Usage of Fly Ash, Quarry Dust and Lime for Upper Sub-Base Stabilization

Abstract

Soil stabilization refers to the process of changing soil properties to improve strength and durability. There are many techniques for soil stabilization including adding materials such as quarry dust, fly ash, slag cement and foundry sand to the soil (by products and natural materials). Stabilization is mainly used in construction industry for various purposes such as sub-base for road, earth filling, backfilling and etc. This research was done to determine whether wastes (by product) such as fly ash and quarry dust with the combination of lime can be used as stabilization agents for soft soils. In this investigation, different mixture proportions of above materials were used to improve the soil. Then the properties of soil including liquid limit (LL), plastic limit (PL), maximum dry density, and optimum moisture content were determined on laboratory observations. It was found that quarry dust-20%, Lime- 3.5% and Fly ash- 5% as the optimum mixture. California Bearing Ratio (CBR) test was conducted for the optimum mixture and observed behaviour of the CBR values.