1

A PROJECT REPORT
ON
SUBGRADE SOIL STABILIZATION BY USING FLYASH AND LIME
Submitted to Vikash College of Engineering for Women, Bargarh
In Partial Fulfillment of the requirements

For the degree of Bachelor of Technology
In Civil Engineering By



SUMAN PATEL (1121337003)



DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING
VIKASH COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING FOR WOMEN
BARGARH
VIKASH COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING FOR WOMEN
BARGARH
ODISHA
SESSION: 2010-2014

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CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the project on the subject SUBGRADE SOIL STABILIZATION
BY USING FLYASH AND LIME has been successfully completed and delivered by
SUMAN PATEL (1121337003) belonging to 7
th
semester, Civil Engineering. This project
development and presentation was accomplished under my supervision.



Mr. NABEEN BAGE
Project supervisor



VIKASH COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING FOR WOMEN
BARGARH- 768028, ODISHA
SESSION: 2010-2014

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CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL

This project report entitled SUBGRADE SOIL STABILIZATION BY USING
FLYASH AND LIME submitted by SUMAN PATEL (1121337003) of 7
th
semester Civil
Engineering to VCEW, Bargarh has been examined by us. The project report is found fit and
approved for the award of the degree of BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY in Civil Engineering



EXTERNAL EXAMINER








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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This is to acknowledge the help and encouragement that we received from various persons and
sources during our project work. In this connection we would like to the name of our project
guide Mr. NABEEN BAGE, who was a constant source of valuable instruction and constant
encouragement. We are indebted to our guide for providing his valuable time, constant
guidance, co-operation and scrupulous supervision to complete this project report. His untiring
effort, availability in spite of his preoccupations and friendly behavior needs special mention
.We are extremely grateful to all the faculty members of civil engineering department who
shared not only their vast knowledge with us, but also lent their valuable time.
Finally, we are saluting to all those websites those need worth mentioning for sufficing us with
some hard found materials.

SUMAN PATEL (1121337003)










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CONTENTS
CERTIFICATE
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT..Page no
ABSTRACT1
CHAPTER 1 2-3
INTRODUCTION..2
GENERAL.2
SCOPE OF THE OBJECT. 3
OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT..3
CHAPTER 2: 4-10
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1:RECENT RESEARCHES4
2.2:GENERAL..6
2.3:SOIL STRUCTURE .6
2.5:QUALITY IMPROVEMENT. 7
2.6:STABILIZATION TECHNIQUES 7
2.7.1 STABILIZATION WITH LIME 7
2.7.2 STABILIZATION WITH FLY ASH 10


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CHAPTER 3: 11-14
EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAMME
3.1: INTRODUCTION.11
3.2: MATERIALS USED.11
3.3: LAB TESTING....12
3.4: SOIL PREPARATION..12
3.5: STANDARD PROCTOR TEST.13
3.6: CBR TEST..13
3.7: SPECIFIC GRAVITY..14
3.8: LIQUID LIMIT14
CHAPTER 4: 15-18
RESULT AND DICUSSION.15
CHAPTER 5: 19-20
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION..19
REFERNCES..20
LIST OF TABLES:
Table 1-PROPERTIES OF SOIL USED IN THE STUDY
Table 2-VARIATION OF MDD & OMC & CBR VALUE WITH FLYASH
CONTENT

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Table 3-VARIATION OF MDD & OMC & CBR VALUE WITH LIME
CONTENT


ABSTRACT
Subgrade is basic foundation for any civil engineering structures. It is
required to bear the loads without failure. In some places, soil may be
weak which cannot resist the upcoming loads. In such cases, subgrade
soil stabilization is needed. Numerous methods are available in the
literature for subgrade soil stabilization. But sometimes, some of the
methods like chemical stabilization, lime stabilization etc. Adversely
affects the chemical composition of the subgrade soil.
In the study, flyash and lime were mixed with subgrade soil to
compaction. The effect of flyash and lime on the geotechnical
characteristics subgrade-flyash and subgrade-lime mixtures was
investigated by conducting standard proctor compaction tests. The test
were performed as per Indian standard specifications.
The following materials were used for preparing the samples:
Subgrade soil
Flyash
Lime
The subgrade soil used for these experiments was brought from a site,
near Bargarh. The physical property of the subgrade were determined as
per IS specifications.
In this test programmed, without additive subgrade was tested to find the
optimum moisture content, bearing strength. Flyash and lime were added

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in varying percentages and that fraction for which maximum strength is
obtained was found out.


CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION:
GENERAL

Transport in the Republic of India is an important part of the nations
economy. Roads are the vital lifelines of the economy making possible
trade and commerce. They are the most preffered modes of
transportation and considered as one of the cost effective modes. An
efficient and well-estabilished network of roads is desired for promoting
trade and commerce in any country and also fulfils the needs of a sound
transportation system for sustained economic development. To provide
mobility and accessibility, all weather roads should connect every nook
and corner of the country. To sustain both static and dynamic load, the
pavement should be designed and constructed with utmost care. The
performance of the pavement depends on the quality of materials used in
road construction.
Subgrade is in situ material upon which the pavement structure is
placed. Although there is a tendency to look at pavement performance in
terms of pavement structures and mix design alone, the subgrade soil
can often be the overriding factor in pavement performance. The
construction cost of pavements will be considerably decreased if locally
available low cost materials are used for construction of lower layer of
pavements such as subgrade, sub base etc. If the stability of local soils is

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not adequate for supporting for the loads, suitable methods to enhance
the properties of soil need to adopt. Soil stabilization is one such
method.
This report contains a summary of the performance of lime and flyash
used with subgrade.
Flyash are finely divided residue resulting from aluminium plant.
Lime is another additive used, which is locally available, to improve
subgrade characteristics. It is obtained by heating limestone at elevated
temperatures.

SCOPE OF THE PROJECT
The soil used in the study is subgrade soil brought from a site, near
Bargarh. Pavement subgrade over there is composed of natural soil
whose bearing capacity is sufficient. This proves to be economic for
road construction. Soil stabilization can be done using different
additives, but use of flyash which is a waste material from aluminium
plant at the same time difficult to dispose material will be much
significant.

OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECT
The major objectives of the project are:
1. To explore the possibility of using flyash in road construction
program.
2. To study the effect of lime and flyash on proctors density and
OMC of subgrade soil.

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3. To study the effect of lime and flyash on the liquid limit of
subgrade soil.
4. To stu
5. dy the changes in bearing strength of soil by addition of lime and
flyash.

CHAPTER 2

LITERATURAL REVIEW
The losses due to extensive damage to highways running over expansive
soil subgrades are estimated to be in billions of dollars all over the world
(Jones and Holtz, 1973; Steinberg, 1992). Various remedial measures
like soil replacement (Snethen et al, 1979; Chen, 1988), prewetting
(Bara, 1969; Rao and Satyadas, 1980), moisture control (Mohan and
Rao, 1965; Marienfeld and Bakeras 1999), lime stabilization (Holtz and
Gibbs, 1956; Thompson and Robnett, 1976; Bansal et al, 1996) have
been practiced with varied degree of success. However, these technique
suffer from certain limitations respect to their adaptability like longer
time periods required for prewettting the highly plastic clays, (Felt,1953;
Steinberg,1977), difficulty in constructing the ideal moisture barriers
(Snethen et al,1979; Chen,1988), pulverization and mixing problems in
case of lime stabilization (Holtz,1969; Ramana Murty,1998) and high
cost for hauling suitable refill material for soil replacement (Snethen et
al,1979; Chen,1988)etc.
In India there are about 82 thermal power plants, which are currently
producing about 100 million tons of flyash per annum (Dhar, 2001). In
order to utilize fly ash in bulk quantities, ways and means are being
explored all over the world to use it for construction of embankments
and roads (Hausmann, 1990; Veerendra Singh et al, 1996; Boominathan

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and Ratna Kumar, 1996; Murthy, 1998). According to the latest
MORHT specifications, several types of gravel are found to be
unsuitable for road construction in view of higher finer fraction and
excessive plasticity properties.

Krupavaram had made attempt to use lime stabilized flyash subbase
course in model field pavement stretches. Standard proctor test and CBR
tests were conducted on flyash subbase and lime stabilized fly ash
subbase stretches constructed on different subgrades(i.e expansive soils
& sand) and observed that lime stabilized flyash stretch showed better
performance in load carrying capacity and reduction of heave laid on
expansive soil subgrade.

In another investigation an attempt was made to use cement stabilized
flyash subbase course in field pavement stretches and compared
performance with flyash subbase. Standard proctor test and CBR test
were conducted in flyash subbase and cement stabilized flyash subbase
stretches constructed on different subgrades (i.e sand &expansive
soil)and found that cement stabilised flyash stretch had shown better
performance in load carrying capacity and reduction of heave compared
to conventional stretch, laid on expansive soil subgrade.
Kumar et al had conducted on experimental program to study the effect
of lime stabilization of geotechnical characterstics of flyash soil-mixture.
From results it was observed that the expansive soil can be successfully
stabilized by the combined action of lime and flyash.
Zha et al studied the potential use and the effectiveness of stabilization
of expansive soil using flyash and flyash-lime admixture.The test results
showed that the plasticity index, activity, free, swell, potential, swelling
pressure and axial shrinkage percent decreased with an increased flyash
or flyash lime content.

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Rao et al carried out a study on the performance of lime stabilized flyash
cushion and found that it was quite effective in arresting volume changes
in expansive soils.



GENERAL
Stabilization is the process of blending and mixing materials with asoil
to improve certain properties of the soil. The process may include the
blending of soils to achieve a desired gradation or the mixing of
commercially available additives that may alter the gradation, texture or
plasticity, or act as a binder for cementation of the soil.
The process of reducing plasticity and improving the texture
of a soil is called modification. Monovalent cations such as sodium and
potassium are commonly found in sugrade soil and these cations can be
exchanged with cations of higher valencies such as calcium which are
found in lime and flyash. This ion exchange process takes place almost
rapidly, within a few hours. The calciumcations replace the sodium
cations around the clay particles, decreasing the size of bound water
layer, and enable the clay particle to flocculate. The flocculation creates
a reduction in plasticity, an increase in shear strength of subgrade soil
and improvement in texture from a cohesive material to more granular,
sand-like soil. The change in structure causes a decrease in the moisture
sensitivity and increase the workability and constructability of soil. Soil
stabilization includes the effect from modification with a significant
additional strength.

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SOIL STRUCTURE
Soil structure refers to the gross arrangement of the soil particles into
aggregates. A soil may have either a simple or a compound structure.
Sands and gravels, examples of soils with a simple structure, have very
little cohesion, plasticity, and consistency, the resistance of the particles
in the soil to separation. Simple-structured soils are usually composed of
materials that are relatively resistant to weathering, such as quartz sand.
They, are also said to have a single-grain structure. As the liquid limit
greater than 35 and less than 50 with medium compressibility the soil
can classified as fine grained soil, which is under inorganic clay (CI).


USES OF STABILIZATION
Pavement design is based on the premise that minimum specified
structural quality will be achieved for each layer of material in the
pavement system. Each layer must resist shearing, avoid excessive
deflections that cause fatigue cracking within the layer or in overlying
layers, and prevent excessive permanent through densification. As the
quality of a soil layer is increased, the ability of that layer to distribute
the load over a greater area is generally increased so that a reduction in
the required thickness of the soil and surface layers may be permitted.

QUALITY IMPROVEMENT
The most common improvements achieved through stabilization include
better soil gradation, reduction of plasticity index or swelling potential,
and increases in durability and strength. In wet weather, stabilization
may also be used to provide a working platform for construction
operations. These types of soil quality improvement are referred to as
soil modification.

STABLIZATION WITH LIME

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Lime stabilization is done by adding lime to soil. This is
useful for the stabilization of subgrade soil. When lime reacts with soil
there is exchange of cations in the adsorbed water layer and a decrease
in the plasticity of the soil occurs. The resultant material is more friable
than the original natural soil, and is more suitable as subgrade. Lime is
produced by burning of limestone in kiln. The quality of lime obtained
depends on the parent material and the production process. And there are
basically 5 types of limes.

1. High calcium, quick lime (CaO)
2. Hydrated high calcium lime [Ca(OH)2]
3. Dolomitic lime [CaO+MgO]
4. Normal, hydrated Dolomitic lime [Ca(OH)2+MgO]
5. Pressure, hydrated Dolomitic lime [Ca(OH)2+MgO2]

The two primary types of lime used in construction today are quick lime
(calcium oxide) and hydrated lime (calcium hydroxide). Heating lime
stone at elevated temperatures produce quick lime and addition of water
to quick lime produces hydrated lime.

Equation shows the relation that occurs when limestone is heated to
produce quick lime with carbon dioxide as by-product.

CaCO3 + heat CaO + CO2

Addition of water to quick lime produces hydrated lime along with heat
as product:

CaO + H2O Ca(OH)2 + heat

For stabilization with lime, soil conditions and mineralogical properties
have a significant effect on the long term strength gain.


MECHANISM

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For soil stabilization with lime, soil conditions and
mineralogical properties have a significant effect on the long-term
strength gain. A pozzolanic reaction between silica and alumina is the
soil particles and calcium from the lime can form a cemented structure
that increases the strength of the stabilized soil. Residual calcium must
remain in the system to combine with the available silica or alumina to
keep the pH high enough to maintain the pozzolanic reaction. Soil that
should be consider for lime treatment include soil with a PI that exceeds
10 and have more than 25 percent passing the #200 sieve.

In lime stabilization the liquid limit of soil generally decrease
but the plastic limit increases. Thus the plasticity index of the soil
decreases. The strength of lime stabilized soil is generally improved. It is
partly due to the formation of cementing material. Increase in the
unconfined compressive strength is as high as 60 times. The modulus of
elasticity of the soil also increases substantially.

Addition of lime causes a high concentration of calcium ions in
double layer. It causes a decrease in the tendency of attraction of water.
Consequently, the resistance of soil to water absorption, capillary rise
and volume changes on wetting or drying is substantially increased. The
lime-stabilized bases or subbases form a water resistant barrier which
stops penetration of rain water. There is an increase in optimum
moisture content and a reduction in maximum density. In swampy areas
where the water content is above the optimum, application of lime to soil
helps in drying of soil. Cyclic freezing and thawing can causes a
temporary loss of strength, but because of subsequent healing action,
there is no loss of strength in long run. Construction method used in lime
stabilization are similar to those used in cement stabilization.


However, the following points are to be noted.

1. As the reaction in the case of lime is low, there is no maximum
time limit between the addition of lime to the soil and the

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completion of compaction. However, care should be taken to avoid
carbonation of lime in the process.
2. Lime may be added in form of slurry instead of dry powder.
3. A rest period of 1 to 4 days is generally required for spreading lime
mixing of lime and soil.
4. The soil lime is compacted to the required maximum dry density.

After compaction, the surface is kept moist for 7 days and then
covered with a suitable wearing coat. Sometimes, the wearing coat is
applied soon after the compaction to help hold the moisture.

STABILIZATION WITH FLYASH
Class C flyash is an industrial by product generated at coal field
electricity generating power plants that contains silica, alumina and
calcium based minerals.Upon exposure to water, these calcium
compounds hydrate and produce cementious products similar to the
formed during the hydration of Portland cement. It is therefore more
desirable to mix and compact flyash as quickly as practical.

The hydration property depends on coal source ,boiler design and the
type of ash collection system. The coal source governs the amount and
type of organic matter present in it.Eastern coal source contain small
amount of calcium. This class F flyash does not exhibit self-cementing
characteristics. Western coal contain higher amount of calcium(about
20%-35%)and are classified as class C flyash.
The amount of calcium oxide in flyash is lower than that of lime and
much of it is combined with silicate and aluminates,soflyash has less
effect on plasticity than lime.
Boiler design and operations depends on the rate at which the hydration
occurs .During combustion the inorganic matter is fused consequently
rapid cooling of fused particles occur. So the flyash particles are non-
crystalline in nature.
Compaction time after mixing is crticalto achieve maximum density and
strength. When compaction delayed hydration products begin to bond

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with loose particles and disruption of these aggregations is required to
density the material. So a portion of compactive energy is utilized in
overcoming cementation and maximum densities are reduced.
In flyash the high loss in ignition is due to the presence of unburnt
carbon. The combined amount of silica alumina and iron
oxide(84.6%)indicate its suitability as a pozzolanic material .Flyash is
no-plastic in nature. Its moisture condition does not predominantly affect
the dry density. The flyash has high angle of internal friction.
From the grain size distribution on flyash, it is found that it is a fine
grained material and about 86% of the sample passes through 75 micron
sieve indicating that flyash is essentially a silt size material.




















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CHAPTER 3

EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAMME

INTRODUCTION
In this chapter , a brief review of experiments conducted using natural
soil and the stabilized with lime and flyash is explained.

MATERIALS USED
1. Natural soil
Soil is brought from near a construction side of Bargarh. Soil over
there is less plastic soil. Therefore the strength of pavement sub
grade needs to be ascertained to withstand the compressive load
Table 1-Properties of soil used in the study:
Sl No Properties Values
1 Max. dry density 1517 kg/m3
2 Optimum moisture 23.15
3 Liquid limit 40.1%
4 Plasticity limit 14.67%
5 Plasticity index 25.43

2. Additives
The additives used for stabilization and modification include lime
and flyash. The soils were mixed with each of these additives for
which there were reasonable expectations of improved engineering

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properties. The amount of additive used was determined based on
testing the strength for addition of varying percentages and
selecting the one with greatest strength. The lime percentage was
fixed at 8% and flyash 12%.





Physical properties and chemical composition of flyash

Physical properties
Specific gravity 2.36
Chemical composition
Silica (SiO2)
58.3%
Aluminium (Al2O3)+Iron oxide (Fe2O3) 26.3%
Calcium oxide (CaO) 2.2%
Magnesium oxide (MgO) 0.3%

LAB TESTING
The various tests conducted on the sample are the following:

1. Atterberg limits
2. Specific gravity
3. Proctor compaction test
4. CBR Test

Firstly the above tests were conducted on plane soil sample to determine
its properties. Thereafter, certain percentages of lime and flyash are
added to the soil sample to stabilize it. And the percentages of the above
additives which produce the optimum strength to the soil.


Soil preparation

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The soil was collected from site in large sacks. It is brought to the lab
and is dried in oven for 24 hours in large pans. This soil due to loss of
water formedbig lumps which is broken to smaller pieces or even fine
powder and is sieved according to the needs of different experiments.


Compaction test
Compaction is the densification of soil by reduction of air voids. The
purpose of a laboratory compaction test is to determine, the quantity of
water to be added for field compaction of soil and resultant density
expected. When water is added to dry fine grained soil, the soil absorbs
water. Addition of more of water helps in sliding of particles over each
other. This assists the process of compaction. Up to a certain point,
additional water helps in reduction of air voids, but after a relatively
high degree of saturation is reached, the water occupies the space, which
could be filled with soil particles, and the amount of entrapped air
remains essentially constant. Therefore, there is optimum amount of
water for a given soil and compaction process, which gives rise to
maximum dry density.
Compaction of soil, soil-lime and soil-flyash mixtures were carried out
using standard proctor test with three layers on each 25 blows. Samples
for conducting compaction tests were prepared using moulds of
dimensions 10 cm diameter and 15 cm height. In study, lime is added for
about 4-20% and flyash also . The values of optimum moisture content
and maximum dry density are obtained in a plot of dry density versus
moisture content.

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Specific gravity
The specific gravity of solid particles is defined as the ratio of the mass
of a given volume of solids to the mass of an equal volume of water at
4degree centigrade. Specific gravity of normal soils is between 2.6 to
2.80.Specific gravity of soil mass indicates the average value of all the
solid particles present in the soil mass. Also it is an important parameter
used for the determination of void ratio and particle size. The specific
gravity of the supplied soil was 2.6.
Consistency limits
The consistency of fine grained soil is the physical state in which it
exists. It is used to denote the degree of firmness of soil. The water
content at which soil changes from one state to another is known as
consistency limits.
A soil containing high water in the liquid state. It has no resistance and
can flow like liquid. As the water content is reduced, the soil becomes
stiffer and starts developing resistance to shear deformation. The water
content at which soil changes from liquid state to plastic state is known
as liquid limit. The liquid limit is finding out by Casagrandes liquid
limit devices. The number of blows of this device is finding out at
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
0 10 20 30
dry density
dry density

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different water content. Flow curve is plot with number of blows on X-
axis and water content on Y-axis. The water content corresponding to 25
blows is the liquid limit.
Plastic limit is the water content below which the soil stops behaving as
plastic material. It begins to crumble when rolled into a thread of soil of
3mm diameter. At this water content, the soil loses its plasticity and
passes to the semi-solid state. The liquid limit, plastic limit and
plasticity index of the soil sample was found to be 36%, 21%, and 15%
respectively.
CHAPTER 4
RESULTS AND DICUSSION

Table 2 Variation of MDD and optimum moisture content and CBR
value with flyash content.
Sl no. Flyash
content
(%)
MDD
(gm/cc)
OMC
(%)
Max.CBR
(%)
1 4 1.96 17.5 2.65
2 8 1.94 20.22 10.4
3 12 1.92 23.89 37.06
4 16 1.89 25 24.90
5 20 1.85 28.34 15.1

Table 3 Variation of MDD and optimum moisture content and CBR
value with lime content.
Sl. no Lime
content
MDD
(gm/cc)
OMC
(%)
Max.CBR
(%)

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(%)
1 4 1.73 16.9 2.8
2 8 1.70 19.2 11.6
3 12 1.68 21.37 36.71
4 16 1.63 23.97 26.63
5 20 1.60 26.63 17.96





GRAPH 1- FLYASH CONTENT VS MDD



GRAPH 2- FLYASH CONTENT VS OMC

1.84
1.86
1.88
1.9
1.92
1.94
1.96
1.98
0 5 10 15 20 25
MDD
MDD

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GRAPH 3- FLYASH CONTENT VS CBR VALUE


GRAPH 4- LIME CONTENT VS MDD
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
0 5 10 15 20 25
OMC
OMC
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
0 5 10 15 20 25
CBR VALUE
CBR VALUE

25










GRAPH 5- LIME CONTENT VS OMC


GRAPH 6- LIME CONTENT VS CBR VALUE
1.58
1.6
1.62
1.64
1.66
1.68
1.7
1.72
1.74
0 5 10 15 20 25
MDD
MDD
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
0 5 10 15 20 25
OMC
OMC

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SUMMARY AND CONCUSION
Based on laboratory tests, the following conclusion have been made:

1. As the locally available borrow soil has generally low plasticity, it
was good to use for construction. The test carried out with
difference proportion of flyash indicated that the workability is
maximum with 12% flyash. Also the dry density observed is
maximum for 12% flyash.
2. The natural soil used for construction shall be dried with moisture
content below 4%. If soil has more moisture it is difficult to mix
with flyash. Such soil shall spread on surface and allowed to dry
before construction.
3. It was observed that the addition of lime and flyash greatly reduce
the plasticity characteristics and plasticity index.
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
0 5 10 15 20 25
CBR
CBR

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4. It was also found that the addition of lime and flyash increases the
bearing capacity of the soil sample.
5. The maximum dry density of soil decreases with lime content may
be due to light weight of lime and soil replaced by lime.













REFERENCES

1.Alhassan, M. (2008). Potentials of fly Ash for Soil Stabilization. AU
J.T. 11(4): 246-250
2.Murty A V S R, utilization of fly ash for embankment construction,
proc of experience sharing meet on use of fly ash in roads and
embankment, CRRI New delhi, 1998, 15-20
3.Veerendrasingh, Narendrakumar & Devendramohan, Use of fly ash
stabilization for roads, proc IGC-96,Madras 1996, 411-414
4.Bhoominathan, A. and Ratnakumar, j.(1996), Lime treated fly ash as
embankment material, preceeding of Indian Geotechnical conference,
[IGC-96, Madras, pp. 523-526]

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5.Eades and Grim, A quick test to determine lime requirement for lime
stabilization., Highway research record No-139, Highway research
board, Washington D.C, 1969