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Bismillah

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Respected Teachers, Committee Members and Dear Students Assalam-o-Alaikum

I am Adnan Asad and Topic of my Research is Subgrade Stabilization Using Lime and WSA

My Thesis Supervisor is Dr. Arshad Hussain. Engr. Kamran Mushtaq and Engr. Malik Saqib Mehmood are
my committee members

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This is my self-introduction. One of my research paper is accepted in Journal of Continua and

Mathemetical Sciences. And my second research paper has been submitted in Journal of Building
Materials and Construction

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This is the sequence of my thesis presentation

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Subgrade is the bottom most layer constructed under road pavement or railway track. Subgrade helps in
efficient transfer of load from top layers to the subsoil. Weak subgrade soil is improved using different
stabilization techniques.

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Stabilization is improvement of engineering properties of soil using physical chemical of biological

process. Soil Stabilization is divided into two parts fist one is mechanical process which involves
compaction, soil replacement etc. and second one is chemical stabilization which involves use of
stabilizer like bitumen cement lime etc.

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Pavement constructed on weak soil can cause premature failure and also incur high cost. Mechanical
stabilization is longstanding but incur high cost. Researchers introduced chemical stabilization as
alternative to mechanical stabilization. Use of waste material in stabilization helps proper management
of waste material

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Most of the soil stabilization techniques are soil/site specific. SO effect of different materials need to be
evaluated. Also use of low cost material can be economical in pavement construction. Up to best of my
knowledge no specific study on improvement of subgrade soil using WSA has been conducted

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My research objectives are

Stabilization of subgrade soil using lime and WSA

Determination of optimum lime and WSA content for subgrade soil stabilization

To investigate effect of lime and WSA on different geotechnical properties of soil

Cost comparison of pavement construction with and without soil stabilization

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Dahale performed soil stabilization using lime and flyash and concluded that all strength improve with
addition of lime and flyash. He presented that addition of lime upto 8% improve CBR

Recep Kilic proved lime as an effective additive for expansive soils. He concluded that upto 6% lime is
enough to overcome swelling, settlement and bearing capacity problems.

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This was the research methodology adopted throughout the whole research

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Clay soil was collected from Islamabad and transported to lab. Locally available quick lime was used.

Wheat straw was collected from open market. WS was burnt and grinded into fine powder.

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This is the process of WSA preparation

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These are natural soil properties. Natural soil is classified as low plastic clay. Soil meets the requirement
for lime stabilization. Soil strength was highly affected by soaked conditions. UCS test show 90% drop in
soil strength after 24 hr capillary soak. Similarly CBR dropped by 77% from Unsoaked to Soaked
Condition.

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Next Step was Optimization of lime.

Modified proctor test was carried out to find OMC and MDD for each lime content.

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Compaction result indicate gradual increase in OMC and Decrease in MDD

Increase in OMC is due to hydration and pozzolanic reaction

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Decrease in MDD is due to flocculation and agglomeration reaction larger particles occupy greater space
which reduce MDD
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UCS test was conducted at OMC and MDD in a special mold of H:D 2:1

Samples were cured for 7-days

Lime percentage giving max UCS strength was selected as OLC

Results indicate OLC a 6%

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Next step was optimization of WSA with OLC

Modified proctor test show increase in OMC and decrease in MDD upto 15% WSA

The reduction in MDD was due to flocculation and increase in OMC was due to pozzolanic activity of
lime and WSA

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UCS test of WSA lime Soil mix show increase in compressive strength

WSA giving maximum UCCS was selected as optimum WSA

OWSA came out to be 15%

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After optimization of lime and WSA. Different geotechnical properties of soil treated at optimum
stabilizer contents were evaluated

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GSD show reduction in percent passing by 20%

And Atterberg’s limit show soil classification changed from clay to silty clay

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UCS of NS increase by 211%after 28 days of curing

And improvement was even more with addition of WSA i.e 276%

Soaked UCS 16 times with lime and 22 time with addition of WSA

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CBR of soil treated with optimum lime and WSA increased by 3 to 4 times and swell reduced to zero

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Last step in research was design and cost analysis to evaluate potential of stabilizers
Single lane 1km length and 3.6m wide with 1 million ESALSl was considered

Average values as per AASHTO of all variables were taken

SN number and thickness of each layer based on SN number using AASHTO flexible pavement design
was calculated

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8 in layer thickness can be saved using lime and 10 in using WSA with lime

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Lime use was economical however WSA saved only few lacs

This was due to cost of WS, its burning and preparation

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Conclusion

Atterberg’s limit test results show a significant decrease in liquid limit and plasticity index of soil with the
addition of lime and wheat straw ash.

Classification of soil changed from AASHTO A-6 soil to A-4 soil. Soil behavior changed from clayey to silty
soil.

Maximum dry density is decreased by the addition of lime and wheat straw ash while an increase in
optimum moisture content of soil is observed.

Significant improvement of UCS strength of soil in soaked and unsoaked condition with the addition of
lime and WSA.

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UCS of lime and WSA samples cured for 7 days increased about 2 to 3 times.

UCS of soil-lime-mix and soil-lime-WSA mix increased by 15 to 20 times of samples cured for 28 days.

California Bearing Ratio of the soil improved twice as that of natural soil for soil-lime mix and 3 times
when WSA was also added.

Swell was reduced to less than 1% for soil lime and approximately zero when WSA was also added.

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Recommendations

Clayey soil was used for stabilization with lime and wheat straw ash. It is recommended to use different
type of soils with varying clay content.

Lime was used along with wheat straw ash in this research. It is recommended to use different types of
stabilizers along with wheat straw ash.
California Bearing Ratio was determined using one point CBR test by preparing samples at optimum
moisture content and maximum dry density as determined in standard proctor test. The
recommendation is to determine CBR value for a range of moisture contents and dry densities.

The composition of agro-based waste products varies with soil (due to the silica available in soil). Effort
should be made to prepare wheat straw ash at different temperature for better pozzolanic properties of
soil.

Field investigations should be carried out to implement the findings of research. Trial sections can be
planned in coordination with NHA.