Stabilization of Mohali Soil Using RHA and Lime Sludge

Abstract

Construction of pavements and other civil engineering structures on available piece of land containing some percentage of clay minerals is highly risky on geotechnical grounds because of poor strength properties of the clayey soil. Avoiding the use of that piece of land is not always possible economically. This brings in the need for soil treatment to improve the engineering properties of soil. In practise admixtures with fly ash, lime and rice husk ash are used frequently to stabilize soils and improve their strength properties. This project involves the use of two waste materials Rice Husk Ash (RHA) and Lime Sludge containing lime which acts as a binder. These two undergo reactions to form complexes that fill in the spaces, changing the structure of soil and hence reduce the shrink or swell characteristics and plasticity thereby increasing the strength of soil. RHA and Lime sludge are waste materials available in huge quantities, making the construction processes economical. The purpose of this project is to find the optimum ratio of the two to maximise the strength of soil. In this study, RHA (8%,10%,12%,15% by wt. of dry clay) and Lime sludge(5%,10%,15% by wt. of dry clay) were mixed with soil in various proportions to find out the relative strength gained in terms of unconfined compression. It was found that strength of soil increases by increasing the content of RHA and Lime sludge.