Clay Soil Stabilization using Coconut Fiber, Kernel Powder, Stone Quarry Waste & Cement

Authors

  • Vivek Purushottam Joshi, Udaysingh Patil, Ankush Asati

Abstract

Black cotton soil deposits occupy 20% of the area of India. Being a clay with expansive nature it comes with inherent problems of swelling and shrinkage, loss of shear strength in presence of water etc. so to use such a soil as a construction material is difficult. The alternative to BC soil in form of moorum or sandy soil may not be available everywhere hence the cost of procurement may be higher therefore to make use of black cotton soil fill material or sub grade material should be a priority. With rapid increase in construction activity it becomes imperative that quarrying of basalt rock for aggregate is on the rise. It leads to approximate 25% wastage in form of stone quarry waste. A natural fibre such as coconut coir is a waste material produced out of commercial production of coconut oil and is increasing in quantity day by day. Disposal of huge volume of coconut coir by burning leads to pollution. Heaps of coir piled up as lead to leaching of phenols into the groundwater in state of Kerala. At the same time coconut coir has an advantage of high lignin percentage leading to its stability to retain its strength even after periods as large as two years. This paper envisages to combine the challenges thus posed into an opportunity of better utilization of waste and problematic soil type such as clay soil, into a viable and cheaper engineering solution. After preliminary investigations, conducted on the soil, stone quarry waste, & coconut coir, this study consist of CBR and UCS test with different curing periods conducted after selecting a suitable clay, stone quarry waste combination with variation in coir and cement percentages.

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Published

2020-05-18

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Section

Articles