Ground Improvement Techniques for Stabilization of Black Cotton Soil by Using Fly Ash

Abstract

In India 22% of the geographical area is covered by expansive ‘Black Cotton Soil’. These soils are characterized by their highly swelling and shrinkage properties. In dry conditions these soils have high strength which is almost completely lost when they come in contact with water. These soils are having high degree of expansion which creates a lot of problems during the execution of work and after completion of it. Hence, the stabilization of such soil is prime importance. Attempts have been made to stabilize these soils by using different materials such as lime, cement, asphalt etc. Industrial wastes such as fly ash, furnace slag can also be used for this purpose. In order to improve the engineering and index properties of soil, the experiments have been conducted with industrial wastes of steel foundry called as furnace slag plus black cotton soil. The results show that 20% addition of slag to black cotton soil is the optimum proportion to improve almost all properties of soil. For 20% addition of slag, the CBR increase from 3–6%. The pavement design and cost analysis of such slag stabilized soil shows reduction in the cost of construction of pavement by 10.58% as compared to pavement construction by only black cotton soil as subgrade.

Keywords: Stabilization, index properties, OMC

Cite this Article

Dnyaneshwar Jade, Sharif Shaikh. Ground Improvement Techniques for Stabilization of Black Cotton Soil by Using Fly Ash. Journal of Geotechnical Engineering. 2018; 5(1): 30–34p.