Assessment of strength development of cemented desert soil

Abstract

For highway construction or any superstructure, on dune sand, designers and construction teams must ensure that the foundation soil is stable enough to provide support for the applied loads. Sand dunes are stretched across Libyan deserts that make road construction a challenge because of the poor soil base. Replacement of such a weak soil is very expensive and not economically feasible, and, in many cases, there is no alternative soil nearby. This study used two different mix designs aimed at stabilizing the existing base course using a mix of dune sand and manufactured sand with a small percentage of Portland cement. Compaction, unconfined compressive strength and California bearing ratio tests were conducted on the treated sample with a varying cement proportion of 0%, 3%, 5% and 7% by weight. The first tests were done with a mix of 50% dune sand and 50% crushed sand that is shown to have excellent results. For a more economic design, this study also included testing of another mix design with 70% dune sand and 30% crushed sand; laboratory results show this 70%/30% mixture was appropriate to use as a base-treated material for road construction material. This mix resulted in overall superior performance. Its use will reduce the cost of road construction by saving materials and time, and it will also have lower environmental impacts in desert areas. This study has shown that the stabilization of weak material (desert sand) by using cement improves the strength characteristics of the treated soil.

Experimental Study of Improving the Properties of Lime-Stabilized Structural Lateritic Soil for Highway Structural Works using Groundnut Shell Ash

“…A precise soil portrayal and grouping is fundamental to the determination of the right materials and methodology. Table 2 records the most reasonable treatments for different soil types to stabilize these soils for various objectives [28].…”

“…Sharo et al [6] demonstrated the adequacy of the expansion of calcium chloride in soil treatment. Amhadi and Assaf [7] utilized calcium oxide as a stabilization technique in clay soils so as to restrain its development contraction properties. Hesami et al [8] utilized coal burning results in rollercompacted solid, roadway, and parking areas.…”

Improvement of Pavement Subgrade by Adding Cement and Fly Ash to Natural Desert Sand

“…The process of stabilizing the desert soil with cement decreases its compressibility and its permeability, and it further increases its strength, its bearing capacity, and its durability. It also reduces construction cost by utilizing local materials [20,21]. Furthermore, the use of cement to improve the engineering properties of soils has already been adopted [22][23][24][25], and this is mainly due to the hardening of cement in the presence of moisture and during the curing period [26].…”

Geotechnical Behavior of Stabilized Dunes Sand by Cement

“…The dunes sand was stabilized by several materials such as bentonite and lime [8], lime and silica fume [9][10], oil residue [11], fibers and geosynthetics [12][13][14], and cement [15][16][17]. The stabilization aimed to improve the performance of dunes sand under structures.…”