most suitable treatments for various soil types to
stabilize these soils for different objectives.
MECHANICAL METHOD
Mechanical stabilization is accomplished by mixing
or blending soils of two or more gradations to obtain a
material meeting the required specification. The soil
blending may take place at the construction site, at a
central plant, or at a borrow area. The blended material
is then spread and compacted to required densities by
conventional means.
ADDITIVE METHOD
Additive refers to a manufactured commercial
product that, when added to the soil in the proper
quantities, will improve the quality of the soil layer. This
chapter is directed towards the use of portland cement,
lime, lime-cement-fly ash, and bitumen, alone or in
combination, as additives to stabilize soils. The
selection and determination of the percentage of
additives depend upon the soil classification and the
degree of improvement in soil quality desired.
Generally, smaller amounts of additives are required to
alter soil properties, such as gradation, workability, and
plasticity, than to improve the strength and durability
sufficiently to permit a thickness reduction design. After
the additive has been mixed with the soil, spreading and
compacting are accomplished by conventional means.
Stabilization by Cementing Action
This method requires the addition of chemical
agents to the soil to produce the hardened product. There
are three main stabilizing agents that can be added, and
the method of treatment bears the name of these agents:
soil-cement, soil-lime, and lime-fly ash. The methods of
chemical stabilization have much in common and
involve somewhat similar construction practices. They
depend upon hydration, pozzolanic action of lime with
silica and alumina, alteration of the clay material, or a
combination of these actions. The result is a semirigid,
fairly brittle material with considerable compressive
strength and moderate flexural strength when tested
either statically or dynamicaly. The ultimate strength
depends to a great degree on the density that is achieved
during compaction and before the mix cures.
Bituminous Stabilization
In bituminous treatment, the end product performs
differentlyat least initially, and the product is much
less brittle. Additionally, its behavior depends on the
nature of the loading (static or dynamic) and the
temperature when the load is applied.
MODIFICATION METHOD
Soil stabilization by modification usually results in
something less than a thoroughly cemented, hardened
or semihardened material. This type of stabilization may
be accomplished by compacting, by mechanical
blending, by adding cementing materials in small
amounts, or by adding chemical modifiers. Cement and
lime modifiers (cement-modified soil and
lime-modified soil) are used in quantities too small to
provide high-strength cementing action. They reduce
the plasticity of clay soils. Calcium chloride or sodium
chloride is added to the soil to retain moisture (and also
control dust), to hold fine material for better
compaction, and to reduce frost heave by lowering the
freezing point of water in the soil. Bituminous materials,
such as cutback asphalts or asphaltic penetrative soil
binder (APSB), and certain chemicals, such as polyvinyl
acetate emulsion (DCA-70), are used to waterproof the
soil surface and to control dust.
GENERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR USE
OF STABILIZERS
This section discusses different types of stabilizers.
It also provides a method of selecting the type or types
of stabilizers that you can use for various conditions.
Before a proper stabilizer can be selected, however, you
must first perform, or have performed, a sieve analysis
and Atterberg limits tests for the particular type of soil
you are concerned with. Both sieve analysis and
Atterberg limits testing are discussed in the EA3
TRAMAN and in Materials Testing, NAVFAC
MO-330.
LIME
Experience shows that lime will react with many
medium, moderately fine, and fine-grained soils to
produce decreased plasticity, increased workability,
reduced swell, and increased strength. Soils classified
according to the Unified Soil Classification System
(USCS) as CH, CL, MH, ML, OH, OL, SC, SM, GC,
GM, SW-SC, SP-SC, SM-SC, GW-GC, GP-GC,
ML-CL, and GM-GC should be considered as
potentially capable of being stabilized with lime.
CEMENT
Cement can be used as an effective stabilizer for a
wide range of materials. In general, however, the soil
should have a PI less than 30. For coarse-grained soils,
the amount passing the No. 4 sieve should be greater
than 45 percent.
18-2