Strength Characteristics of Dispersive Soil by Using Industrial By-Products

Abstract

Soils of low salt concentration that dislodge easily and quickly, when comes in contact with water are called dispersive soils. These are unstable and disintegrate or erodible. These soils are present in many parts of the world such as India, United States, Australia, Greece, America, South Africa, Thailand, and others. They pose serious problems in stability of earthen structures, road fills, and other engineering structures. Even if there are simple methods to identify the dispersivity of the soils but it is more difficult to quantify the dispersivity. Visual classification such that Atterberg’s limits and particle size distribution is not sufficient to differentiate between ordinary erosion resistant clays and dispersive clays. In the present work, the dispersive soil is identified by conducting double hydrometer test to find the percentage of dispersion. The CBR results are presented and unconfined compressive strength tests are carried out at different curing period such as 0, 7, 14, 28 days. After stabilization using cement clinker, the dispersive soil can be prevented from collapse, settlement, pipe failures and slope failures in earth dams, embankments and may become suitable for other engineering purposes.