ND IN CIVIL ENG.

-Civil
Engineering Construction

SOIL STABILISATION
21 March 2013- Hre Polytech.
Dept. of Civil Engineering
Mr S. Shumba
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 SOIL STABILISATION
 The process of improvement of the physical properties
of the soil by the addition of binders such as lime,
cement, bitumen, salts or chemicals or by proper
blending of fine grained, plastic soils with coarse
grained non plastic salts.
 Stabilisation, as applied to highway construction is a
means of permanently consolidating soils and base
materials by markedly increasing their strength and
bearing capacity and decreasing their water sensitivity
and volume change during wet/ dry cycles.
 Stabilisation improves the cohesion, shear strength and
bearing capacity of soils.
 May be used in embankments for the stabilisation of
slopes through better cohesion, shear resistance and
erosion control.
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  May be used for the improvement of road subgrade
or subgrade through better distribution of loads
and improvement of the bearing capacity of the
soil.
 Stabilised soil may be used for the lining of drains
and water courses for reduction of seepage.
Expansive soils may be stabilised to reduce the
amount of volume change due to variations in
moisture content.

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 EFFECT OF LIME ON CLAY

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 STABILISATION OF LOW STRENGTH COHESIVE SOILS

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 CEMENT STABILISATION

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 Reclamation
BEFORE AFTER

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Rehabilitation (gully stabilised through
vegetation)

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 An example of a brushwood dam

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 Loose Rockfill

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Soil erosion

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ND_Civ. Eng. Const._ Soil Stabilisation_S Shumba 4/29/2013

 GABIONS

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13 ND_Civ. Eng. Const._ Soil Stabilisation_S Shumba 4/29/2013
 Uses of Stabilization
 Pavement design is based on the premise that minimum
specified structural quality will be achieved for each layer
of material in the pavement system.
 Each layer must resist shearing, avoid excessive deflections
that cause fatigue cracking within the layer or in overlying
layers, and prevent excessive permanent deformation
through densification. As the quality of a soil layer is
increased, the ability of that layer to distribute the load
over a greater area is generally increased so that a
reduction in the required thickness of the soil and surface
layers may be permitted.

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 a. Quality improvement
 The most common improvements achieved through
stabilization include better soil gradation, reduction
of plasticity index or swelling potential, and
increases in durability and strength. In wet
weather, stabilization may also be used to provide a
working platform for construction operations.
 These types of soil quality improvement are
referred to as soil modification.
b. Thickness reduction
o The strength and stiffness of a soil layer can be
improved through the use of additives to permit a
reduction in design thickness of the stabilized
material compared with an unstabilized or
unbound material.
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 MATERIALS FOR STABILISATION
1.Portland cement:
 Either alone or in combination with other stabilisation
agents like lime is the most effective material for a wide
range of soils. Cement increases the strength of a soil by
camenting (hydration) reaction.
2. Lime:
 A cheap stabiliser for stabilising clayey soils of high
plasticity. Lime refers to quicklime (calcium oxide) or
hydrated lime (calcium hydroxide), which are burnt
forms of limestone (calcium carbonate).
 Lime stabilisation embraces only the burnt lime
products not pulverised limestone.
 There are only two fundamental types of lime: high
calcium and dolomite (high magnesium).
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  Lime’s effect on clay soils
 The plasticity index drops due to the liquid limit
decreasing and the plastic limit increasing.
 The soil is agglomerated (fine particles into coarse
friable particles of silt and sand thereby decreasing
the soil binder content).
 Lime aids in drying out wet soils quickly thus
speeding up compaction.
 The shrinkage and swell characteristics of clay soils
is reduced markedly (by reducing the expansive
properties of the soil).

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 3. Bituminous Materials
 Coat the soil and aggregate grains and retard or stop absorption of
water. The materials act as water proofing agents and should be used
when the soil hes a natural moisture content which is sufficient but
any additional moisture would make the soil unsuitable.
4. Natural soils
 Coarse grained, non plastic soils can be stabilised by suitable
blending with a fine grained, plastic soil. Normally not more
than two materials should be blended together.
5. Chemical stabilisers
 Calcium chloride, calcium sulphate and sodium chloride are
used. Water is essential for stabilisation. Sand does not
absorb water, therefore in the case of sandy soils water
retaining agents like calcium chloride or calcium sulphate
are used.
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 CONSTRUCTION METHODS
 Depend on the type of soil and type of binder or stabiliser. The
best results are obtained by premixing material in a mixing
plant.
 Where a suitable mixing plant is not available the soil and
stabiliser may be mixed in place with one or more passes of a
mixer or grader followed by soil compaction.
1. Stabilisation with lime
 About 3 to 6% lime by weight is added to soil for stabilisation.
Hydrated lime or quicklime is spread over the area to be
compacted and to mix the material by machine.
 A grader with scarifying tyres can be used.
 First the material is scarified to a depth of 300 mm to 460 mm
and then mixed using the blade.
 A disc harrow can be used to mix the materials.
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 Water is added where necessary to give the correct moisture content.
Lime may be introduced into the soil by drilling and pressure injection of
lime or by irrigation trenches.
 After the lime is placed in the soil it gradually spreads following the path
of least resistance forming sheet like layers that are impervious to water.
 Compaction is by pneumatic tyred or smooth roller. The mixed and
compacted material should be allowed to cure for 3 to 6 days. The
surface is protected and kept moist as for concrete.
2. Stabilisation with cement
 Cement stabilisation can be done in inorganic soils which can be easily
pulverised. The amount of cement required is from 5-15% by volume.
Cement is suitable for the stabilisation of clay, silt or mixed soils.
 The greater the clay content the more cement is required.
 The soil to be treated is scarified to a depth of 100 to 150 mm. The soil is
then pulverised to break up the lumps.

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  About 4 to 5% cement is added to the soil (by
weight). If the stabilised layer is to be no more
than 150 mm thick it is placed in one layer.
 If the thickness exceeds 150 mm thick then placing
and compaction must be done in two layers or
more.
 Compaction of the material mustbe completed
within two hours after adding water to the mix.
 Final compaction is usually accomplished with
pneumatic tyred rollers which provide a kneading
action.
 Immediately after final compaction a bituminous
coating is sprayed over the surface as a sealer and
the stabilised soil is left to cure for 3 to 7 days.

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  3. Stabilisation with bitumen
 Bituminous stabilisers are suitable for granular
soils. Generally less than 10% by weight of bitumen
used.
 The function of bitumen is to increase the adhesive
strength of coarse grained materials.
 For fine grained soil it acts as a water proofer to
reduce the deleterious effects on them by moisture.
 Bitumen stabilisation requires pulverised soils
therefore sandy soils are preffered.
 The layer of soils or gravel is prepared by scarifying
or other loosening methods. Water is sprinkled on
the soil and then the bitumen is sprayed on the soil.
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  Thereafter the soil is mixed with the stabiliser using a
grader or other suitable equipment.
 This is followed by compaction to specified density.
4. Stabilisation with chemicals
 The most common stabiliser is ordinary salt (sodium
chloride). Salt is suitable for clay or loamy soils having
limestone fines.
 Silts and sands are not suitable for stabilisation by use of
salt.
 Commonly used for stabilisation of base courses for
roads or parking bays.
 Other chemicals that may be used are calcium chloride
and calcium sulphate.
 Salt and water act as a binder to cement the particles
together. The salt and soil may be mixed on the site or
in a mixing plant.
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  For on site mixing the soil is scarified to the correct
depth . Salt and water are added and mixed with
the soil. The layer is then compacted and graded.
 The layer may be watered and rolled to smoothen
the surface. After compaction the soil must be
allowed to cure for 10 to 14 days.
 Another example is the use of molasses to stabilise
‘clay’ (actually decayed granite) eg tennis courts
here in Zimbabwe.

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 5. Mechanical Stabilisation using natural soils
 In mechanical stabilisation the soil in question is
unstable because of gaps in its size gradation. The
objective of mechanical stabilisation is to stabilise the
material by adding another soil to correct the gradation.
 The ratio of the fine grained to coarse grained materials
varies from 1:1 to 1:4.
 The coarse material is spread uniformly over the
surface. It is topped by a uniform layer of fine material.
 The coarse and fine materials are mixed by a grader or
disc harrow.
 Water is added to bring the material to optimum
moisture content and then compacted to specific
density.

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 Goodbye & Blessings

You & I deserve a good rest

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