UTLISATION OF FLY ASH COMPOSITE MATERIAL FOR SURFACE COAL MINE HAUL ROAD

STABILIZATION

B. Behera1, M.K. Mishra2

Research Scholar, 2Assistant Professor

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Department of Mining Engineering

National Institute Technology, Rourkela

Fax: 0661-2462999, Phone: 0661-2462602

Email: mkmishra@nitrkl.ac.in, banita25@gmail.com

Table 1 Standard loads used in CBR Test

Figure 1 Representation of Mr

Figure 2 Cost/m decreases with increase in CBR value

Figure 3 Thin pavement results high CBR value than thick pavement

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Abstract:

Fly ash is at present an unavoidable coal combustion byproduct. The huge generation of fly ash in

India creates a major problem in terms of land occupied and adverse environmental effects. It’s

safe disposal and utilization is very important. Surface mining will continue to play major role in

meeting the demand of fossil fuel for the power generation in India. In the past 30 years the

carrying capacity of hauling equipments e.g. dumpers/trucks has grown from a tiny 10 tons to 170

tons, 350 tons being envisioned at places, requiring better haul roads. But the design of roads that

those heavy equipments must traverse has not advanced at the same rate. In many surface coal

mines haul road construction technology appropriate to vehicle of three decades past is still

followed. However, there is a need to reduce vehicle operating cost and maintenance cost by

design of good haul roads. Basically there are two design methodologies under current practice:

CBR (California bearing ratio) method and resilient modulus method. CBR method is the oldest,

established and hence popular. But, it becomes insufficient when a new material or different traffic

loads outside the range is considered. Resilient modulus method is a recent phenomenon in

pavement design. This method uses correlation between strains in the pavement structures to the

number of load repetitions which cause distress in pavement structure. Hence, a road design

based on resilient modulus method gives better results than the CBR method. Typically thermal

power plants are located near to surface coal mines that produce huge amount of fly ash as a

waste byproduct which needs to develop fly ash composite material with suitable additives and

evaluate its performance to support heavy truck loads and dumpers in both dry as well as wet

climate conditions in the haul road. The aim of this paper is to present a review on utilization of fly

ash composite material for the design of surface coal mine haul road by using CBR and resilient

modulus method.

Key words: Fly ash, haul road, CBR, resilient modulus

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1. Introduction:

Haul roads are the life line of any surface mine. These roads are used by heavy earth moving

equipments, if they are not properly laid constructed and maintained then production suffers,

accident and breakdown occurs. Therefore haul roads should be properly planned, designed,

constructed and maintained. There are two main aspects of a haul road design, structural and

geometric designs. The structural design of haul roads is basically the determination of the

thickness of various layers of a haul road for a particular combination of construction materials

and load configuration. The geometrical design of haul road deals with physical dimensions such

as width, cross-slope, ditch height and safety berm height. The main objective of both designs is

to provide a safe, efficient, smooth and vehicle friendly ride to the haul trucks and other vehicle

without excessive maintenance through its designed life (Thompson and Visser, 1996, 2002).

Fly ash is one of the most plentiful and versatile of the industrial byproduct which has self-

cementing characteristics to improve the mechanical properties of soils for more than 20 years

(Ferguson, 1993). Fly ash, being very finer, is more reactive and consequently more suitable for

haul road construction material as compared to other materials. A suitable fly ash composite

material would enhance the bearing capacity haul road base/sub-base. There exist two major

road design methods that calculate the appropriate thickness of each layer in the haul road by

considering material properties such as CBR and resilient modulus (Kaufman and Ault, 1977;

Thompson and Visser, 1996, Mohammad et al, 1998). CBR method assumes uniform elastic

modulus for different materials in different layers of haul roads and does not consider the

properties of the surface course material. It determines the bearing capacity of the pavement and

assumes that failure occurs when cover thickness above a certain material is less than that

required. The resilient modulus method provides a relationship between deformation and stress in

pavement materials, including sub-grade soils, subjected to moving vehicular wheels. It assumes

that failure occurs when strain at any point exceeds the critical strain limit. In case of mines that

use ultra-large trucks, it becomes imperative to use a haul road design method based on the

resilient modulus of the construction materials, which requires more complex analysis than the

CBR method (Kumar, 2000)

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2. Design and Construction of Haul Road:

Haul road is a multi-layered structure. A typical surface coal mine has about 2 to 5 km of

permanent haul road, larger ones having longer lengths and various other lumpy roads that are

constructed from locally available material found near to the mine property. A haul road cross-

section can be divided into four distinct layers: surface course, base course, sub-base and sub-

grade. Generally, the construction of haul road is divided into three courses excluding sub-grade.

The surface course is the layer of a haul road with which the wheels of vehicles are in actual

contact. The characteristics of the surface course should be of high adhesion, low rolling

resistance coefficient, no penetration under load. It is generally made of bitumen or asphalt to

provide a smooth riding surface and will resist pressure exerted by the tires. The base course is

the layer of material which lies immediately below the surface course. It consists of granular

material like stone fragments or slag that can be stabilized with binding materials like cement,

natural pozzolans etc. The base course is the main source of the structural strength of the road.

The layer between the base course and sub-grade a haul road is called sub-base which supports

the base. It usually consists of same type of materials used in base course like laterite, crushed

stone, gravel, moorum, natural sand either cemented or untreated. Apart from providing structural

strength to the road, it serves many other purposes such as preventing intrusion of sub-grade soil

into the base course, accumulation of water in the road structure, and providing working platform

for the construction equipment. However, a sub-base can be of a lower quality. The sub-grade is

the naturally occurring surface on which the haul road is built. It may be leveled by excavation or

back-filled to provide a suitable surface. The performance of the haul road is affected by the

characteristics of the sub-grade.

The design of the road can be optimized by using the California Bearing Ratio (CBR) and the

construction material’s resilient modulus.

2.1 Haul Road Design Based on CBR Method:

The California Bearing Ratio test is a simple strength test that compares the bearing capacity of a

material with that of a well-graded crushed stone (thus, a high quality crushed stone material

should have a CBR of about 100%). The required fill thickness and applied wheel load to the CBR

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value are related by CBR curves. Traffic volume and its effect on the structural design of

pavements was considered by Ahlvin et al (1971) in which a repetition factor was determined

according to the load repetitions and the total number of wheels used to determined the ESWL.

Equivalent single wheel load (ESWL) is calculated under the following conditions: (a) The ESWL

should have same contact area as that of the other wheel loads. (b) The maximum deflection

generated by ESWL should be equal to that of generated by the group of wheels it represents. (c)

The ESWL is calculated at a range of pavement depths from which the required cover thickness

can be calculated using the CBR curve. The detail procedure for conducting the test is described

in the “Standard Test Method for Bearing Ratio of Laboratory Compacted Soils” ASTM D1883.

The CBR value can be calculated by using the following equation:

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Table -1 gives the standard loads adopted for different penetrations for the standard material

with a CBR value of 100%.

Table – 1: Standard loads used in CBR Test

Penetration of plunger (mm) Standard load (kg)

2.5 1370

5.0 2055

7.5 2630

10.0 3180

12.5 3600

The CBR values are usually calculated for penetration of 2.5 mm and 5.0 mm. Design charts

have been developed that relate pavement, base and sub base thickness to vehicle wheel load

and CBR values. The CBR method assumes that failure will occur when the cover thickness

above a certain material is less than that required. The CBR method of haul road design has

been very popular and is being followed. The method is simple, well understood and gives fairly

good design guidelines for most haul roads. But, the method has following inherent

shortcomings:

 It assumes a constant elastic modulus for different materials in the pavement. But, the

various layers of a mine haul road consist of different materials each with its own

specific elastic and other properties.

 It does not take into account the properties of the surface course material.

 It cannot estimate the internal deformation occurs inside the materials used in different

layers of the pavement.

 It does not deal with the aspect of shear failure of subgrade materials.

It is cleared from the above discussions that though haul road cross-section acts as a layered

beam structure and under excessive strain this structure can cease to act as a beam thus

loosing strength and failure becomes imminent. Consequently, it can be expected that a design

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using CBR method would result in under-design in most cases. But in case of haul roads with

very short designed life, CBR method can be over-conservative.

2.2 Haul Road Design based on Resilient Modulus Method:

It is based on the strain caused in different layers of the haul roads. Resilient modulus testing is

basically a measure of stiffness. It is the stress divided by strain for rapidly applied loads. Seed

et al (1962) suggested the definition of Mr using the relationship between applied stress, referred

to as deviator stress ( d) and recoverable strain, referred to as resilient strain (εr) measured in

repeated triaxial dynamic tests on compacted cohesive soils (Figure – 1). Numerically, M r is the

ratio of the deviator stress to the resilient strain (Equation – 2).

where, Mr = resilient modulus,

1 = major principal stress,

3 = minor principal stress,

d = repeated axial deviator stress,

εr = recoverable axial strain.

Figure – 1: Representation of Mr (Kim and Drabkin, 1994)

Hence, the nature of the test required to determine the resilient modulus is similar to the cyclic

loading experienced in a road. In the AASHTO Guide for Design of Pavement Structures (1993),

Mr is a measure of the elastic property of soil with nonlinear characteristics or the unloaded

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phase of the stress–strain slope developed during the impulse loading that occurs as vehicles

passes over the pavement. The resilient modulus of subgrade soils in a pavement structure is

one of the most important input parameters for the design of new and rehabilitated flexible

pavements. Tjan and Fung (2005) reported that the resilient modulus based method gives

correlation between strains in the pavement structure. Thompson (1996) estimated the resilient

modulus by the falling weight deflectometer test. The test is simple and very well understood

and gives a fairly good estimate of the modulus. Mohammad et al (1998) described yet another

method for calculation of resilient modulus using a cone penetration test with continuous

measurement of tip resistance and sleeve friction. Determination of the subgrade resilient

modulus is important for designing pavement thickness. Hence, the important criterion for haul

road design is a critical strain limit for each layer. A road cannot adequately support haul trucks

when vertical strain exceeds a critical strain limit as the road ceases to act as a beam. Critical

strain limit is about 1500µ strain found by Morgan et al (1994) while Thompson and Visser

(1997) noted that the limit is around 2000µ strains. Possible reasons for difference in the critical

strain limits suggested by the two authors could be different design life of the road and traffic

density. The critical strain limit can be determined for a particular road depending on the number

of loaded trucks expected to travel over it during the designed life of the road. It is based on the

vertical strain in each layer of the haul road cross-section which assumes that failure will occur

when the strain at any point exceeds the critical strain limit. Resilient modulus approach is yet to

be fully evaluated in terms of surface coal mine haul road design.

3. Utilization of fly ash composite material for haul road construction:

The use of fly ash to stabilize soils should have multiple benefits to their use in haul roads

improving mining productivity (Hobeda, 1984). Chugh and Mohanty (2006) reported successful

use of 60,000 m3 of unstabilised fly ash in the construction of a 4.5 km long and 7.3 m wide

road. Kim et al (2005) reported that fly ash and bottom ash with different mixture ratios i.e. 50,

75 and 100 % exhibited favorable results as to compaction, permeability, strength, stiffness and

compressibility properties. They evaluated suitability of mixtures of fly ash and bottom ash for

use in highway embankments and their results compared favorably with conventional granular

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materials. There exist a couple of road projects, more specifically in rural sectors where

cementitious fly ash has been used as a sub-base material (Laguros and Zenieris, 1987). But

the effectiveness of fly ash for surface coal mine haul road is still in its infancy (Mulder, 1996;

Tannant and Kumar, 2000; Lav et al, 2006). Tannant and Kumar (2000) mixed fly ash, kiln dust

and mine spoil at 25:5 ratio and found the composite suitable for coal mine haul road

construction. The composite increased the compressive strength by 100 % and elastic modulus

by 500% and observed that the stresses induced in the base layer of haul road would be less.

The compacted fly ash and soil showed Young’s moduli high enough to meet the strain

requirement for haul road construction. Fly ash-steel slag = 1:1, phosphogypsum dosage = 2.5%

results in highest strength reported by (Shen et al, 2008). They studied this solidified material by

comparing with some typical road base materials and observed increase in strength value of 8

MPa at 28 days to 12 MPa at 360 days, resulting resilient modulus 1987 MPa has higher

strength than lime-fly ash and lime-soil road base material. Its long-term strength is much higher

than cement stabilized granular material and has best water stability among those road base

materials. Finally, they concluded that the material can be engineered as a road base material.

Lav et al (2006) evaluated resilient modulus approach with fly ash and cement (maximum 10%)

mixture that exhibited better pavement material in actual road tests. A study by CMPDIL shows

that the cost norms for haul road for 35 T dumpers for a fixed width decreases from Rs. 602/m to

Rs. 442/m when the CBR value increases from 3 to 7 respectively (Figure-2) due to less

thickness of the pavement (Figure-3).

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 Figure – 2: Cost/m decreases with increase in CBR value

Figure – 3: Thin pavement results high CBR value than thick pavement

In one specific study fly ash utilization resulted in maximum savings in the sub-base course

limited to about 60 to 90 km of lead for rigid and flexible pavements (Kumar and Patil, 2006).

This is important as most of our power plants are situated within this range of most coal mines.

CMPDIL recommends a CBR value of more than 15 for sub-base of haul road for 100 tonne

capacity dumpers. But case studies shows that CBR values the locally available sub-base and

base materials typically used in haul road construction are much less than this value. Fly ash

composite developed with lime and gypsum has increased the post-failure behaviour of jointed

model pillar (Mishra and Rao, 2003). It is also reported that the fly ash composite material

developed with 20 % lime and 5 % gypsum exhibited more that 90% slake durability indices for

both 1st and 2nd cycle tests indicating high durability (Mishra and Rao, 2006). Boominathan and

Hari (1999) reported that fly ash samples withstood the cyclic stress applications with less axial

strain and it showed no signs of failure at low cyclic stress ratio.

4. Conclusions:

CBR and resilient modulus based methods are particularly applicable for design of surface mine

haul roads. Although the CBR method is a commonly accepted and applied method of haul road

design in surface mines, it has many inherent shortcomings which may lead to under or over

design. Using resilient modulus as a design parameter would significantly improve pavement

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design procedures, which requires more complex analysis than the CBR method. The

effectiveness of the resilient modulus approach has also not yet been evaluated at any surface

coal mine in India. The use of the fly ash composite material would reduce strain in the

base/subbase course and enhance the bearing capacity of the main surface coal mine road. The

potential of fly ash composite material to replace the alluvial soil or coal mine waste or soft clay

material in surface coal mine haul roads and reduce the maintenance cost of the haul road.

5. References:

Thompson, R.J. and Visser, A.T. (1996): “An overview of the structural design of mine haul

roads”, Journal of South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, pp. 29-37.

Thompson, R.J. and Visser, A.T. (2002): “An integrated haul road design system to reduce cost

per tonne hauled”, World Mining Equipment Haulage 2002 Conference, Tucson, Az., USA, pp.

19-22.

Ferguson, G. (1993): “Use of self-cementing fly ash as a soil stabilizing agent”, Geotechnical

special publication, 36, ASCE, New York.

Kaufman, W.W. and Ault, J.C. (1977): “Towards a mechanistic structural design method for

surface mine haul roads”, Journal of South African Institute of Civil Engineering, 38(2), pp. 13-

21.

Mohammad, L.N., Titi, H.H. and Herath, A.(1998): “Intrusion technology: An innovative approach

to evaluate resilient modulus of subgrade soils”, Application of Geotechnical Principles in

Pavement engineering, American Society of Civil Engineers, Geotechnical Special Publication

Number, pp. 39-58.

Kumar, V. (2000): “Design and Construction of haul roads using Fly Ash”, M. Sc thesis, Faculty

of Graduate Studies and Research, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of

Alberta, Canada.

Ahlvin, R.G., Ulery, H.H., Hutchinson, R.L .and Rice, J.L. (1971): “Multiple wheel heavy gear

load pavement tests”, Basic Report, USA Waterways Experiment Station, Vicksburg, Vol. I:

AFWL-TR70-113.

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Seed, H.B., Chan, C.K. and Lee, C.E. (1962): “Resilience Characteristics of Subgrade Soils and

Their Relation to Fatigue Failure in Asphalt Pavement”, Proc., International Conference on

Structural Design of Asphalt Pavement, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, pp. 611-636.

AASHTO Guide for Design of Pavement Structures, (1993): American Association of State

Highway and Transportation Officials, Washington, D.C., USA.

Tjan, A. and Fung, C. (2005): “Determination of equivalent axle load factor of trailer with multiple

axles on flexible pavement structures”, Journal of the Eastern Asia for Transportation Studies,

Vol. 6, pp 1194-1206.

Lav, A.H., Lav, M.A. and Goktpe, A.B. (2006): “Analysis and design of a stabilized fly ash as

pavement base material”, Journal of Fuel, Vol. 85, pp. 2359-2370.

Thompson, R.J. (1996): “The Design and Management of Surface Mine Haul Roads”, Ph.D.

thesis, Faculty of Engineering, University of Pretoria.

Morgan, J.R., Tucker, J.S. and Mclnnes, D.B. (1994): “A mechanistic design approach for

unsealed mine haul roads”, Pavement Design and Performance in Road Construction 14(12),

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Thompson, R.J. and Visser, A.T. (1997): “A mechanistic structural design procedure for surface

mine haul roads”, International Journal of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Environment, Vol.

11, pp. 121-128.

Hobeda, P. (1984): “Use of Waste Material from Coal Combustion in Road Construction”, NTIS.

Mohanty, S. and Chugh, Y.P. (2006): “Structural Performance Monitoring of an unstabilised Fly

ash based road subbase”, Journal of Transportation Engineering, 132(12), pp. 964 -969.

Kim, B. Prezzi, M. and Salgado, R. (2005): “Geotechnical Properties of Fly and Bottom Ash

mixtures for use in Highway Embankments”, Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental

Engineering, 131(7), pp. 914-924.

Laguros, J.G. and Zenieris, P. (1987): “Feasibility of using Fly ash as a binder in coarse and fine

aggregate for Bases”, Report No. ORA 155-404, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma.

Moulder, E. (1996): “A mixture of fly ashes as road base construction material”, Waste

Management, 16(3), pp. 15-20.

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Tannant, D.D. and Kumar, V. (2000): “Properties of fly ash stabilized haul road construction

Materials”, International Journal of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Environment, Vol.14, pp

121-135.

Shen, W., Zhou, M., Ma, W., Hu, J. and Cai, Z. (2008): “Investigation on the application of steel

slag-fly ash –phosphogypsum solidified material as road base material”, Journal of Hazardous

Materials, accepted, article in press.

Kumar, S. and Patil, C.B. (2006): “Estimation of resource savings due to fly ash utilization in

road construction”, Resources, Conservation and Recycling, Vol. 48, pp. 125-140.

Mishra, M.K. and Rao, U.M.K. (2003): “Experimental Investigations on the use of Fly Ash to

Reinforce Jointed Mine Pillar”, 3rd International Conference on Fly Ash Utilisation & Disposal &

Fly ash Expo 2003, 19-21 February, New Delhi, India, pp. VI 59-68.

Mishra, M.K and Rao, K.U.M. (2006): “Geotechnical Characterization of Fly ash Composites for

Backfilling Mine Voids”, Journal of Geotechnical and Geological Engineering, 24(6), pp. 1749-

1765.

Boominathan, A. and Hari, S. (1999): “Static and Cyclic Shear Strength Characteristics of Fly

Ash”, Proceedings of the national seminar on Fly ash characterization and its geotechnical

applications, IISc, Bangalore, pp. 27-32.

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