Foundation Stabilization

Introduction to soil stabilization

 It is the process of improving the engineering properties of soil
to make it more stable.
 Stabilization includes compaction, pre-consolidation, drainage
etc.
 Stabilization is restricted to the processes which may alter the
soil material itself for improvement of it’s properties
 A cementing material or chemical is added to a natural soil for
it’s stabilization.
Objectives of soil stabilization
 To reduce permeability and compressibility of soil.
 To increase the shear strength of soil.
 To densify the soil.
 To increase bearing capacity of foundation soil.
 To improve strength and make stable to natural soil for the
construction of highway and airfields.
 To stabilize it against shear failure
 Methods of soil stabilization

 Mechanical stabilization
 Preloading
 Sand Compaction Pile
 Dynamic deep compaction
 Admixtures (i.e. Cement, Lime, Bitumen etc.)
 Grouting
 Geotextile
 Preloading
 Preloading is a technique that can successfully be used to densify
soft to very soft cohesive soils.
 Large-scale construction sites composed of weak silts and clays or
organic materials (particularly marine deposits), sanitary land fills,
and other compressible soils may often be stabilized effectively and
economically by preloading
 Compression takes place when the water in the pores of the soil is
removed which amounts to artificial consolidation of soil in the
field.
 In order to remove the water squeezed out of the pores and
accelerate the period of consolidation, horizontal and vertical
drains are required to be provided in the mass.
 The greater the surcharge load, shorter the time for consolidation.
Preloading
 Sand Compaction Pile
 Sand compaction piles consists of driving a hollow steel pipe
with the bottom closed with a collapsible plate down to the
required depth; filling it with sand, and withdrawing the pipe
while air pressure is directed against the sand inside it.
 The bottom plate opens during withdrawal and the sand backfills
the voids created earlier during the driving of the pipe
 The in-situ soil is densified while the pipe is being withdrawn,
and the sand backfill prevents the soil surrounding the
compaction pipe from collapsing as the pipe is withdrawn.
 The maximum limits on the amount of fines that can be present
are 15 percent passing the No. 200 sieve (0.075 mm) and 3
percent passing 0.005 mm.
Sand Compaction Pile
Dynamic Deep Compaction
Dynamic deep compaction is a ground improvement
technique that uses a drop weight to densify loose soils. Soil
densification is carried out by the repeated, controlled impact
of a heavy weight (10-40 tons) on the ground surface.
Vibrations are generated for a considerable lateral distance.
With this method, bearing capacity is improved, settlements
are reduced and liquefaction potential is diminished.
Dynamic Deep Compaction
Soil Stabilization by using admixtures
The physical properties of soils can often economically be
improved by the use of admixtures like lime, Portland cement
and asphalt
The process of soil stabilization first involves mixing with the
soil a suitable additive which changes its property and then
compacting the admixture suitably.
It is applicable only for soils in shallow foundations or the base
course of roads, airfield pavements etc.
 Soil-Cement Stabilization
 Cement Stabilization is done by mixing pulverised soil and portland cement
with water and compacting the mix to attain a strong material.
 The material obtained by mixing soil and cement is known as soil-cement.
 The soil-cement becomes hard and durable structural material as the cement
hydrates and develops strength.
Types of Soil Cement
Normal soil-cement: It consist 5 to 14% of cement by dry weight of soil and
enough moisture to facilitate compaction and satisfy complete hydration of
cement.
Plastic soil-cement: It also consist cement 5 to 14% of dry weight of soil but it has
more quantity of water to have wet consistency similar to that of plastering
mortar. It is used for protection of steep slope from erosion.
Cement-Modified soil: It consist cement less than 5% of dry weight of soil. It is
semi-harden product and of quite inferior quality. As the quantity of cement
used is small, it is not able to bind all the soil particles into coherent mass. It
interacts with the silt and clay fractions and reduces their affinity for water.
Soil-Cement Stabilization
Factors affecting cement stabilization
 Types of soil: Grannular soil with sufficient fines are suitable
for cement stabilization. Such soil can be easily pulverised &
requires less amount of cement. Where as clay soils are
difficult to pulverise & requires more cement to make stable.
It may have high shrinkage property. On other hand, organic
matter if present, interferes with hydration of cement &
cause in the reduction of strength of soil cement.
 Quantity of cement
 Quantity of water
 Mixing, compaction and curing
 Admixture: To increase effectiveness of cement as stabilizer,
admixtures like Cao, Cacl2 are sometimes added to soil
cement.
soil-lime stabilization
 It is done by adding lime (quick lime) to soil.
 Mostly suitable for stabilization of clay soil.
 Generally quick lime is used in lime stabilization.
 Due to cations exchange in adsorbed water plasticity of soil
decreases & thus resulting material becomes suitable for
subgrade.
 It improves the strength, stiffness and durability of fine grained
materials
 It has been extensively used to decrease swelling potential and
swelling pressures in clays.
 Recommended percentages of lime for soil stabilization vary
from 2-10%.
soil-lime stabilization
 Soil-Bituminous Stabilization
 Bituminous materials such as asphalts, tars, and pitches are used
in various consistencies to improve the engineering properties of
soils
 It improve the bearing capacity and soil strength at low moisture
content
 Bituminous materials added to sand act as a cementing agent and
produces a stronger, more coherent mass
 For cohesive materials add 4-7%of bitumen
 For cohesionless materials add 4-10% of bitumen
 The primary use of bituminous materials is in road construction
where it may be the primary ingredient for the surface course or
be used in the subsurface and base course for stabilizing soils.
Soil-Bituminous Stabilization
 Soil stabilization by injection of suitable grouts

 Grouting is a process whereby fluids like materials, either in

suspension or solution form are injected into the subsurface soil
or rock
 It has been extensively used primarily to control ground water
flow under earth and masonry dams, where rock grouting is
used.
 Grouts may be suspension type grouts (include soil, cement, lime
asphalt emulsion etc) and solution type grouts(include wide
variety of chemicals)
 Grouting may be done by following methods:
1. Penetration grouting
2. Displacement grouting
1.0 Penetration Grouting
 It involve Portland cement or fine grained soils such as bentonite
or other materials of particular nature.
 These materials penetrate only short distances through most soils
and are primarily useful in very coarse sands or gravels.
 Viscous fluids, such as a solution of sodium silicate, may be used
to penetrate fine grained soils.
2.0 Displacement grouting
 It consists of using a grout like Portland cement and sand
mixture which when forced into the soil displaces and compacts
the surrounding materials about central core of grout.
 It is sometimes used to produce lenses in the soil that will block
the flow of water and reduce compressibility and expansion
properties of the soil.
Penetration Grouting
Stabilization by Geotextile
 Geotextiles are commonly used as separators between two
layers of soils having a large difference in particular size to
prevent migration of small size particular into the voids of
large size particles.
 The main use of separators is in the construction of highways
on clayey soils.
Stabilization by Geotextile
Stone Columns
 The vertical hole in ground filled with compacted crushed stones,
gravel and sand or a mixture of those grannular materials to form
a column or piles are termed as Stone Column.
 It can resist large scale load due to relatively high modulus.
 The stone column act as a vertical drains and accelerates
consolidation.
 The size of the stones used for this purpose range from about 6 to
40 mm
 Stone columns have particular application in soft inorganic,
cohesive soils and are generally inserted on a volume displacement
basis
 Stone columns have been used up to about 20m depth and up to
about 2m diameter (1 to 2 m).
 Stone columns are most suitable for the construction of water
tank and embankment over soft clay.
Stone Columns
Underpinning
 It is a process of placing a new foundation under an
existing one or strengthening an existing foundation.
Purpose
 To strengthen a shallow foundation when a building with deep
foundation is to be constructed adjoining it.
 To strengthen an existing foundation, which has suffered from
crack and settlements.
 To deepen an existing foundation
 To construct a basement under an existing building.
 Methods of underpining
 Pit Method: Mass concrete underpinning method/Pit method is the
traditional method of underpinning, as it has been followed by centuries. The
method involves extending the old foundation till it reaches a stable stratum.
 The soil below the existing foundation is excavated in a controlled manner
through stages or pins. When strata suitable is reached, the excavation is
filled with concrete and kept for curing, before next excavation starts.
 In order to transfer the load from old foundation to new one, a new pin is
provided by means of placing dry sand-cement pack. This is a low-cost
method suitable for the shallow foundation.
 Pile Method: In this method, piles are driven on adjacent sides of the wall
that supports the weak foundation. A needle or pin penetrates through the
wall that is in turn connected to the piles as shown in figure-3.
 These needles behave like pile caps. Settlement in soil due to water clogging
or clayey nature can be treated by this method
Dewatering
1. Dewatering
 Modifying the ground by lowering the water
table is called Dewatering.
 Dewatering is the process of collecting ground
water and discharging in to natural waterways.
Methods of dewatering
1.Open Ditches and sumps:
 Collecting the seepage water in open sumps and
ditches & removing it by gravity flow or pumping
is the most common and cheapest method of
dewatering. This technique works in relatively
shallow excavations in dense, well-graded coarse
soils whose permeability is greater than 10-3
cm/sec.
Cont.
 Shallow pit called sump are dug along the periphery of
the area to be drained. The water from the slope or sides
flows under gravity and is collected in the sumps from
which it is pumped out.
 In the area where seepage is significant it may cause
softening and sloughing of lower part of the slope. There
is also possibility of piping at the bottom. In such
circumstances the sump can be wetted down with an
inverted filter consisting of layer of coarse material from
the bottom of the sump pit upwards.
Cont.
Cont.
2.0 Shallow and deep well system:
 The system consist of collection of water in shallow or deep
well and discharging it by means of pump. In shallow well
system a hole of 30 cm. dia. is bored in to the ground and
strainer of 15 cm. long is lowered down the hole. A filter
formed around the strainer by pouring the gravel in to the
bore hole and water is pumped out.
 When the depth of excavation is more than 15 mtr. below the
water table deep well system may be used where 60cm dia.
of bore hole is to be made with casing.
 The horizontal well act as a gravity well where horizontal
pipe collects seepage water & it drained to any water bodies
like river etc.
Cont.
Cont.
3.0 Well point System:
 A system of closely spaced single pipe well of small
diameter with common header pipe and central pump
installation is commonly referred as well point system. The
well points are driven into the ground. After sinking the
well points to the desired depth, a small filter is formed
around the point by feeding coarse sand down the hole.
Water flows in to the well under gravity & drawn to the
surface by the vacuum in the header pipe from where
water is discharged by means of pumping.
Cont.
4.0 Vacuum Method
 This method is useful for fine grained soil whose
coefficient of permeability lies in between 10-3 to 10-5
cm/sec. Around 25 cm. dia. of hole is created around the
well point & coarse sand is filled up in to the hole to
behave like filter. The top of hole is sealed and vacuume
pump are used to creat vacuume in the sand filling.
The –ve pressure created inside the hole result the
accumulation of water from surrounding and that can be
discharged by pumping.
Cont.
5.0 Electro Osmosis Method

 The method is suitable for fine grained cohesive soil. The

method consist supply of direct current between two
electrodes driven in to the saturated soil mass, the soil water
will travel from Anode to Cathod. The cathode is made in the
form of well point for pumping out the seeping water.Water
rushes to cathode due to electric potential applied
Cont.
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