Soil Stabilization

The soil stabilization means the improvement of

stability or bearing power of the soil by the use of
controlled compaction, proportioning and/or the
addition of suitable admixture or stabilizers.

Basic Principles of Soil Stabilization….

• Evaluating the properties of given soil
• Deciding the lacking property of soil and choose
effective and economical method of soil stabilization
• Designing the Stabilized soil mix for intended stability
and durability values
 Need for Soil Stabilization
• Limited Financial Resources to Provide a
complete network Road System to build in
conventional method
• Effective utilization of locally available soils
and other suitable stabilizing agents.
• Encouraging the use of Industrial Wastages in
building low cost construction of roads.
 Methods of Soil Stabilization

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

• This method is suitable for low volume roads i.e.

Village roads in low rainfall areas.
• This method involves the correctly
proportioning of aggregates and soil,
adequately compacted to get mechanically
stable layer
• The Basic Principles of Mechanical Stabilization
are Correct Proportioning and Effective
Compaction
Desirable Properties of Soil-Aggregate Mix

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

• Mechanical Strength of aggregates

• Gradation
• Properties of the Soil
• Presence of Salts
• Compaction
Mechanical Strength
• When the soil is used in small proportion to fill
up the voids the crushing strength of aggregates
is important

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

Properties of soil
• A mix with Plasticity Index, results poor stability
under soaking conditions. Hence it is desirable to
limit the plasticity index of the soil
Presence of Chemicals
• Presence of Salts like Sulphates and mica
are undesirable
• Presence of Calcium Chloride is Beneficial

Compaction
• Effective Compaction is desirable to
produce high density and stability mix
 Soil Cement Stabilization

• Soil Cement is an intimate mix of soil,

cement and water, compacted to form a
strong base course
• Cement treated or cement modified soil
refers to the compacted mix when cement is
used in small proportions to impart some
strength
• Soil Cement can be used as a sub-base or
base course for all types of Pavements
 Factors affecting soil cement stabilization

• Soil
• Cement
• Pulverisation and Mixing
• Compaction
• Curing
• Additives
 Soil
THE PHYSICAL PROPERTIES

• Particle Size Distribution

• Clay content
• Specific Surface
• Liquid limit and Plasticity Index

Cement
A increase in cement content generally
causes increase in strength and durability
Pulverisation and Mixing
• Better the Pulverisation and degree of mixing,
higher is the strength
• Presence of un pulverised dry lumps reduces
the strength

Compaction
• By increasing the amount of compaction dry
density of the mix, strength and durability also
increases
Curing
Adequate Moisture content is to be retained in
order to accelerate the strength

Additives
There are some additives to improve properties
• Lime
• Sodium hydroxide
• Sodium Carbonate
• Calcium Chloride
 Design of Soil –Cement Mix
• Soil – Cement specimens are prepared with
various cement contents in constant volumes
moulds
• The compressive strength of these specimens
tested after 7 days of curing
• A graph is plotted Cement content Vs
compressive strength
• The Cement Content Corresponding to a
strength of 17.5 kg/cm2 is taken as design
cement content
 Soil Lime Stabilization
• Soil- Lime has been widely used as a
modifier or a binder
• Soil-Lime is used as modifier in high plasticity
soils
• Soil Lime also imparts some binding action
even in granular soils
Soil-Lime is effectively used in Expansive
soils with high plasticity index.
 Factors affecting Properties of Soil-Lime
Lime Content
• Generally increase in lime content causes
slight change in liquid limit and considerable
increase in Plasticity index
• The rate of increase is first rapid and then
decreases beyond a certain limit
• The point is often termed as lime fixation
point
This is considered as design lime content
Type of Lime

• After long curing periods all types of limes produce

same effects. However quick lime has been found
more effective than hydrated lime
• Calcium Carbonate must be heated at higher
temperature to form Quick lime calcium oxide( CaO)
• Calcium oxide must be slaked ( by the addition of
water) to form Hydrated lime

• Compaction
• Compaction is done at OMC and maximum dry density.
Curing
• The strength of soil-lime increases with curing
period upto several years. The rate of
increase is rapid during initial period
• The humidity of the surroundings also affects
the strength

Additives
• Sodium metasilicate, Sodium hydroxide and
Sodium Sulphate are also found useful
additives
 Soil- Bituminous Stabilization
• The Basic Principles of this stabilization are
Water Proofing and Binding
• By Water Proofing inherent strength and
other properties could be retained
• Most Commonly used materials are Cutback
and Emulsion
• Bitumen Stabilized layer may be used as
Sub-base or base course for all the roads
Factors affecting properties of soil-bitumen

Soil
• The particle size, shape and gradation of the
soil influence the properties of the soil-bitumen
mix.

Types of Bitumen
• Cutbacks of higher grade should be preferred
• Emulsions generally gives slightly inferior
results than Cutback.
Amount of Mixing
• Increasing proportion of bitumen causes a
decrease in dry density but increases the
stability after a certain bitumen content
• The optimum bitumen content for maximum
stability generally ranges from 4 to 6%

Mixing
• Improved type of mixing with low mixing period
may be preferred
Compaction
• Effective Compaction results higher
stability and resistance to absorb water
Additives
• Anti stripping and reactive chemical
additives have been tried to improve the
properties of the mixes
• Portland cement can also be used along
with the soil bitumen
Use of Locally Available Materials in
Road Construction
 Necessity
• Scarcity of good quality aggregates / soil
for road construction
• Production and accumulation of
different waste materials
• Disposal and environmental problem
• Economical and gainful utilisation
 Limitations of Using Waste Materials

• Quality of waste is not controlled by their

manufacturers
• Characteristics of by-products vary in a wide
range
• Road construction practice is accustomed to
traditional materials of steady quality
• Specifications of layers compaction of traditional
materials are not suitable for waste materials
General Criteria for Use of Waste Materials

• Amount of yearly produced waste material

should reach a certain lower limit
• The hauling distance should be acceptable
• The material should not have a poissonous effect
• The material should be insoluble in water
• The utilisation should not have a pollutional
effect to the environment
 Special Requirement for Using Waste Materials

• Free from organic matter

• Should not swell or decay as influenced by
water
• Should not be soluble in water
• Particles should be moderately porous
 Industrial wastes
• Thermal Power Stations
* Fly ash
* Bottom ash
* Pond ash
• Steel Plants
* Blast furnace slag
* Granulated blast furnace slag
* Steel slag
 Utilisation of fly ash
• Thermal power - Major role in power
generation
• Indian scenario - Use of coal with high
ash content
- Negligible utilisation
of ash produced
• Bulk utilisation - Civil engineering
applications like
construction of roads &
embankments
 Utilisation of fly ash
 Can be used for construction of
 Embankments and backfills
 Stabilisation of subgrade and sub-base
 Rigid and semi-rigid pavements
 Fly ash properties vary widely, to be characterised
before use
 Major constituents - oxides of silica, aluminum,
iron, calcium & magnesium
 Environmentally safe material for road construction
 Possesses many favourable properties for
embankment & road construction
 Favourable properties of fly ash
 Light weight, lesser pressure on sub-soil
 High shear strength
 Coarser ashes have high CBR value
 Pozzolanic nature, additional strength due to self-hardening
 Amenable to stabilisation
 Ease of compaction
 High permeability
 Non plastic
 Faster rate of consolidation and low compressibility
 Can be compacted using vibratory or static roller
 Engineering properties of fly ash
Parameter Range
Specific Gravity 1.90 – 2.55
Plasticity Non plastic
Maximum dry density (gm/cc) 0.9 – 1.6
Optimum moisture content (%) 38.0 – 18.0
Cohesion (kN/m2) Negligible
Angle of internal friction (j) 300 – 400
Coefficient of consolidation Cv (cm2/sec) 1.75 x 10-5 – 2.01 x
10-3
Compression index Cc 0.05 – 0.4
Permeability (cm/sec) 8 x 10-6 – 7 x 10-4
Particle size distribution (% of materials)
Clay size fraction 1 – 10
Silt size fraction 8 – 85
Sand size fraction 7 – 90
Gravel size fraction 0 – 10

Coefficient of uniformity 3.1 – 10.7

 Differences between Indian & US fly ashes

Property compared Indian fly ash US fly ash

Loss on ignition Less than 2 per 5 to 8 per cent

(Unburnt carbon) cent

SO3 content 0.1 to 0.2 per 3 to 4 per cent

cent
CaO content 1 to 3 per cent 5 to 8 per cent

Increase in 3 to 4 times in 10 times or more in

concentration of comparison to comparison to source
heavy metals source coal coal

Rate of leaching Lower Higher

 Fly ash for road embankment
• Ideally suited as backfill material for urban/ industrial areas and
areas with weak sub soils
• Higher shear strength leads to greater stability
• Design is similar to earth embankments
• Intermediate soil layers for ease of construction and to provide
confinement
• Side slope erosion needs to be controlled by providing soil cover
• Can be compacted under inclement weather conditions
• 15 to 20 per cent savings in construction cost depending on lead
distance
 Fly ash for road embankment

Typical cross section of fly ash road embankment

Approach embankment for second
Nizamuddin bridge at Delhi
– Length of embankment - 1.8 km
– Height varies from 6 to 9 m
– Ash utilised - 1,50,000 cubic metre
– Embankment opened to traffic in 1998
– Instrumentation installed in the
embankment showed very good
performance
– Approximate savings due to usage of fly
ash is about Rs.1.00 Crore
Approach embankment for second
Nizamuddin bridge at Delhi
 Spreading of pond ash

Second Nizamuddin bridge approach embankment

Compaction of pond ash

 Stone pitching for slope
protection

Second Nizamuddin bridge approach embankment

Traffic plying on the

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

Length of stretch – 54 km
Height of embankment – 3 to
4m
Fly ash utilisation – 2 Million
cubic metres

Water logged area

(soft ground conditions)

Compaction of fly ash over layer of geotextile

 Reinforced fly ash embankment

• Fly ash - better backfill material for reinforced

embankments
• Polymeric reinforcing materials – Geogrids,
friction ties, geotextiles
• Construction sequence – similar to reinforced
earth structures
 Okhla flyover approach embankment

– First geogrid reinforced fly ash approach

embankment constructed in the country
– Length of embankment – 59 m
– Height varied from 5.9 to 7.8 m
– Ash utilised – 2,700 cubic metre
– Opened to traffic in 1996
– Performance has been very good
Okhla flyover approach embankment
Filter
Facing medium Geogrids
panels

7.8 to
5.9 m

Reinforced foundation mattress of bottom ash

 Erection of facing panels

Okhla flyover approach embankment

Rolling of pond ash

 Support provided to
facing panels during
construction

Okhla flyover approach embankment

Laying of geogrids
Hanuman Setu flyover approach embankment

– Geogrid reinforced fly ash approach embankment

– Length of embankment – 138.4 m
– Height varied from 3.42 m to 1.0 m
– Opened to traffic in 1997
Sarita Vihar flyover approach embankment

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

Sarita Vihar flyover reinforced approach embankment

Arrangement of
friction ties before
laying pond ash
 Compaction of pond
ash using static and
vibratory rollers

Sarita Vihar flyover reinforced approach embankment

Compaction using
plate vibrator near
the facing panels
 Fly ash for road construction
• Stabilised soil subgrade & sub-base/base
courses
– Mixing with soil reduces plasticity characteristics
of subgrade
– Addition of small percentage of lime or cement
greatly improves strength
– Leaching of lime is inhibited and durability
improves due to addition of fly ash
– Pond ash & bottom ash can also be stabilised
– Lime-fly ash mixture is better alternative to
moorum for construction of WBM / WMM
 Fly ash for road construction
• Construction of semi-rigid/ rigid pavements
– Lime-fly ash concrete
– Dry lean cement fly ash concrete
– Roller compacted concrete
– Fly ash admixed concrete pavements
– Lime-fly ash bound macadam
– Precast block paving
– High performance concrete
 Bituminous concrete 40 mm
DBM 100 mm
BM 75 mm
WBM Gr III/WMM 75 mm
WBM Gr II/WMM 150 mm

GSB 350 mm

Typical cross section of flexible

pavement – conventional section
 Bituminous concrete 40 mm
DBM 100 mm
BM 75 mm
WBM Gr III/WMM 75 mm
Fly ash + 6% cement
stabilised layer 150 mm

Pond ash 350 mm

Typical cross section of flexible

pavement – using fly ash
 Fly ash admixed PQC 300 mm

DLFC 100 mm

Pond ash 300 mm

Typical cross section of rigid pavement

– using fly ash
 Demonstration road project
at Raichur
 Total length of the road – 1 km
 Five sections of 200 m each with different
pavement sections
 Pond ash has been used for replacing moorum
in sub-base course
 Stabilised pond ash used for replacing part of
WBM layer
 One rigid pavement section using DLFC and
RCCP technology was laid
 Performance of all the specifications is good
 Mixing of lime
stabilised pond ash

Demonstration road project using fly ash at Raichur

Compaction of
stabilised pond ash
using road roller
 Construction of roller
compacted concrete
pavement

Demonstration road project using fly ash at Raichur

View of the
demonstration road
stretch after three years
Demonstration road project using fly ash
near Dadri (U.P)
• A rural road near Dadri in District Gautam Budh
Nagar, Uttar Pradesh was selected
• Total length of road – 1.4 km
• Bottom ash used as embankment fill
• Base course constructed using fly ash stabilised with
8% cement
• RCCP Wearing course – 10 cm thickness
• RCCP Mix proportion – 1:2:4
• 30 per cent of cement and 20 per cent of sand
replaced with fly ash in RCCP
• Shoulders – 8% cement stabilised fly ash
Demonstration road project using fly ash
near Dadri (U.P) – Typical section

RCCP wearing course - 0.1 m

Stabilised fly ash Stabilised fly ash
base - 0.1 m Shoulder

Soil cover

Bottom ash
 Demonstration
road project using
fly ash near Dadri
(U.P)
Stabilised base course

Mixing & laying of RCCP Compaction of RCCP

 IRC Guidelines / Specifications
• Guidelines available on pavement construction
• IRC 60 ‘Tentative guidelines for use of lime fly ash
concrete as pavement base or sub-base’
• IRC 68 ‘Tentative guidelines on cement fly ash concrete
for rigid pavement construction’
• IRC 74 ‘Tentative guidelines for lean cement concrete
and lean cement fly ash concrete as a pavement base or
sub-base’
• IRC 88 ‘Recommended practice for lime fly ash
stabilised soil as base or sub-base in pavement
construction’
 Guidelines for use of fly ash in road
embankments
• Published recently by Indian Roads Congress (SP-
58:2001)
• Includes design aspects also
• Handling and construction
– Loose layer thickness of 400 mm can be adopted if
vibratory rollers are used
– Moisture content - OMC + 2 per cent
– Use of vibratory rollers advocated
– Minimum dry density to be achieved - 95 per cent of
modified Proctor density
– Ash layer and side soil cover to be constructed
simultaneously
 Utilisation of steel slags
• Total production of slag from steel industries is
about 8.0 million tonnes
• Types of slags
– Blast furnace slag
• Granulated blast furnace slag (GBFS)
• Air cooled slag
– Steel slag
 Granulated blast
furnace slag
Contains reactive silica
Suitable for lime / cement
stabilisation

Air cooled blast

furnace slag
Non – reactive
Suitable for use as
coarse aggregates
 CRRI work on utilisation of
steel slags

• Characterisation of slags produced at

different steel plants
• Laboratory studies on Lime-GBFS mixes
• Semi-field studies on Lime-GBFS concrete
• Test track studies on usage of slags in road
works
 Properties of air cooled slag
Property Durgapur Bhilai Rourkela Delhi Specification
Quartzite requirements
Specific 2.78 – 2.82 – 2.97 – 2.67 -
gravity 2.82 3.33 2.99
Water 1.53 – 0.58 – 0.74 – 0.48 2% Max
absorption 1.72 1.38 1.29
(%)
Los Angeles 18.80 25.00 14.28 34.00 40% Max
abrasion
value (%)

Impact 15.79 14.80 16.90 24.50 30% Max

value (%)
Soundness 1.66 1.17 0.33 0.17 12% Max
value (%)
Percentage 46.40 43.90 43.10 43.80 -
voids
 Steel slags
• Obtained as a waste product during production
of steel
• Particle size varies from 80 mm to 300 microns
• Compared to blast furnace slag, steel slag
contains lower amount of silica, higher
amounts of iron oxide and calcium oxide
• Due to presence of free lime, steel slag should
be weathered before using it in construction
Road projects executed under CRRI guidance
using slags
• Plant roads at Visakhapatnam
• Test tracks in collaboration with AP PWD using
slags from Visakhapatnam Steel Plant
• Test tracks in collaboration with Orissa PWD
using slags from Rourkella Plant
• Test tracks at R&D Centre for Iron & Steel,
Ranchi using Slags from Bokaro Plant
 Construction of
test track using
slag at Orissa

Labour based techniques

for construction of
stabilised layer
 Lime
stabilisation
of iron slags
(Orissa)

View of finished
surface of road
constructed
using slags at
Orissa
Processed municipal wastes

• Processed municipal wastes utilised

for construction of test track on
village road near Delhi
• Stabilised municipal waste used for
construction of sub-base layer
• Performance of stretch is good
 Kimberlite tailings

• Kimberlite tailings are waste produced from diamond

mining
• Can be used in base or sub-base course by adopting
mechanical or cement stabilisation
• High value of water absorption makes them unsuitable
for use in bituminous pavement
THANK YOU