and 3.5 %. From
1000 10000 100000 1000 10000 100000 Figs.4 to 8 it is observed that the reduction in base
course thickness increases for higher values of
0.5 41.56 41.24 41.01 53.71 51.42 49.95
subgrade CBR values. However this reduction is less
1 56.43 53.74 51.89 69.26 67.11 64.77 for higher values of allowable rut depths.

1.5 66.17 63.16 60.58 66.73 71.37 73.72 5.3 Effect of Number of Passes of Axles
The required base course thickness for unreinforced
2 71.03 68.27 65.37 62.85 68.76 72.35
unpaved section and reinforced unpaved section
2.5 75.27 73.39 70.69 58.30 66.02 70.40 using bamboo grids is determined for N=1000, 10000
and 100000 passes of axles to study the effect of stress
3 75.11 77.88 76.56 50.93 62.11 67.80 distribution angle. From Figs.4 to 8 it is observed
that as the number of passes of axles increases the
3.5 73.54 76.73 78.80 35.06 56.02 64.26
thickness of base course increases.

Fig.4 Required Base Course Thickness for Fig.6 Required Base Course Thickness for
Allowable Rut Depth of 50.0 mm Allowable Rut Depth of 70.0 mm

Fig.5 Required Base Course Thickness for Fig.7 Required Base Course Thickness for
Allowable Rut Depth of 60.0 mm Allowable Rut Depth of 80.0 mm

30 INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013

 TECHNICAL PAPERS
Fig.8 Required Base Course Thickness for
Allowable Rut Depth of 90.0 mm
6 DESIGN EXAMPLE
In the present section the thickness of base course
for unpaved section in rural roads is evaluated. The
subgrade of the unpaved section lies on soft soil with
CBR of 1.0%. The base course thickness is investigated
for conventional unreinforced unpaved section and
reinforced with bamboo grid. The design parameters
used to determine the base course thickness for
unreinforced unpaved section and reinforced section
are given below:
Design Input
Traffic Load
Axle load = 80.0 kN
Tire pressure = 550.0 kPa
Number of axle passes = 10000
Failure Criteria
Maximum allowable rut depth =70.0 mm
Base Course and Subgrade Properties
Base course CBR = 15.0%
Subgrade CBR = 1.0%
Bamboo Grid
Aperture Stability Modulus, J = 0.65 N-m/o
Bearing Capacity Factors
INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013 31
Nc = 3.14 for unreinforced road section
Nc = 5.71 for bamboo grid road section
Design Calculations
The tire contact area is calculated in terms of equivalent
tire contact area with radius I as given below:
P
r=
πp
40
r=
π * 550
= 0.152 m
Bearing capacity of the subgrade soil without
reinforcement is calculated using the below equation
s
Ph = 0, unreinforced =   πr2Nccu
 fs 
 70 
=   π * 0.1522 * 3.14 * 30 * 1.0
 75 
= 6.39kN < 40.0kN
The wheel load 40.0 kN is greater than the bearing
capacity of subgrade. So, a base course with or
without reinforcement is required for unpaved roads
If P > Ph = 0, unreinforced the subgrade soil can support the
wheel load and a minimum thickness of 0.1 m base
course is laid to minimize disturbance of the subgrade
soil during trafficking and to provide sufficient
anchorage to the geogrid. The limited modulus ratio
(RE) is the ratio of the minimum of the ratio of resilient
modulus of base course to subgrade modulus, i.e.
E   3.48CBR 0bc.3 
RE = min  bc , 5.0  = min  , 5.0 
 E sg   CBR sg 
   
Therefore, the limited modulus ratio is min
(7.48, 5.0). The ratio of base course modulus to
subgrade modulus of 5.0 is used in the following
calculations. The required base course thickness for
reinforced or unreinforced unpaved roads is calculated
using Equation (6) using the design inputs mentioned
above. The calculation of the base course thickness
requires iteration.
 TECHNICAL PAPERS

For unreinforced unpaved section it is assumed that This above equation will give the required base course
the required base course thickness of 0.5 m using this thickness as 0.220 m. The calculated value (0.220)
assumed value of base course thickness the required is used to recalculate m and is used as the assumed
thickness of base course thickness the bearing capacity value for next iteration. The iteration is calculated
mobilization coefficient is calculated as follows until the calculated value is approximately equal to
the assumed value. The results of the iteration for
s     r  n  
m=   1 − ε exp  −ω     reinforced unpaved road are given in Table 3.
 fs     h    Table 3 Required Base Course Thickness for
Unreinforced Case
 70     0.152  2  
m =   1 − 0.9 * exp  −     = 0.167
 75     0.5    Assumed, Modulus Bearing Calculated,
ha (m) Ratio Capacity hc (m)
  r 
1.5
 Factor, fE Mobilization
1.26 +  0.96 − 1.46J 2   log N  Coefficient, m
  ha    
hc =   P
 r
 πr mN c c u
2
fE  0.250 1.816 0.353 0.220
  0.152 
1.5

1.26 +  0.96 − 1.46J 2 
  log10000 
0.220 1.816 0.412 0.211
  0 .5    40 
hc = 1 + 0.204(5.0 − 1)
 − 1 0.152
 πr 0.152 * 0.167 * 3.14 * 30 *1.0 
2
0.211 1.816 0.433 0.208
This above equation will give the required base course 0.208 1.816 0.440 0.207
thickness as 0.538 m. The calculated value (0.538) is
used to recalculate m and is used as the assumed value 0.207 1.816 0.443 0.207
for next iteration. The iteration is calculated until the
From Table 2 and 3 the required base course thickness
calculated value is approximately equal to the assumed
for unreinforced unpaved road is 0.54 m and for
value. The results of the iteration for unreinforced
reinforced with bamboo grid is 0.21 m. There is
unpaved road are given in Table 2.
a reduction of 61.0 % of thickness of base course
Table 2 Required Base Course Thicknesses for thickness compared to unreinforced unpaved roads.
Unreinforced Case
In the present section implication of bamboo grid in
Assumed, Modulus Bearing Calculated, unpaved roads is presented in terms of reduction of
ha (m) Ratio Capacity hc (m) carbon print. From the above example it is observed
Factor, Mobilization that there is reduction of 61.0% of base course
fe Coefficient, m
thickness. There is a saving of about 0.33 m of base
0.500 1.816 0.168 0.538 course thickness. For 1.0 km stretch with 5.5 m of
road width there is reduction of about 1815.0m3
0.538 1.816 0.158 0.538
of base course material. Typically the unit weight
For the reinforced unpaved road with bamboo grid, of granular base course is 2 t/m3. Therefore, for
using Equation (6), the required base course thickness 1.0 km of unpaved section there will be a reduction of
is calculated for aperture stability modulus of 3630.0 t of granular base course material. Nanda et al.
0.65m-N/o. The calculated base course thickness for (2011) presented systematic analysis of Greenhouse
reinforced unpaved road for assumed value of 0.25 m Gas emissions (GHG) in road projects in India as
is as follows: given in Table 4. For granular sub base GHG
 1.5

emission per 1000 tones is 11.40 t. From this there
 0.152 
1.26 +  0.96 − 1.46 * 0.652   log10000 
 is a reduction of 41.382 t of GHG emissions per km
hc =   0.5    40 
− 1 0.152

1 + 0.204(5.0 − 1)  π * 0.152 * 0.167 * 5.17 * 30 *1.0 
2

stretch of the road section by using bamboo grid.

32 INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013

 TECHNICAL PAPERS
Table 4 Influence of Road Construction Activities in
terms of GHG Emissions in India (Nanda et al. 2011)
S. Work Executed GHG
No. emissions in
/1000 tonne
1 Earthwork-procurement and execution 4.38 tonne
2 Excavation in rock & disposal 1.88 tonne
3 Crushing of rock for aggregate production 2.74 tonne
4 Granular sub-base course (GSB)
11.40 tonne
construction
5 Wet mix macadam construction 13.59 tonne
6 Preparation & Construction of bituminous
90.12 tonne
mixes
7 Preparation & Construction of dry lean
128.45 tonne
concrete
8 Preparation & Construction of cement
223.83 tonne
concrete pavement
7 CONCLUSIONS
This paper presents the use of bamboo grid in unpaved
rural roads as reinforcement materials. The results are
presented in terms of required base course thickness
for different subgrade CBR values. As the subgrade
CBR value increases the base course thickness
reduces. The percentage reduction of thickness of
base course for unreinforced unpaved road section
compared with reinforced unpaved section is higher
for low allowable rut depths. Stress distribution angle
plays an important role in the amount of reduction in
base course thickness when using bamboo grids are
used as reinforcement. It is shown that bamboo grids
serve as effective reinforcement in soft soils and also
result in savings of aggregate material. The savings
in aggregate are presented in terms of reduction of
carbon foot print with a typical example.
REFERENCES
1. American Association of State Highway and Transportation
Officials (AASHTO). 1993. Guide for design of pavement
structures, Washington, D.C.
2. Anusha, R., Emmanual C. Kindo. Behaviour of bamboo
reinforced soils – state of art Proceeding of Indian
Geotechnical Conference, Kochi, 2011.
INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013 33
3. D. T. Bergado, A. Bukkanasuta, A.S. Balasubramaniam.
1987. Laboratory pull-out tests using bamboo and
polymer geogrids including a case study, Geotextiles and
Geomembranes, 5: 153-189.
4. D.S.V. Prasad, M. Anjan Kumar, G.V.R. Prasada Raju, V.
Kondayya. Evaluation of different reinforced sub bases
on expansive soil. Proceeding of Indian Geotechnical
Conference, Kochi, 2011.
5. Giroud, J. P., Ah-Line, C., Bonaparte, R. 1985. Design of
unpaved roads and trafficked areas with geogrids. Polymer
grid reinforcement, Thomas Telford Limited, London,
116–127.
6. Giroud, J. P., and Han, J. 2004. Design method for geogrid-
reinforced unpaved roads. I: Development of design
method. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental
Engineering, 130 (8), 775–786.
7. G L Sivakumar Babu, 2006. An introduction to soil
reinforcement and geosynthetics. First edition, University
Press.
8. Giroud, J. P., and Han, J. 2004. Design method for geogrid-
reinforced unpaved roads. II: Calibration and applications.
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental
Engineering, 130 (8), 787–797.
9. Giroud, J. P., and Noiray, L. 1981. Geotextile-Reinforced
unpaved road design, Journal of Geotechnical Engineering,
107(9), 1233-1254.
10. Heukelom, W., and Klomp, A. J. G. 1962. Dynamic testing
as a means of controlling pavements during and after
construction. Proceedings of 1st International conference
on Structural design of asphalt pavements, University of
Michigan, 667–679.
11. Jewell, R.A. 1996. Soil reinforcement with geotextiles.
Construction industry research and information association
(CIRIA), Special Publication, 123.
12. Loke, K. H. 2000. Geosynthetic proven and innovative
method for soft soil stabilization. Seminar on Ground
Improvement-Soft Clay. August, 23-24. Kuala Lumpur,
34-42.
13. Mayank, M. 2008. Techno-Economic feasibility study for
setting up bamboo SMEs, National mission on bamboo
application (NMBA), India.
14. Marto., A. Othman, B.A. 2011. The potential use of
bamboo as green material for soft clay reinforcement
system. International conference on environment science
and engineering, IPCBEE, vol. 8.
15. Nanda P K Ashutosh Chandwar and B K Sahu. 2011.
Greenhouse gas emissions from Road project on
improvement of Gomti Beawar section of NH-8 – a
case study, Proceedings of international seminar on
reducing carbon print in road construction, Indian Roads
Congress, New Delhi, 2, 27-39.
 TECHNICAL PAPERS
NOTATIONS
pi = Normal stress at the interface between base course
and subgrade soil (kPa)
P = Wheel load (kN)
r = Radius of the equivalent contact area (m)
α = Stress distribution angle (degrees)
h = Required thickness of the base course layer (m)
m = Bearing capacity mobilization coefficient
Nc = Bearing capacity factor
cu = undrained cohesion of the subgrade soil (kPa)
h = Required base course thickness (m)
N = Number of passes of axle
J = Aperture stability modulus of bamboo (J=0 for
unreinforced soil)
s = Rut depth
34 INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013
fs = Factor equal to 75.0mm rut depth
ε, ω and n = Constants (0.9,1.0 & 2.0)
P = Wheel Load (kN)
p = Tire contact pressure or tire inflation pressure
(kPa)
A = Tire contact area (m2)
cu = Undrained cohesion of the subgrade soil (kPa)
CBRsg = California bearing ratio the subgrade soil
Esg = Subgrade soil resilient modulus (MPa)
Ebc = Base course resilient modulus (MPa)
CBRbc = Base course california bearing ratio
ha = Assumed value of the thickness of base
course(m)
hc = Calculated value of the thickness of base
course(m)
 STABILISATION OF A BLACK COTTON SOIL WITH POND ASH
& CEMENT MIXED WITH FIBER & SODIUM SILICATE
Alok Ranjan*, R.K. Swami * and Sudhir Mathur**

Abstract According to this concept, a soil deficient in Ca2+ will

A Black Cotton Soil is identified as a type of problematic soil due
to its peculiar swell-shrink behaviour. It damages the structures
by producing gaping cracks, low bearing capacity and swell–
pressure. Hence, this soil needs to be stabilised to engineer it
to serve for practical purposes. Despite stabilisation, this soil
starts creating problems during the design life of the structures.
This clearly indicates the sensitivity of this soil to the prevailing
environmental conditions. The sensitivity of this soil is due to
the presence of clay mineral Montmorillonite in it. To solve the
problem, the exact nature of this clay mineral should be identified.
All these things clearly indicate that this soil needs to be studied
in all its intricacies and details. In the present study, B.C. Soil
from M.P. has been chosen for stabilisation study. Besides lime/
cement stabilisation, the role of fiber and sodium silicate has also
been studied.
be amenable to lime stabilisation but the same may not
work independently for a B.C. Soil which is already
rich in lime content.
Different authors have worked in the area of lime
stabilisation with a particular emphasis on strength
development. They have related the strength on ageing
with the formation of cementitious compounds. But
they have not taken the durability into account.The
addition of fibers is also not new for the stabilisation
studies. But the distinct effect of addition of sodium
silicate, which is a novel idea, can be clearly seen in
the experimental results.

1 Introduction 2 MATERIALS USED

The process of stabilisation is defined as upgrading the
2.1 Soil
geotechnical properties of an existing soil for satisfying
certain engineering requirements. It may involve the The soil used in the study was a Black cotton soil
treatment of soil with chemicals, admixtures, fibers, from M.P (Near Bhopal). The soil was of CH type
resins to make it suitable for our requirements. These having liquid limit of 59% and PI of 23. The detailed
stabilising agents produce certain changes in the geotechnical properties of soil are shown in Table-1.
structure of the soil and result in the formation of Table 1 Geotechnical Properties of B.C. Soil from M.P.
cementitious compounds. An integrated approach will
Geotechnical Properties Values of the Property
be to relate the observed geotechnical parameters with
the microscopic changes in the soil structure. Modified compaction MDD = 1.78 g/cc,
OMC = 16.8%
A soil is made up of its various components. But it is Liquid limit 59
continuously subjected to the process of weathering. PI 23
The weathering process removes some of the vital
Soil classification OH
constituents of soil making it unstable. Hence, the
Sp.gravity 2.30
process of stabilisation can be thought of bringing
together those essential components to make it stable. % finer than 75 micron 83

* Scientists, GTE Division, Central Road Research Institute, New Delhi

** Chief Scientist, Central Road Research Institute, New Delhi

INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013 35

 TECHNICAL PAPERS
2.2 Pond Ash
Pond ash used in the study was from Tuticorin (Tamil
Nadu). It belonged to the group of soil classification
ML and 63% of the particles were finer than 75 micron
sieve. The detailed geotechnical properties of pond
ash are shown in Table-2.
Table-2 Geotechnical Properties of Pond Ash Sample
from Tuticorin
Geotechnical Properties Values of the Property
Standard compaction MDD = 1.34 g/cc,
OMC = 18.3%
Soil classification ML
% finer than 75 micron 63
CBR value 1.0
2.3 Fibre
The fibres ued in the study were (CTP-2024),12
mm propylene and (CT-2012),6 mm polyester fibres
manufactured by Reliance Industries.
2.4 Chemicals Used
Cement used in this study was a 53 Grade pozzolana
cement. Lime (both analytical grade as well as
commercial grade) was used for comparative study.
Sodium silicate used in the study was also of analytical
grade.
3 LABORATORY INVESTIGATIONS
For selecting a mix for soil and pond ash, different
mixes were selected and tested for strength. The
equiproportional mix of pond ash and soil (50:50)
was found effective from strength and stability point
of view. To determine the optimum mix for cement,
pH determination of various mixes of pond ash and
cement was done according to IS:2720 part-26. The
results are shown in Table-4 pH measurement was
found effective for the determination of optimum
proportion of soil and cement also (Table-3). Different
36 INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013
mixes of soil and cement, soil-cement-fibre and soil-
cement-fibre-sodium silicate were prepared and tested
for their UCS strength as well as for their durability as
per IS:4332 part-IV.
4 METHODOLOGY
Samples of size (10.0 cm x 5.0 cm) were prepared for
UCS strength determination and stabilised samples
were tested after 7 days. Mixes of B.C. Soil and
cement were prepared on wet side of OMC (Values
are indicated against each mix in the table) as samples
prepared at OMC developed cracks. Further the final
mix of B.C. Soil and cement which satisfied all the
criteria of stability was prepared at Standard Proctor
density. Samples prepared at Modified Proctor’s
density heaved in longitudinal direction of load
application and failed in durability test.
5 LIME STABILISATION VS CEMENT
STABILISATION
The existing literature says that lime stabilisation is
suitable for a soil rich in clay-content whereas cement
stabilisation is suitable for non-plastic soils. This
concept may seem plausible particularly with a view
to strength-development in the system but may not
stand to a full rigour of strength as well as durability
requirements. In case of lime stabilisation, the pore-
water environment becomes excessively alkaline even
on addition of a small percentage of lime. This may
result in alkali-silica or alkali-carbonate reactions upon
wetting of samples. In fact, this behaviour has been
clearly observed in case of a B.C. soil. But the increase
in pH becomes gradual in case of cement stabilisation
(Table-3). This results in gradual development of
strength and there is no excessive swelling on wetting
the system. It has been observed in case of B.C. Soil
that strength reduction is low upon soaking in cement
stabilised B.C. Soil as compared to lime stabilisation
(Table-5, 6, 7 & 8).
 TECHNICAL PAPERS

Table-3 pH Measurement of B.C. Soil & Lime Mixes and B.C. Soil & Cement Mixes

Mix Composition pH Value of First pH Value of pH Value of Third Average pH Value

Sample Second Sample Sample
1. B.C.Soil & Lime 12.36 12.35 12.31 12.34
Mix (95:5)
2. B.C.Soil & Lime 12.34 12.31 12.30 12.32
Mix (92:8)
3. B.C.Soil & Lime 12.33 12.31 12.29 12.31
Mix (90:10)
4. B.C.Soil & Cement 11.41 11.41 11.39 11.40
Mix (95:5)
5. B.C.Soil & Cement 11.71 11.74 11.74 11.73
Mix (92:8)
6. B.C.Soil & Cement 11.77 11.77 11.81 11.78
Mix (90:10)
7. B.C.Soil & Cement 12.03 12.04 12.04 12.04
Mix (88:12)
8. B.C.Soil & Cement 11.99 11.97 11.99 11.98
Mix (86:14)

Table-4 pH Value Determination of Pond Ash and Cement Mixes

MIX pH Value of First pH Value of pH Value of Average pH

COMPOSITION Sample Second Sample Third Sample Value
1. Pond Ash & Cement 13.22 13.21 13.19 13.21
Mix(6:1).
2. Pond Ash & Cement 12.83 12.81 12.73 12.79
Mix(2:1)
3. Pond Ash & Cement 12.67 12.61 12.59 12.62
(3:1)
4. Pond Ash & Cement 12.57 12.51 12.47 12.52
Mix(1:1)
5. Pond Ash & Cement 12.35 12.36 12.34 12.35
(8:1)
6. Pond Ash sample 7.51 7.40 8.31 7.74
from Tuticorin
6 OBSERVATION WITH DIFFERENT stabilised with lime. Cement stabilised samples
TYPES OF TREATMENTS developed distinct cracks on the surface. Further
Mixes were prepared with lime and cement. Very reduction in strength on soaking was found less
few or almost no cracks were observed in samples for cement stabilised samples as compared to lime

INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013 37

 TECHNICAL PAPERS

stabilised samples. The advantage of adding fibres
can be seen in terms of reduction of swelling of
soil in the transverse direction. Fibres improve the
ductility characteristics too. But the samples heave in
the direction of load application. The heave increases
after alternate wetting/drying and ultimately the
sample collapses. This thing has happened with low
value of cement content (Table-8). Upon increasing
the amount of cement prepared with pond ash and
cement (6:1) mixed with fibre and sodium silicate,the
system satisfies the durability criteria of alternate wet-
dry cycles.

Table-5 Mix Composition with Lime & Fiber Mixes

Mix Composition OMC & MDD VALUES % Fiber UCS Soaked Fiber Description %
(Modified) at 2% wet of Mixed Strength Strength Reduction
OMC in MPa in MPa on Soaking

1. B.C.Soil,PA(50:47) & MDD = 15.5kN/m3 2% by 0.5 0.07 CT – 2012 85

3% Impure Lime Mix OMC = 19.79 % weight (6 mm polyester)

2. B.C.Soil, PA(50:45) & MDD = 15.7 kN/m3 2% by 0.6 0.12 CT-2012 79

5% Impure Lime Mix OMC = 18.08 weight (6 mm polyester)

3. B.C.Soil, PA(50:47) & MDD = 15.6 kN/m3 2% by 1.2 0.8 CT – 2012 35

3% Cement Mix OMC = 20.12 weight (6 mm polyester)

4. B.C.Soil, PA(50:45) & MDD = 15.7kN/m3 2% by 1.6 1.3 CT – 2012 16

5% Cement Mix OMC = 20.08 weight (6 mm polyester

5. B.C.Soil, PA(50:45) & 5% MDD = 15.7 kN/m3 2% by 1.5 1.2 CT – 2012 20 %

Cement with 1% Sodium OMC = 20.08 weight (6 mm polyester)
Silicate

6. B.C.Soil,PA(50:47) & MDD = 15.6 kN/m3 2% by 1.2 0.87 CT – 2012 27 %

3% Cement Mix with 1% OMC = 20.12 weight (6 mm polyester
Sodium Silicate

Table-6 Mix Composition with Pure Lime & Fiber Mixes

MIX COMPOSITION OMC & MDD VALUES UCS Soaked UCS % Fiber Description
(Modified &2% wet of Strength in Strength in Reduction
OMC) MPa MPa on soaking

1. B.C.Soil, PA & Lime Mix MDD =15.7 kN/m3 1.2 0.8 33 2% CT-2012
with 2% fiber (50:45:5) OMC = 20.08 % (6 mm polyester)

2. B.C.Soil, PA & Lime Mix MDD =15.7 kN/m3 1.1 0.6 44 2% CT-2012
with 2% fiber (50:45:5) OMC = 20.08 % (6 mm polyester
–Repeated

3. B.C.Soil, PA & Lime Mix MDD = 15.6 kN/m3 1.1 0.7 34 2% CT-2012
with 2% fiber (50:47:3) OMC = 20.12 % (6 mm polyester)

4. B.C.Soil, PA & Lime Mix MDD =15.7 kN/m3 1.9 1.4 29 CTP-2024
With 2% Fiber & OMC = 20.08 % (12 mm
1% SS(50:45:5) polypropylene)

38 INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013

 TECHNICAL PAPERS

Table-7 Mix Composition with Impure Lime

Mix (B.C.Soil & PA, 50:50) OMC & MDD Values UCS Strength in MPa after REMARKS
Composition (Modified) 7 days
1. Mix Composition (50:48.5:1.5) MDD = 15.5kN/m3 (UCS)7 = 0.15 No visible cracks were
Lime OMC = 19.32 % observed.
2. Mix Composition MDD = 15.1 kN/m3 (UCS)7 = 0.19 Cracks were observed on the
(50:47.5:2.5) Lime OMC = 16.05 % surface.
3. Mix Composition with 3% Lime MDD = 15.5 kN/m3 (UCS)7 = 0.18 No visible cracks were
(50:47:3) OMC = 17.79 % observed.
4. Mix Composition with 5% Lime MDD = 15.4kN/m3 (UCS)7 = 0.09 No visible cracks were
(50:45:5) OMC = 19.39 % observed.

Table 8 Mix Composition with Cement

Mix Composition OMC & MDD Values UCS Strength in MPa Remarks
(Modified) after 7 days
1. Mix Composition MDD = 15.6kN/m3 (UCS)7 = 0.15 Visible cracks were observed on
(50:48.5:1.5) OMC = 17.57 % (UCS) Soaked = 0.05 the surface.
2. Mix Composition MDD = 15.6 kN/m3 (UCS)7 = 0.19 Visible cracks were observed on
(50:47.5:2.5) OMC = 18.99 % the surface.
(UCS) Soaked = 0.06
3. Mix Composition with 3% MDD = 15.6 kN/m3 (UCS)7 = 0.22 No visible cracks were observed.
Cement (50:47:3) OMC = 18.12 % (UCS) Soaked = 0.13 Wide surfacial cracks were
observed after 7 days.

4. Mix Composition with MDD = 15.7kN/m3 (UCS)7 = 0.57 Visible cracks were observed on
5% Cement (50:45:5) OMC = 18.08 % (UCS) Soaked = 0.28 the surface.

7 DISCUSSION ABOUT THE CEMENT Pond Ash from Tuticorin (Tamil Nadu) and cement
USED IN THIS PROCESS in a fixed ratio (6:1). 2% Polypropylene fiber (12 mm
length) and 1% Sodium Silicate has been mixed with
A special type of cement has been prepared for this
this cement. The strength variation in this cement with
stabilisation study. It has been prepared by mixing
ageing has been separately studied (Figs.1 & 2).

Fig.1 UCS Strength vs Ageing Curve of Pond Ash & Cement Fig.2 Strength vs Time Curve for Pond Ash & Cement Mix
Mix with 2% Fiber & 1% SS (6:1) Stabilised with 2% Fiber and 1% SS

INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013 39

 TECHNICAL PAPERS

It has been observed from the experiments that the wet –dry cycles which confirms the increase in strength
strength of the mix (Soil & Cement) increases after after weathering (Table 9 & Fig.3).
Table 9 Ucs Strength Results of Pond Ash & Cement Mixes

Mix Composition OMC & MDD UCS SOAKED UCS % FIBER % WET
VALUES STRENGTH STRENGTH in REDUCTION DESCRIPTION OF OMC
in MPa MPa ON SOAKING

1. Pond Ash & Cement MDD = 13.2 kN/m3 3.3 2% CTP 2%

Mix (6:1) OMC = 20.66 % -2024 (12 mm
polypropylene)

2. Pond Ash & Cement MDD = 13.2 kN/m3 4.5 4.3 4.4 2% CTP 2%
Mix (6:1) with 2% OMC = 20.66 % -2024 (12 mm
Fiber & 1% SS polypropylene

3. Pond Ash & Cement 3.7 2.1 43 2% CTP 4%

Mix (6:1) with 2% -2024 (12 mm
Fiber polypropylene

4. Pond Ash & Cement MDD = 13.2 kN/m3 6.6 2% CTP 6%

Mix (6:1) with 2% OMC = 20.66 % -2024 (12 mm
Fiber & 1% SS After 12 polypropylene
Cycles of Alternate
Wet-Drying

5. Pond Ash & Cement MDD = 13.0 kN/m3 4.7 3.6 23 6%

Mix (6:1) with 2% OMC = 18.81%
Fiber & 1% SS at
Standard Proctor

Fig.3 Stress vs Strain Curve of Pond Ash & Cement Mix (6:1) Fig.4 Stress vs Strain Curve (UCS) of B.C. Soil, PA & Cement
with 2% Fiber & 1% SS After 12 Cycles of Alternate Wet-Drying Mix (44:48:8) with Fiber & SS After 12 Cycles

All the mixing have been done ordinarily with hand in studied separately in terms of alternate wet-dry cycles
the laboratory. The durability of this cement has been (Figs.4 & Fig.5).

40 INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013

 TECHNICAL PAPERS
Fig.5 Stress vs Strain Curve of B.C. Soil, PA & Cement Mix
(44:48:8) with Fiber & SS After 12 Cycle
8 LIME STABILISATION VS CEMENT
STABILISATION WITH RESPECT TO
PERMEABILITY BEHAVIOUR
Cement has an additional advantage over lime with
respect to permeability behaviour. Cement stabilisation
will prove more effective as far as leaching behaviour
is concerned. Both follow the same trend but the
samples with cement becomes more impermeable.
This particular behaviour has been illustrated by
diagrams (Figs.6 & 7).
Fig.6 Variation of Permeability Values with Lime & Cement
(Moorum Sample from Badmer, Rajasthan)
Fig.7 Variation of Permeability with Lime & Cement
(Soil Sample from Badmer, Rajasthan)
INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013 41
The permeability behaviour can also be explained in
terms of microscopic changes occurring in the system.
Lime flocculates the mix providing wide channels for
the flow. In presence of cement, growth of fibres takes
place in needle form. These needles completely fill
the system making it very less permeable.
9 ROLE OF SODIUM SILICATE IN THE
STABILISATION PROCESS
Sodium silicate sealed the pores of the system in wet
condition and released water to arrest the shrinkage
cracks in dry conditions. Thus it helps the stabilisation
process in both the ways.
10 DURABILITY OF THE FINAL MIX
The final mix having the proportion of B.C.
Soil:PA:Cement (44:48:8) was recommended as the
desired material for subgrade or base course. The
maximum cement loss was found to be 8% after 12
cycles of alternate wet-drying which was within the
permissible limit.
11 DISCUSSION ABOUT THE RESULTS
(i) At modified density the mix having B.C. Soil,
PA and Lime with Fiber mix undergoes 33-44%
reduction in strength whereas mix with Sodium
silicate undergoes 29% reduction in strength.
(ii) B.C. Soil, PA and cement system with fiber
undergoes 11-13% reduction in strength whereas
the system with sodium silicate undergoes
11-16% reduction in strength.
(iii) The new mix of B.C. Soil, PA and cement
(44:48:8) shows 14% reduction in strength on
soaking which decreases to 6% with fiber and
Sodium silicate (Table-10).
 TECHNICAL PAPERS

Table-10 Mix Samples Prepared at Standard Proctor Density with New Composition

MDD in OMC(%) UCS SOAKED UCS % % WET

kN/m3 STRENGTH STRENGTH REDUCTION of OMC
Mix Composition
in MPa in MPa

B.C.Soil, PA & Cement 14.4 25.48 0.95 0.82 14 4

(44:48:8)

Mix Composition With 2% 14.4 25.48 2.53 2.05 19 4

Fibre

Mix Composition With Fibre 14.4 25.48 2.26 2.12 6 4

& SS

B.C. Soil & 8% Cement Mix 15.5 19.95 0.56 OMC

(iv) The mixes with pond ash and cement show
slight reduction in strength as evidenced by
their respective strength curves but there is no
reduction in weight of the samples after carrying
out 12 cycles of durability test.
(v) The stabilised mixes of soil and cement show
reduction in weight (although within permissible
limits) after carrying out durability cycles but
there is no reduction in strength after alternate
wet-drying as evidenced from their strength
curves.
References
1. “Behaviour of saturated expansive soil and control
methods”, by R.K. Katti & A.R. Katti.
2. “Influence of coffee husk layer on CBR value in Black
Cotton Soil (2004)”, by Dr, A.V. Pradeep Kumar
& A.N. Ramkrishna, Highway Research Bulletin,
No-71, pp.87-92.
3. “Use of Phosphogypsum-An industrial by-product
in stabilisation of Black Cotton Soils (2004)”, by
Dr. A.K. Misra, Dr. Renu Mathur, Pankaj Goel &
Dr. V.K. Sood,” Highway Research Bulletin, No-52,
pp.1-11.

12 RECOMMENDATIONS 4. “Physicochemical and engineering behaviour of

The stabilised mixes of soil and cement show reduction
in weight within permissible limits after carrying
out durability cycles but there is no reduction in
strength after alternate wet-drying as evidenced from
5. “Effect of waterlogging in lime stabilized alluvial soil
their strength curves. This mix is recommended for
stabilisation of black cotton soils.
13 Acknowledgement
cement treated clays (2004)”, by S.H. Chew, A.H.M.
Kamruzzaman and F.H.Lee, Journal of Geotechnical and
Geoenvironmental Engineering (ASCE), Vol.130, No.7,
pp. 696-706.
(1991)”, by Dhawan P.K., Bhasin, K.N., Goswami, K.N.,
Bhatnagar, P.O. & Swami, R.K.,” Effect of waterlogging in
lime stabilized alluvial soil”, Highway Research Bulletin,
Vol.43, pp.1-18.

The authors are grateful to the Director, CRRI for 6. State of the art: Lime Soil Stabilization”,
IRC HRB, SR. No. 1
granting his permission to publish this paper.

42 INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013

 COMPACTION AND SUBGRADE CHARACTERTISTICS OF
CLAYEY SOIL BLENDED WITH BEAS SAND, FLY ASH AND
WASTE PLASTIC STRIPS
Dr. Ravi Kumar Sharma*, Deen Bandhu**, Rounak Maheshwari** and Sukhendra Kumar**
Abstract
The most concerning problem today with the thermal power plants
is the disposal of fly ash. The use of fly ash as landfill causes great
environmental pollution like, groundwater contamination, since
coal contains trace levels of heavy metals. Similarly, waste plastic
too poses great environmental problem. There is a need to utilize
these materials by exploiting their inherent properties to solve the
environmental and disposal problems. This paper brings out the
results of an experimental programme carried out to evaluate the
effectiveness of using fly ash with randomly distributed discrete
waste plastic strips for soil stabilization by studying the compaction
and strength characteristics for use as sub-grade material. The
influence of different mix proportions of clayey soil, Beas sand
and fly ash on compaction, California Bearing Ratio (CBR) and
permeability has been studied. The results show that addition of
fly ash decreases the Maximum Dry Density (MDD) and increases
the Optimum Moisture Content (OMC). The effect of the fiber
content on the MDD, OMC, CBR value and permeability of the
selected mix has been investigated and it has been concluded that
inclusion of the plastic waste strips initially increases and then
decreases the MDD and same trend was followed by CBR value
whereas the permeability of the composite base increases with the
increase in fibre content. An optimized composite may be used
effectively for the construction of sub-grade and foundation bases
particularly in rural roads and low cost roads with lesser traffic
volume.
1 Introduction
Soil stabilization has been widely recommended for the
construction of various elements of the pavements in
developing countries. The reasons usually put forward
are that the use of locally available materials will lead
to lower costs. The characteristics of compacted soil,
if improved, resulting from residue utilization like fly
ash, blast furnace slag, pond ash, etc. mostly bring
environmental and economic benefits. Chattopadhyay
and Roy (2007) evaluated applicability of different
alternative materials in sub-grade construction with
particular emphasis on using fly ash and found
* Professor, Civil Engineering Department, National Institute of Technology, Hamirpur (H.P.)
** Graduate Students E-mail: rksnithp61@gmail.com
INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013 43
that with increasing percentage of fly ash in soil
initially increases and then there is gradual decrease
in the maximum dry density with gradual increase in
optimum moisture content and also in the CBR value
in soaked conditions. Fidelis and Ugochukwu (2009)
concluded that fly ash reduces plasticity, increases
volume stability of the soil, improves the strength
property (CBR) of the soil and performs satisfactorily
as a cheap stabilizing agent for lateritic soil for sub-
grade purpose. Jha and Gill (2007) evaluated that the
effectiveness of using fly ash as pozzolanic material
and concluded that it enhances the lime treatment of
the soil. Brooks (2009) concluded that 12% fly ash
content improved CBR value by 47% for clay of CH
category.
Plastic-waste materials are produced plentifully such
as PET of plastic bottles, polypropylene of plastic sack,
and polypropylene (PP) of carpet. But such materials
have been used little for engineering purposes and
the overwhelming majority of them have been
placed in storage or disposal sites. Fiber-reinforced
soil is becoming a viable soil improvement method
for geotechnical engineering problems. Murugesan
(2004) reported that soil can be reinforced with low
cost materials like natural fibers obtained from jute,
coir, etc. For SM-SW soil, he suggested that inclusion
of randomly discrete nylon and jute fiber increase CBR
by 50% and coconut fiber by 96%. Gosavi et al (2004)
conducted tests to improve sub-grade properties of
black cotton soil using fiber reinforcement. They
concluded that value of OMC increases and MDD
decreases with increase in quantity of woven fabrics
in fiberglass.
 TECHNICAL PAPERS

Muntohar (2010) investigated the strength of lime and density with percentage of fly ash for various
fly ash stabilized clay soil with randomly distributed combinations of clay-sand mixes.
discrete plastic waste fibers and concluded that plastic
fibers increased both the Unconfined Compressive 3 EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAM
Strength (UCS) and tensile split strength of soil
and also reduced brittleness and addition of fly ash 3.1 Materials
reduced plasticity index and shrinkage of soil.
The soil used in the study was locally available clayey
Chauhan et al (2008) studied the effectiveness of fiber
reinforcement in sub-grade soil from strength point of soil and local sand. According to IS classification
view. The Unconfined Compressive Strength (UCS) system, the soil was classified as clay with low
increases up to 10% with synthetic as well as coir plasticity (CL) and the properties of clay are given in
fibers. Their study suggests that 0.75% of coir fiber Table 1.
and 1% polypropylene fiber by weight of dry soil Table 1 Physical Properties of Clay, Sand and Fly Ash
appear to be optimum.
Property Clay Sand Fly ash
Specific gravity 2.61 2.63 1.955
2 SCOPE AND OBJECTIVES
Maximum dry density, (g/cc) 1.84 1.78 1.138
In this work, an attempt is made to study how fly ash
Optimum moisture content (%) 14.2 9.1 31.2
and waste plastic strips may be effectively utilized
in combination with the clayey soil, local sand and Liquid limit (%) 33.6 - 41.2
fly ash to get an improved soil material which may Plastic limit (%) 20.4 - -
be used in various soil structures. Fly ash used was Plasticity index (%) 13.2 - -
obtained from Ropar thermal power plant. Locally
Uniformity coefficient, Cu - 1.77 -
available clayey soil and Beas sand has been used in
this experimental investigation. Waste plastic packing Coefficient of curvature, Cc - 1.01 -
strips wasted from packaging of materials in cardboard Soaked CBR (%) 4.55 11.2 5.80
boxes etc., has been used as reinforcement.
Sand was obtained from Beas river bed which can be
The present work consists of: classified as poorly graded sand (SP). The properties
1. Clayey soil and Beas sand were mixed in varying of sand are given in Table 1. The fly ash was obtained
percentages and optimized for maximum dry as residue left after electronic precipitation of the
density. burnt gases. The properties of fly ash are also given
2. Fly ash content was varied from 0 to 40% in in Table 1. The plastic strips used were obtained from
steps of 10% to optimize its value on maximum waste plastic packaging strips usually used for packing
dry density of suitable clay- sand mixes. various materials in the card board boxes. The strips
are 11.5 mm wide and 0.5 mm thick having a mass of
3. The maximum dry density, permeability and
4.35 g/m length. The mass specific gravity of plastic
CBR value of the most appropriate combination
strips used was 0.756. The tensile strength of these
of the three materials with varying percentage
strips is very high as compared to other materials.
of waste plastic strips has been studied at the
optimum moisture content. The plastic strips usually form waste material after
the packaging is opened. These strips were cut into
4. Empirical relationships have been developed uniform size of 11.5 mm length and 3 mm width for
showing the variation of maximum dry use in soil composite.

44 INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013

 TECHNICAL PAPERS
3.2 Method of Testing
The particle size distribution curves of clay, sand and
fly ash tested as per IS : 2720 (Part IV) -1975 are
given in Fig.1. The specific gravity tests, consistency
limit tests and the standard Proctor tests were
conducted in accordance with IS: 2720 (Part 3)
-1980, IS: 2720 (Part V) -1975 and IS: 2720 (Part
VII) -1980 respectively. The clay–sand mixes were
obtained by varying percentage of sand from 10% to
60% in increments of 10% and standard Proctor tests
were conducted on the mixes. After choosing two
suitable clay- sand mixes, fly ash content in each mix
was varied from 10% to 40% in increments of 10%.
The standard Proctor tests were conducted on these
mixes. The particle size distribution curves of clay
-sand mixes (clay : sand :: 70:30, 60:40 & 50 : 50)
containing 10% fly ash are shown in Fig.2.
Fig. 1 Particle Size Distribution of Clay, Sand and Fly Ash
Fig. 2 Particle Size Distribution of Different Mixes
For the best combination of clay-sand-fly ash obtained
on the basis of MDD values, plastic strips were added
0.1% to 0.5% by weight in steps of 0.1% and standard
Proctor tests and CBR tests were performed on the
combinations. Un-soaked and soaked CBR tests were
INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013 45
conducted in standard mould for samples compacted
statically at MDD and OMC. Surcharge weight of
50N was used during the testing. A metal penetration
plunger of diameter 50 mm and 100 mm long was
used to penetrate the samples at the rate of 1.25 mm/
minute using computerized CBR testing machine. The
permeability tests were conducted on the clay-sand-
fly ash mix with percentage of plastic fiber varying in
0.1% increment up to 0.5%.
4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
4.1 Compaction Tests
Fig.3 shows the water content-dry density curves of
clayey soil mixed with sand content varying from 10%
to 60%. The compaction curve for sand is also shown
along with. The Maximum Dry Density (MDD) of the
clay-sand composite increases with the increase in
sand content up to 40% after which it is reduced. This
occurs due to the reason that the void spaces between
the sand particles are occupied by the clay particles
up to a certain percentage thereafter the extra sand
content tends to reduce the density.
Fig. 3 Compaction Characteristics of Clay-Sand Mixes
 TECHNICAL PAPERS
Figs.4, 5 and 6 show the water content-dry density
curves of the clay-sand composite (clay : sand ::
50:50) (clay : sand :: 60:40) and (clay : sand :: 70:30)
with fly ash content varying from 10% to 40%. The
maximum dry density achieved is higher for clay-sand
mix of 60:40 compared with 50:50, 70:30 or other
proportions.
Fig.4 Compaction Characteristics of 50% Clay,
50% Sand and Fly Ash Mixes
Fig.5 Compaction Characteristics of 60% Clay,
40% Sand and Fly Ash Mixes
46 INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013
Fig.6 Compaction Characteristics of 70% Clay,
30% Sand and Fly Ash Mixes
This is due to the reason that the clay particles can
fill most of the voids in the sand when mixed in the
ratio of 60:40. Further, it is observed that as the fly ash
content increases, the maximum dry density decreases
but the optimum moisture content increases.
Fig.7 shows the variation of Maximum Dry Density
(MDD) with addition of fly ash content varying
from 10% to 40% for different clay-sand mixes. The
maximum dry density of soil combination decreases
due to addition of fly ash which is a light weight
material as compared to clay and sand. This is mainly
attributed to flocculated structures formed by addition
of fly ash having low specific gravity.
Fig.7 Effect of Fly Ash on Maximum Dry Density
of Various Clay : Sand Mixes
 TECHNICAL PAPERS

On linear regression model, the relationships between 4.2 California Bearing Ratio (CBR) Test Results
the percentage of fly ash and the Maximum Dry
Fig.9 shows the effect of plastic strips on California
Density (MDD) of the clay : sand (50 : 50) mix,
(60 : 40) mix and (70 : 30) mix (Fig.7); in which Bearing Ratio (CBR) values of clay-sand-fly
maximum dry density is represented by ‘y’ and ash-plastic strip mixes. It is observed that un-soaked
percentage of fly ash is represented by ‘x’; are given by: and soaked CBR value of the clay-sand-fly ash-plastic
For (50 : 50) mix, y =1.931 - 0.006x ... (1) strip mix initially increases and then decreases with
with R² = 0.987; the addition of plastic strips. The maximum CBR
For (60 : 40) mix, y =1.936 - 0.006x ... (2) (un-soaked as well as soaked) value of the clay-sand-
fly ash-plastic strip mix is achieved at a plastic strip
with R² = 0.992; and
content of 0.3%.
For (70 : 30) mix, y =1.871 - 0.004x ... (3)
with R² = 0.999.
Fig.8 shows the variation of the maximum dry density
(MDD) of the clay : sand (60 : 40) mix having 10%
fly ash content with percentage of waste plastic strips
in the mix varying from 0.1% to 0.5%. Upon adding
the waste plastic strips, the maximum dry density of
the mix slightly decreases (about 0.25% to 0.75%)
as compared to the maximum dry density for the
mix without plastic strips (Figure 5). This is due to
the fact that the plastic being a light weight material
the dry density is reduced. The maximum dry density
increases slightly with the increase in plastic strip
content up to 0.3%, thereafter it decreases. This can
be attributed to the reason that the plastic strips up to
a certain percentage tend to facilitate the orientation
of the particles in the clay-sand mix after which the
greater percentage of the strips tends to disperse Fig.9 Variation of California Bearing Ratio with Plastic Strip for
them. Clay: Sand: Fly Ash::54:36:10 Mix

The increase in the CBR value is due to the reinforcing

Fig.8 Effect of Plastic Strip Content on Maximum Dry Density
of (Clay : Sand : Fly Ash :: 54 : 36 : 10) Mix
characteristics of the plastic strips. It prevents the
formation of cracks in the sample and binds the soil
particles together, leading to an increase in CBR values
of the stabilized soil. As plastic strip content increases,
the distance between the strips and soil particles
decreases, hence contributing to an increase in the
volume and decrease in the dry density. However, the
tests have been limited to 0.5% strip content because
too much strips added could reduce the effectiveness
of the improvement in the strength and toughness,
as the strips adhere to each other to form cluster and
cannot come in contact with soil particles fully.

INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013 47

 TECHNICAL PAPERS
4.3 Permeability Test Results
Fig.10 shows variation in coefficient of permeability
(k) of various composites with increase in the plastic
strip content. The permeability of the composite base
increases with the increase in the strip content. As
the strip content increases, the number of the micro
paths along which the water can flow also increases
and hence the permeability increases.
Fig.10 Variation of Coefficient of Permeability (k)
with Plastic Strip Content.
5 CONCLUSIONS
The following conclusions can be drawn from the
study conducted on clay-sand-fly ash-plastic strip
mix:
1. The maximum dry density is achieved for clay-
sand mix of 60:40 followed by other proportions
(Fig. 3).
2. Addition of fly ash in the clay-sand mix (50:50,
60:40 and 70:30) increases the optimum
moisture content and decreases maximum dry
density (Figures 4, 5 and 6).
3. A fly ash content of 10% gives the maximum
California Bearing Ratio (CBR) value for the
suitable value of maximum dry density for
practical purposes (Figure 5).
48 INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013
4. Addition of plastic strips enhances the CBR
value of the clay, sand and fly ash mix. The
optimum content of strips is chosen as 0.3%
based on the greatest value of CBR. There is
an increase of nearly 30% in un-soaked CBR
value and nearly 40% in soaked CBR value.
5. With the increase in plastic strip content the
coefficient of permeability of the mix increases
progressively. The coefficient of permeability
corresponding to the optimum strip content i.e.
0.3% plastic strips is more than six times the
coefficient of permeability of the mix without
any strips.
6. An optimized mix of clay : sand : fly ash ::
54 : 36 :10 with 0.3% plastic strips may be
chosen as the suitable composite which can be
considered for applications in construction of
embankments, soil sub-grade and foundation
bases particularly in rural roads and low cost
roads with lesser traffic volume.
REFERENCES
1. Brooks R. M. (2009), “Soil Stabilization with Fly Ash
and Rice Husk Ash”, International Journal of Research
and Reviews in Applied Sciences ISSN: 2076-734X,
Volume 1, Issue 3, Dec., 2009.
2. Bureau of Indian Standards (1973) “Methods of tests for
soil”, Part II, Determination of water content of soil. B.I.S,
New Delhi, IS: 2720.
3. Bureau of Indian Standards (1975) “Methods of tests
for soil”, Part IV, Grain size analysis. B.I.S, New Delhi,
IS 2720.
4. Bureau of Indian Standards (1975) “Methods of tests for
soil”, Part V, Determination of liquid limit and plastic
limit. B.I.S, New Delhi, IS 2720.
5. Bureau of Indian Standards (1979) “Specification for
liquid limit apparatus for soils”. B.I.S, New Delhi,
IS 9259.
6. Bureau of Indian Standards (1980) “Methods of tests
for soil”, Part 3/sec1: Determination of Specific gravity,
B.I.S, New Delhi, IS 2720.
7. Bureau of Indian Standards (1980) “Methods of tests for
soil”, Part VII, Determination of water content-dry density
relation using light compaction of soil. B.I.S, New Delhi,
IS 2720.
 TECHNICAL PAPERS

8. Chattopadhyay and Roy T.K. (2007), “Effect of Rice Husk
on Soil Improvement for Rural Road Sub-grade made with
Pond Ash/Fly Ash”, CED, Bengal Engineering College,
Howrah, West Bengal.
9. Chauhan, M.S., Mittal, S. and Mohanty, B. (2008)
“Performance evaluation of silty sand sub-grade reinforced
with fly ash and fiber,” Geotextiles and Geomembranes,
Volume 26, Issue 5, pp. 429-435.
10. Fidelis and Ugochukwu (2009), “Effects of Fly ash on
Some Geotechnical Properties of Lateritic Soil”, Leonardo
Electronic Journal of Practices and Technologies, ISSN
1583-1078, Issue 15, p. 67-74.
11. Gosavi M.P., Mittal S. and Saran S. (2004), “Improvement
of Properties of black cotton soil sub grades through
Synthetic Reinforcement”, IE (I) Journal CV, Vol 84,
pp. 257-262.
12. Jha, J. N. and Gill, K. S. (2007), “Effect of Fly Ash on
Lime stabilization” Civil Engineering Department, Guru
Nanak Dev Engineering College Ludhiana, Punjab.
13. Muntohar, A.S. (2010), “Influence of Plastic Waste Fibers
on the Strength of Lime- Fly Ash Stabilized Clay Soil”,
Civil Engineering Dimension, Vol. 11, No. 1, March 2009,
32-40, ISSN 1410-9530.
14. Murugesan S. (2004), “A Study on Fibres as Reinforcement
for Sub-grades of Flexible Pavement”, Indian Conference
on Geosynthetics and Geoenvironment, pp 163-164.

OBITUARY
The Indian Roads Congress express their profound sorrow on the sad demise of Shri Saravanan S V,
resident of D-70, Kurunchi Housing Unit, Phase-I, Coimbatore (T.N.). He was an active member of the
Indian Roads Congress.
May his soul rest in peace.

INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013 49

 TECHNICAL PAPERS
A STUDY ON THE PERFORMANCE OF SUGARCANE FIBRE IN
STONE MATRIX ASPHALT
P. Vilvakumar*, N. Senthil*, S. Lakshmi**, C. Kamaraj*** and S. Gangopadhyay****
Abstract
Sugarcane Bagasse is a by-product of the sugar industry, the
quantity of production in each country is in line with the quantity
of sugarcane produced i.e., for each 10 tonnes of sugarcane crushed
in a sugar factory produces nearly 3 tonnes of wet Bagasse. In this
study, it is proposed to investigate the influence of sugarcane fibres
as stabilizing additive on engineering properties on Stone Matrix
Asphalt mix (SMA). SMA is a gap graded bituminous mixture
that maximizes coarse aggregate’s content in the mix which
provides better stone-on-stone contact. Additives are generally
used in SMA mix to prevent drain down of binder. The dosages of
fibres proposed in this study were 3g, 5g, 7g and 10g by weight
of mix i.e., 0.26%, 0.43%, 0.6% and 0.86% by weight of mix
respectively. In this study 50 mm thick SMA mix was designed as
per MoRTH Specifications.
1 Introduction
The sugarcane cultivation has great economic
significance in the rural sector in India. A statistical
report shows India produced 298.42 million tonnes
of sugarcane in 2002. The efficient use of sugarcane
fibres obtained from the sugarcane wastes, can be
made without creating problem to the environment
and the same time meeting the quality requirements
of the pavements by adding it in bituminous mix.
As per Indians Standards IS 1196-1978, Bitumen
Mastic is unaffected by dry sugar or solutions of
low concentrations at normal temperatures. Syrups,
molasses and other concentrated solutions will affect
mastic asphalt at all temperatures. Sugarcane Bagasse
is a by-product of the sugar industry, the quantity of
production in each country is in line with the quantity
of sugarcane produced i.e., for each 10 tonnes of
sugarcane crushed in a sugar factory produces nearly
3 tonnes of wet Bagasse. In this study, it is proposed
* M.E. Student, DnTE, Anna University, Chennai. E-mail: vilva@ymail.com,
** Professor and Head DnTE, Anna University, Chennai.
*** Doctoral Research Scholar, DnTE, Anna University, Chennai. E-mail: kamarajcrri@gmail.com
**** Director, CSIR-Central Road Research Institute, New Delhi.
50 INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013
to investigate the influence of sugarcane fibres as
stabilizing additive on engineering properties on
Stone Matrix Asphalt mix (SMA).
Serkan Tapkın (2007)1, Claudio, et al. (2008)2 and
Jai Kumar (2008)3 made a study on the properties
and effect of fibres as stabilizing additive in SMA.
Kamaraj, et al. (2004)4 made a comparative study on
the behaviour of the Stone Matrix Asphalt (SMA)
over Dense Bituminous Macadam (DBM) and
Bituminous Concrete (BC) by using Natural rubber
powder. The use of natural rubber powder modified
SMA mix contributed resistance to deformation and
lesser drain down. Punith, et al. (2004)5 made a study
on the effect using Polyethylene as stabilizer on the
mixture properties of SMA and asphalt concrete. The
result shows that Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE)
can effectively be used as stabiliser to retard the
drain down of binder and mineral fillers. SMA mix
shows increase in stiffness in short term and long term
aging and significantly less in stability for AC mix.
Abdelaziz Mahrez, et al. (2005)6 made a study on the
characteristics and properties of glass fibres reinforced
stone matrix asphalt using Marshall Test, Dynamic
Creep Test and Indirect Tensile test. The test result
shows Marshall Stability decreases with increases
in fibre dosage in mix. Flow value increases up-till
0.3% and decreases gradually. Resilient modulus
increases with increases in fibre content up to 0.3%
then decreases gradually. Creep test represents the
addition of fibres affects the creep properties of
bituminous mixes. Fatigue life increases about 28.2%,
37.2% & 44.4% in addition of 0.1%, 0.2% and 0.3%
 TECHNICAL PAPERS
of glass fibres respectively. 0.3% of glass fibres found
to be effective as it provides higher performances with
respect to fatigue life. The above results are obtained
for a fibre length of 20 mm; however the results may
vary when fibre length is varied.
Chen Zheng, et al. (2006)7 made a comparative study
on the properties and effect of cellulose fibres and
polyester fibres on asphalt performances on high
temperature. Reinforcement Mechanism Analysis was
carried out to study the behavior of fibre reinforced
asphalt binders. From Scan Electron Microscope
images, Polyester fibres are found to be homogeneous
in nature, but cellulose fibres are thin, short &
distinct in length and it can absorb more asphalt. So
the resistance to shear strength of cellulose fibres is
worse than polyester fibres, but still better than the
original asphalt binder. Ratnasamy Muniandy, et al.
(2006)8 made a study on the fatigue performance of
SMA on inclusion of the Cellulose Oil Palm Fibres
(COPF) by varying proportion of fibres (0.2%, 0.4%,
0.6%, 0.8% and 1.0%) in PG 64–22 grade bitumen.
The test results shows PG 64-22 binder could be
modified and raised to PG70-22 and physical property
of binder such as softening point & flash point
values increases by 24% and 9% respectively with
COPF. Shear modulus increases with increase in the
fibre content. Fatigue resistance from fibres showed
a slight increase from 0% to 4% but however there
was a remarkable increase from 0.4% to 0.8% fibre
content. The optimum bitumen contents of SMA mix
without fibres optimum fibre content ranges 6.39% to
6.69% and for SMA mix with COPF ranges 6.30% to
6.84%.
Table 1 Bitumen Test Results
S. No Properties Test Method
1 Specific Gravity test IS 1202 - 1978
2 Penetration at 25ºC IS 1203 - 1978
3 Softening Point IS 1205 - 1978
4 Ductility IS 1208 - 1978
INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013 51
A detailed laboratory investigation has been carried
out at Highway Engineering Laboratory, Department
of Traffic Engineering, College of Engineering Guindy,
Anna University, Chennai on constituent materials
used for production of SMA, which included blue
granite of 9.5 mm, stone dust, lime powder as mineral
filler, sugar cane baggage as stabilizing additives
and viscosity grade VG-30 used as binder. As per
IRC:SP:79-20089, Marshall method of mix design
was adopted, wherein the optimum binder content
was calculated based on the criterion of 4% air
voids in the mix and voids in mineral aggregates at
minimum 17 percent. The laboratory performance
tests like Marshall Stability, Tensile Strength Ratio
(TSR) (water sensitivity) and Drain down tests were
conducted on SMA mixtures.
This paper brings out the laboratory test results
obtained through the evaluation done under the study
and discusses the potential use of sugarcane baggage
as stabilizing additives in SMA mixture.
2 EXPERIMENTAL WORK
2.1 Binder
In this study, viscosity grade bitumen VG-30 used as
binder. The physical properties bitumen obtained from
laboratory tests as per relevant IS codes are given in
Table below. The requirements recommended by the
MoSRT&H are also shown in the Table-1.
Units Tests Results
- 1.02
0.1 mm 64
ºC 55
cm 76
 TECHNICAL PAPERS

2.2 Aggregates SMA mixture. The physical properties as

The blue granite stone available in Chennai per MoSRT&H Section 500 (IRC) is shown in
region were used as aggregate in the design of Table 2.

Table 2 Aggregate Test Results

Property Test Method Specification Test results

Cleanliness Grain Size Analysis IS:2386 (P-1) < 2% passing 1%
0.075 mm sieve
Particle Shape Flakiness index IS:2386 (P-1) <12% 10%
Elongation Index < 18% 15%
Strength Los Angeles Abrasion Value IS:2386 (P-4) < 25% 22%
Aggregate Impact Value IS:2386 (P-4) < 18% 14.7%
Water Absorption Water Absorption IS:2386 (P-3) < 2% 1.7%
Specific gravity Specific gravity IS:2386 (P-1) - 2.85

2.3 Gradation on Aggregates
Gradation of aggregates is one of the most important
factors for design of SMA mix. To achieve the
specified SMA grading, various constituent materials
viz., 80 percent of 9.5 mm nominal size aggregate,
15 percent of crushed stone dust and 5 percent of
hydrated lime were mixed together to get the desired
grading of SMA. The adopted gradation of SMA mix
in the present study is given in Fig.1.
one/two inch. Place the chopped Bagasse in oven at
a constant temperature of 50 to 60ºC for an hour (this
makes the Bagasse brittle), then smash the oven dried
Bagasse using rammer. Finally the Bagasse passing
the sieve size 600µm were retained and used for the
study. The preparation of sugarcane bagasse is shown
in Fig.2(a-d).

a) Chopping off

c) Smashing
Fig.1 Adopted Gradation for Design of Stone Matrix
Asphalt Mix

2.4 Sugarcane Fibres

Bagasse is a by-product of the cane sugar industry, for
each 10 tonnes of sugarcane crushed in a sugar factory
produces nearly 3 tonnes of wet Bagasse. First the
Bagasse was dried directly in sun light till it becomes b) Oven dried d) 600 µm passing
dry, then this Bagasse were chopped off to size of Fig.2(a-d) Preparation of Sugarcane Fibres

52 INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013

 TECHNICAL PAPERS

2.4.1 Morphology of Sugarcane Bagasse 2.5 Determinaton of Voids in Coarse Aggregate

To study the surface morphology of the samples, SEM
pictures were taken by using a JSM 5300 scanning
electron microscope. Fig.3 (a-b) shows the SEM
pictures which clearly indicate that the Sugarcane
Baggasse is only a physical composite and there is
no chemical reaction or bonding taking place. The
chemical composition of sugar cane bagasse is given
in Table 3.
(a)
(Dry Rodded Method)
The VCA is determined by compacting the aggregate
with the dry-rodded technique according to AASHTO
T-19, unit weight and voids in aggregate. The acronym
VCADRC is used to indicate the voids in coarse
aggregate fraction in the dry-rodded condition. This
value is used in the determination of stone-to-stone
contact and is calculated as follows
Gsb.Yw − Ys
VCADRC, % = *100
Gsb.Yw
Where,
Yw = Density of water (kg/m3), and
Ys = Unit weight of aggregate in dry- rodded
condition (kg/m3).
Gsb = Bulk specific gravity of the total aggregate,
and
The VCADRC value for coarse aggregate
fraction was found to be 45%.

2.6 Design of Sma Mix by Marshall Method

Marshall method of mix design is performed to
determine the Optimum Binder Content (OBC) of
SMA mixtures. The mix was designed using 50 blows
by Marshall method and with different binder contents
by the weight of aggregate, to sustain heavy traffic.
The target mixing and compaction temperatures
were 175ºC and 143ºC respectively. SMA mixtures
were prepared with sugar cane bagasse as stabilizing
additive. The samples were tested for bulk specific
(b) gravity (Gmb), as per AASHTO: T-166; the maximum
Fig.3(a-b) Scanning Electron Micrograph of Sugarcane Bagasse theoretical special gravity (Gmm), as per AASHTO: T-9;
the percent air voids (Va); voids in mineral aggregate
Table 3 Chemical Composition of Bagasse
(VMA) and voids in coarse aggregate (VCA) were
Component Percent calculated using the following relationships:
Cellulose 45-55% Voids in Mineral Aggregate,
Hemi-cellulose 20-25% VMA = 100-((Gmb/Gsb)*Ps)
Lignin 18-24%
Percent Air Voids, Va = 100*(1-Gmb/Gmm)
Ash 1-4%
Voids in Coarse Aggregate, mix,
Waxes <1%
VCAmix = 100 –((Gmb/Gca)*PCA)

INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013 53

 TECHNICAL PAPERS

Where, Gca = Bulk specific gravity of coarse aggregate

Ps = Percent of aggregate in mixture
PCA = Percent coarse aggregate in the total
mixture
Gmb = Bulk specific gravity of compacted
mixture
Gmm = Theoretical maximum density of the
mixture
Gsb = Bulk specific gravity of total aggregate,
and
fraction.
2.7 Volumetric Properties of SMA Mix Using
Sugarcane Bagasse
The OBC has been estimated at which the Air
voids (Va), and minimum VMA are 3 & 17
respectively. Volumetric analysis of SMA mixtures at
various binder contents are presented in Fig.4 (a-d)
and Table 4.

Fig.4a Relationship Between Bulk Density and Fig.4b Relationship Between Air Voids and Binder Content
Binder Content for SMA for SMA

Fig.4c Relationship Between Stability and Binder Fig.4d Relationship Between VMA and Binder Content for SMA
Content for SMA

54 INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013

 TECHNICAL PAPERS

Table 4 Volumetric Properties of SMA Mix at Various Binder Contents

Wt of fibres % Bitumen Gmb Gmm VCAMIX Va, % VMA TSR

(in g) (min 17)
Control 0 5.5 2.37 2.49 33.77 4.67 19.11 80.77
6 2.36 2.46 34.17 4.22 19.99 83.64
6.5 2.34 2.44 34.68 3.92 20.98 86.40
S-3 3 5.5 2.35 2.46 34.42 4.44 19.91 87.74
6 2.32 2.43 35.30 4.19 21.35 90.00
6.5 2.30 2.40 35.70 3.88 22.21 91.67
S-5 5 5.5 2.35 2.46 34.52 4.51 20.04 89.23
6 2.30 2.43 35.72 4.20 21.87 86.13
6.5 2.30 2.39 35.80 3.91 22.33 88.81
S-7 7 5.5 2.32 2.44 35.16 4.63 20.82 83.20
6 2.30 2.41 35.76 4.15 21.92 91.41
6.5 2.29 2.39 35.93 3.85 22.48 91.54
S-10 10 5.5 2.33 2.44 35.05 4.47 20.68 91.12
6 2.32 2.42 35.35 4.17 21.42 91.67
6.5 2.31 2.40 35.59 3.88 22.08 92.22

2.8 Resistance to Moisture Damage T = Mean height of the specimen, cm

(AASHTO: T-283)
σx = Indirect tensile strength, kg/cm2
One set of Marshall Specimens (conditioned) were
The indirect Tensile Strength Ratio (TSR), which is
immersed in a water bath at 60ºC for a period of
a measure of water sensitivity, is calculated using the
24 hours. The samples were then removed from the
following formula. The relationship between TSR
water bath and kept at a temperature of 25ºC for a
and the binder content of SMA mixture is shown in
period of 2 hours. Other set of samples (unconditioned)
Fig.5.
were kept at a temperature of 25ºC for a period of
Average Tensile strength of conditioned sample
2 hours. These specimens were placed into the indirect TSR, per cent = 100 × ________________________________________
Average Tensile strength of unconditioned sample

tensile strength test assembly by loading along
the axis of the specimen, with the two faces being

restrained from movement. The entire assembly was

then mounted on the conventional Marshall testing
apparatus and the load at failure was recorded. The
indirect tensile strength (ITS) of the specimen was
calculated using the formula given below.
σx = 2P/π DT (kg/cm2)
Where,
P = load at failure, kg
D = Mean diameter of the specimen, cm Fig.5 Relationship Between TSR and Binder Content for SMA

INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013 55

 TECHNICAL PAPERS

3 PERFORMANCE STUDIES ON SMA

MIXTURES
3.1 Draindown Study
The test developed by Schulenburg Institute in
Germany is adopted for draindown. Approximately,
1 kg of mixture is prepared at the mixing temperature.
The mixture is then placed into tarred and dried in
800 ml glass beaker and weighed nearest to 0.1g. The
beaker is then covered with aluminium foil and stored
for 60 minutes at 170ºC. After storage, the mixture is
removed from the beaker and placed in tarred bowl
by quickly turning the beaker upside down without Fig.6 Relationship Between Drain Down and
Binder Content for SMA
shaking. The final weight of the mixture is then taken
by electronic balance and the percent draindown (Dn) 3.2 Dynamic Creep Test
calculated. A dynamic Creep test was conducted on all the
(Weight of Initial Sample - Weight of Final Sample) X 100
Dn, (percent) = _________________________________________ samples as per NCHRP-9-19. The peak load of 100
Weight of Initial Sample
kPa was applied with loading time of 0.1 second
The Draindown values were in the range of and the rest period of 0.9 second under repetitive
0.044% to 0.175% by weight of mix (Fig.6). As unconfined compressive, using UTM 19 equipment.
per specification requirement, drain down can be The samples were tested at 50 C for 3600 cycles.
Maximum of 0.3% as the Mix Design parameters. Permanent deformation and percent accumulated
This shows that the Sugar cane Bagasse sustains the strain was obtained for the SMA samples and the test
drain down and stabilizes the SMA mix. results are given in Fig.7.

56 INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013

 TECHNICAL PAPERS
Fig.7 Relationship Between Number of Cycles and Accumulated
Strain for SMA
4 ANALYSIS OF EXPERIMENTAL
RESULTS
4.1 Morphology of Sugar Cane Bagasse
The chemical composition of sugar cane bagasse is
shown in Table 3. The morphology of the bagasse was
taken from scanning electron microscope. It can be
seen from the Figure 3 (a-b), the size of the sugar cane
bagasse varied from 8μm to 20μm.
4.2 Drain Down Studies
The efficiency of the sugar cane baggage as stabilizers
in preventing drain down of loose SMA mixes can be
seen from Figure 6. It can be inferred that at OBC,
the drain down value were in the range of 0.044 to
0.175 percent, which is much less than the maximum
allowable limit of 0.3 percent, thereby satisfying the
requirement in respect of limiting the drain down as
required by most of the international specifications.
4.3 Moisture Sensitivity Studies
It can be seen from Table 4 and Figure 5 that the values
of TSR values are found more than the stipulated value
of 80 percent in all the case of SMA mixes. Thus, test
results of SMA mixtures under investigation indicated
higher values of tensile strength, which improves the
resistance to cracking and moisture sensitivity.
4.4 Design of SMA
Design of SMA done with the available aggregates in
Chennai region fulfilled the minimum design criteria
INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013 57
of SMA. 80 percent of 9.5 mm nominal size aggregate,
15 percent of stone dust, 5 percent of hydrated lime and
sugarcane bagasse at the rate 0.6 percent by weight of
mix were mixed together to get the desired grading
of SMA. It can be seen from Table 4 that the OBC
was about 6.5 percent binder. It can also be seen that
VCA Mix of all the SMA mixes are less than equal to
VCA DRC and VMA are more than 17 percent. Thus,
SMA mixes designed are having good stone-on-stone
contact.
4.5 Dynamic Creep Modulus
It can be seen from Figure 7 that the accumulated
tensile strain is in the range of 3% and the permanent
deformation is in the range of 1-2 mm which the
samples compacted at 160ºC which shows that the
samples are resistance to rutting potential.
5 CONCLUSIONS
From the experimental investigations the following
conclusions are drawn.
● The SMA mixes designed with available
aggregates showed good stone on stone
contact
● The 17% Voids in Mineral aggregate and
4% air voids in the mix were fulfilled as SMA
mix design criteria
● The Draindown values were in the range of
0.04% to 0.17% by weight of mix.
● Based on the above performance, sugar cane
baggage could be used as stabilizing additive
without affecting the design criteria of SMA
mixture.
● The optimum dosage of the Sugarcane Bagasse
is found to be 0.6% by weight of the mix.
● The permanent deformation is in the range of
1-2 mm which the samples compacted at 160ºC
which shows that the samples are resistance to
rutting potential.
 TECHNICAL PAPERS
REFERENCES
1. Serkan Tapkın, “The effect of Polypropylene fibers on
Asphalt performance”, Anadolu University, Turkey,
Science Direct, Building and Environment - 43 (2008),
pp. 1065–1071, 2 February 2007.
2. Claudio Luiz Dias Leal, Protasio Ferreira Castro and Jose
Alberto Barroso Castanon, “Stabilizing additives in Stone
Mastic Asphalt”, Springer – Verlag 2008.
3. Jai Kumar, S., “Influence of Coconut Fibres on engineering
properties of Bituminous Mix”, ME (Unpublished) Thesis,
Anna University, June 2008.
4. Kamaraj, C., Gajendra Kumar, Girish Sharma, Jain,
P.K., and Venkanna Babu, P., “Laboratory studies on
the behaviour of Stone Matrix Asphalt Vis -Vis Dense
Graded Bituminous Mixes using Natural Rubber Powder
(Wet Process)”, Highway Research Bulletin No: 71,
pp. 39 – 60, December 2004.
5. Punith, V. S., Sridhar, R., Sunil Bose, Kantha Kumar, K.,
and Veeraragavan, A., (2004), “Comparative studies on the
58 INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013
behaviour of Stone Matrix Asphalt and Asphalt Concrete
Mixtures utilising Reclaimed Polyethylene”, Highway
Research Bulletin No: 71, PP. 61- 76, December 2004.
6. Abdelaziz Mahrez, Mohamed Rehan Karim and Herda
Yati Bt Katman, “Fatigue and deformation properties of
Glass fibre reinforced Bituminous mixes”, Journal of the
Eastern Asia Society for Transportation Studies, Vol. 6,
pp. 997 – 1007, 2005.
7. WU Shaopeng, CHEN Zheng, YE Qunshan, and
LIAO Weidong, “Effects of fibre additive on the high
temperature property of Asphalt Binder”, Journal of
Wuhan University of Technology - Mater. Sci. Ed.,
Vol. 21 No. l, pp. 118 – 120, March 2006.
8. Ratnasamy Muniandy and Bujang. B.K.Huat, “Laboratory
diameteral fatigue performance of Stone Matrix Asphalt
with Cellulose Oil Palm Fibre”, American Journal of
Applied Sciences 3 (9): 2005-2010, 2006.
9. IRC:SP:79-2008, Tentative Specification for Stone Matrix
Asphalt. Indian Roads Congress, New Delhi.
 Call for Technical Papers

The Indian Roads Congress (IRC) invites Technical Papers for publication in its periodicals.

The contents of papers should cover the additional knowledge, information and ideas so that highway
fraternity gets benefitted from them. The papers should be properly structured and should avoid
dwellings at length on facts broadly known to highway engineers. The papers may deal with important
case studies, new design concepts/principles, new construction techniques, modern quality control,
modern maintenance techniques applied in highway projects, besides traffic engineering, transport
planning, etc.

RULES FOR CONTRIBUTION OF TECHNICAL PAPERS

1. Members intending to contribute papers to the IRC on any subject connected with highway
engineering are requested to send IRC at the following address:
i. Shri S.C. Pant, Section Officer, Indian Roads Congress, Kama Koti Marg, Sector-6, R.K. Puram,
New Delhi-110 022 E-mail: journal@irc.org.in
or
ii. Shri Anil Sharma, Section Officer, Indian Roads Congress, Kama Koti Marg, Sector-6, R.K. Puram,
New Delhi-110 022 E-mail: indianhighways@irc.org.in.
In case of joint authors, it must be made clear to whom communications are to be addressed.
E-mail IDs of all the Authors are to be given in the Paper alongwith Address.

2. Authors and Co-authors should be members of IRC and their Roll Numbers should be mentioned
in the forwarding letter. Even non-members, who are experts in any relevant field or who have
specialized knowledge on any subject related to highway engineering are also welcome to
contribute Technical Papers.

3. The language of the paper shall be English and should be written in third person.

4. The length of the paper should be preferably be between 5000 to 8000 words including Tables,
Figures, Photographs, etc., on A 4 size paper with 12 pt font size of Times New Roman, typed in
1.5 line space.

5. The layout of the typescript of the paper should conform to IS 12: 2005 (Fourth Revision)
Guide for Drafting and Presentation of Indian Standards, December 2005. Only SI units and
their multiples should be used in the papers and other units, if used, should be given only in the
parentheses preceded by SI units. All numbers, quantities and amounts in the paper should be
written as per the Standards of Weights and Measures (Numeration) Rules, 1987.

6. The paper should accompany with an Abstract of not more than 200 words, covering the aims of
work, method used, results obtained and conclusions reached, etc.

INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013 59

 Call for Technical Papers

7. Due care should be taken in preparation of the drawings through computer software, so that the
get-up of the paper is presentable. It would be appreciated if the photographs and graphs are
in black and white as the papers are printed in black and white. It should be ensured that the
photographs, drawings etc. are of good quality to ensure good results while printing. Tables,
Figures (diagrams) and Photographs are to be adjusted immediately after their references in the
text and these should be legible.

8. Sources of quotations appearing in the papers should be stated and acknowledgement should be
made for all information called from books, periodicals and proceedings of sister societies, etc.

9. References cited in the paper should be numbered sequentially in order of citation and given in
the text by a superscript numeral, with a reference list, in numerical order, at the end of the paper.
The list should give names(s) with initial(s) and the exact title of the paper or the book.

10. The Authors are requested to send 4 hard copies of the complete paper consisting manuscript,
drawing, tables, figures, photos etc. and a soft copy in computer CD in Windows MS software
for printing.

11. The papers so received from Authors are sent to a panel of experts and are considered for
publication after obtaining their views about acceptability of the paper.

12. IRC reserves the right to publish any paper in the form of an abstract. When a paper is published
in an abstract form, the manuscript of the paper as sent by the author will be added to the IRC
library and made available for inspection by interested members.

For more details of rules and regulations for contribution of Technical Papers please visit IRC Website:
www.irc.org.in.

60 INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013

 Pan India Initiative
TECHNICAL
on PAPERS
Road Safety Audit

A new pan India initiative in Road Safety Audit has been initiated by IRC to create a pool of
“Road Safety Auditors”.

Salient features of this initiative are:-

 A uniform course content based training will be imparted across the country in association with
esteem engineering educational institutions/research institutions/training institutions.

 The retired officers of engineering cadre of Central and State Government & PSUs holding the
post of (CE/SE or equivalent) would be trained on road safety audit issues under specific training
module of 1-2 week.

 The list of participants would be maintained by IRC and same will be shared with the Central
and State Government road owning organizations/other entities for utilizing their services in
conducting the road safety audit.

 The training course will commence in about 2 months’ time for which modalities are being worked
out with the respective educational/research/training institutions. The training fee is to be borne
by the individual participants.

The interested members may inform their willingness to IRC at: rsa@irc.org.in for undergoing the training
along with the state/region in which they would like to undertake the training.

The members are also requested to indicate their e-mail ID and/or other contact details so as to enable IRC
to keep them informed in the matter.

ANNOUNCEMENT

One Sale Counter of IRC will become operational at Highway Research Station (HRS) Chennai by the end
of June, 2013. This is a collaboration as IRC endeavor to enhance its reach to the Engineering Fraternity.

The esteem members of IRC in Southern Region are requested to take advantage of this new initiative.

The contact person at IRC Sale Counter at HRS Chennai is Dy. Chief Engineer (H)-I Quality Assurance &
Research and his telephone number is + 91 44 22 35 4851/52

INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013 61

 62 INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013
 INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013 63
 64 INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013
 INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013 65
 66 INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013
 INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013 67
 68 INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013
 CSIR-CRRI TRAINING PROGRAMMES FOR THE YEAR 2013-2014
TITLE OF THE COURSE DURATION COURSE COURSE
WITH DATES FEE COORDINATOR
+ 12.36 % S.T.
A. PAVEMENT ENGINEERING & MATERIALS

 Design, Construction and Maintenance of 02-06 Sep., 2013 Rs. 8000/- Dr. P.K. Jain
Flexible Pavements
 Rigid Pavements: Design, Construction & 18-22 Nov., 2013 Rs. 8000/- Sh. J.B. Sengupta
Quality Control Aspects
 Pavement Evaluation Techniques and their 16-20 Dec. 2013 Rs. 8000/- Sh. K.
applications for Maintenance and Sitaramanjaneyulu
Rehabilitation
B. ROAD DEVELOPMENT PLANNING &
MANAGEMENT
 International Course on Dissemination of 16-27 Sep. 2013 Rs.30,000/- Dr. Divesh Tiwari
HDM-4
 Geo-Spatial Technology (GIS, GPS, RS etc) 06-09 Jan. 2014 Rs. 10, 000/- Dr. C. Ravisekhar
for Road and Transportation
C. GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING

 Geotechnical and Landslide Investigations 21-25 Oct. 2013 Rs. 8000/- Dr. Kishor Kumar
for Highway Projects
D. BRIDGES & STRUCTURES

 Bridge Diagnostics, Performance Evaluation 17-21 June 2013 Rs. 8000/- Dr. Lakshmy P.
and Rehabilitation
 Bridge Design and Construction 25-29 Nov. 2013 Rs. 8000/- Dr. Lakshmy P.

E. TRAFFIC & TRANSPORTATION PLANNING

 Transport Planning & Economics 01-05 July, 2013 Rs. 8000/- Dr. Purnima Parida

 Traffic Engineering & Road Safety Audit 22-26 July, 2013 Rs. 10000/- Dr. Nishi Mittal

 Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and 02-05 Dec., 2013 Rs. 10, 000/- Dr. Niraj Sharma
Environmental Clearance Process for Road
& Highway Projects

Customized Tailor Made Programmes:

In addition to the above CRRI also organises customized tailor made programmes as per the clients requirements.
Course Fee: The course fee as indicated above is payable in advance by crossed bank draft in
favour of “Director, Central Road Research Institute” payable New Delhi.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION & SENDING NOMINATION CONTACT:

Shri T.K. Amla, Phone: 91-11-26921939,
Head & Course Organiser, Fax: 91-11-26845943, 26830480
Information, Liaison & Training, Telefax: 91-11-26921939
Central Road Research Institute, E-mail: tkamla.crri@nic.in, mkmeena.crri@nic.in
P.O.CRRI, Delhi-Mathura Road, Website: crridom.gov.in
New Delhi – 110 025

INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013 69

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Quarter page Rs.2500/- Rs.3000/- - - Rs.27,000/-
Tender Notice Rs.9,000/- Rs.9,000/- - - -
ADVERTISEMENT TARIFF FOR “journal of the Indian Roads Congress” A Quarterly Journal
Position of page Rates per page (b/w) Rates per page Annual Charges for
(4-Color) 4 issues i.e. after 10% discount
Outside Back Cover - Rs.24,000/- Rs.86,400/-
Inside Front/ Inside Back Covers - Rs.23,000/- Rs.82,800/-
Full page Rs.7000/- Rs.20,000/- Rs.25,200/- (b/w)
Rs.72,000/- (color)
Half page Rs.4000/- Rs.12000/- Rs.14,400/- (b/w)
Rs.43,200/- (color)
MECHANICAL DATA
Advertisement print size 24 cm x 19 cm for full page & Tender Notice
11.5 cm x 19 cm for half page
11.5 cm x 7.5 cm for quarter page
TERMS & CONDITIONS
1. 10 per cent Agency commission will be allowed to Advertising Agents only on the advertisements received through them.
2. 10 per cent discount will be allowed to advertisers if space is booked for all the 12 issues of Indian Highways or 4 issue of
Journal of the Indian Roads Congress.
3. No discount will be allowed for advertisements received directly for less than 12 issues in the case of Indian Highways and
4 issues in case of Journal of the Indian Roads Congress.
4. Only one voucher copy of the issue will be supplied free to an Advertiser for each advertisement. A copy of the printed
advertisement will be supplied to Agents.
5. All payments are to be made in advance. This is applicable to advertising agents also. Demand Drafts/Cheques may be drawn
in favour of the Secretary General, Indian Roads Congress, New Delhi.
6. Indian Highways is printed one month in advance as such all materials received by the 18th of the preceding month would
be included in the issue to which it pertains.
Release orders may be sent to:
D. Sam Singh
Under Secretary,
Indian Roads Congress,
Kama Koti Marg, Sector-6, R.K. Puram,
New Delhi – 110 022
Tel: +91 11 2618 5315,19/Extn. 203, 2618 5273
E-mail: indianhighways@irc.org.in

70 INDIAN HIGHWAYS, June 2013