Stabilization of Black Cotton Soil using Egg Shells

Abstract

Nowadays, considerable attention has been paid to the utilization of alternative materials, which bear higher engineering quality than traditional materials and are financially affordable. Soil is one of the most important materials used in a variety of construction projects including earth canals and earth dams. The fact that soil may provide all the resistance characteristics necessary for a project illustrates the importance of various methods used to improve soil quality. Black cotton soils are highly clay soil grayish to blackish in color. They have high expensive characteristics. Black Cotton soils have low shrinkage limit and high optimum moisture content. It is highly sensitive to moisture changes, compressible subgrade material. These damages typically take an irreparable toll on structures, which further clarifies the importance of soil improvement. Considering millions of tons of waste produced annually across the country, which not only poses the problem of disposal but also adds to environmental contamination and health risks, utilization of such refuse and industrial wastes and their subsidiary products as alternatives to construction materials may effectively contribute to environmental preservation and minimization of their adverse effects on the environment. In the present study, eggshell powder was used as a waste, to combine with soil and the properties of clay soil were investigated in different mixture proportions. Then the properties of soils including liquid and plasticity limits as well as plasticity index, dry density, optimum moisture content and shear strength, which were already measured, were compared with those of the experimental specimens mixed with eggshell powder in different proportions. Since the introduction of egg shell improves the engineering behaviour of soils, this review work exposes those qualities and applications that make quarry egg shell powder a good replacement or admixture during soil improvement and for a more economic approach. In the present study, optimum amount of egg shells were found to be 6%.