Nontraditional Stabilization of Base Course and Subgrade Soils

A special issue of Infrastructures (ISSN 2412-3811). This special issue belongs to the section "Infrastructures Materials and Constructions".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2021) | Viewed by 5716

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Civil Engineering Department, The University of Texas at Tyler, Tyler, TX 75799, USA
Interests: soil stabilization; geotechnical earthquake engineering; strength and deformation analyses

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Guest Editor
Adjunct Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Rice University, P.O. Box 1892, Houston, TX 77251-1892, USA
Interests: construction materials; polymers; transportation; STEM education

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues, 

The primary purpose of the base course and subgrade layers of a pavement system is to resist permanent deformations, to resist shear, and to avoid excessive deflections. Toward this end, base materials directly support pavement layers, tend to have higher strength and deformation characteristics, and are typically more likely to be non-native, as opposed to subgrade soils. Soil stabilization to improve the engineering properties of base course materials has been practiced for many years using traditional (calcium-based) and non-traditional stabilizers (non-calcium-based). The main purposes for stabilization of base soils include increase in shear strength, reduction in moisture susceptibility, and utilization of local soils. Cement and lime are the two most common traditional stabilizers. Research findings over the years have consistently revealed that cement and lime treatment lead to significant increases in strength and durability of treated soils. Although much research has been conducted on traditional stabilizers during the past several decades, non-traditional stabilizers have recently been recommended as alternative base stabilization additives. The effectiveness of non-calcium-based stabilizers for base and subgrade soils has been studied by various researchers. Some of the recommended non-traditional stabilizers include barium hydroxide and barium chloride, sulfonated naphthalene to enzymes and bioenzymes, potassium stabilizer, hydrogen ion exchange chemicals, low pH solutions of sulfonated limonene, enzymes, lignosulfonates, petroleum emulsions, polymers, resins, and chemical stabilizers. Non-traditional admixtures have become popular due to their cost efficiency, ease of application, and fast curing times.

We would like to invite you to contribute by submitting articles on your recent research, experimental work, reviews, and/or case studies related to the field of non-traditional soil stabilizers. Contributions may be from, but not limited to, the following topics:

  • Non-traditional stabilizers and promising technologies;
  • Comparison of stabilizing agents, treatment levels, curing times, and moisture conditioning;
  • Field and laboratory experimental program and interpretation of the data;
  • Effectiveness of stabilizers and the repeatability of laboratory and field results;
  • Permeability characteristics of treated soils;
  • Moisture susceptibility of treated soils;
  • Swelling potential of treated soils;
  • Case histories and recommended practices.

Dr. Gokhan Saygili
Dr. Yetkin Yildirim
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • Soil improvement
  • Soil stabilization
  • Non-traditional admixtures
  • Laboratory testing
  • Unconfined compressive strength
  • California bearing ratio
  • Permeability

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 3227 KiB  
Article
Improvement of Pavement Subgrade by Adding Cement and Fly Ash to Natural Desert Sand
by Talal S. Amhadi and Gabriel J. Assaf
Infrastructures 2021, 6(11), 151; https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures6110151 - 23 Oct 2021
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 2928
Abstract
Soil characteristics are paramount to design pavements and to assess the economic viability of a road. In the desert, such as that found in southern Libya, the very poor quality of soils leads to important pavement distress such as cracks, rutting, potholes, and [...] Read more.
Soil characteristics are paramount to design pavements and to assess the economic viability of a road. In the desert, such as that found in southern Libya, the very poor quality of soils leads to important pavement distress such as cracks, rutting, potholes, and lateral shear failure on the edges. To improve the strength of desert sand, an innovative approach is proposed, consisting of adding manufactured sand, ordinary Portland cement (OPC), and fly ash (FA) as a binder. OPC and FA improve the characteristics of mixes of crushed fine aggregate (CFA) and natural desert sand (NDS). These results are based on a gradation of two sand sources to determine the particle distribution and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) to determine their chemical and physical properties, respectively. This research assesses the effect of cement and fly ash on the geotechnical behavior of two mixtures of fine desert and manufactured sands (30:70% and 50:50%). The mix composed of 26% of CFA, 62% of NDS, 5% of OPC, and 7% of FA shows optimal results in terms of strength, compaction, and bearing capacity characteristics. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nontraditional Stabilization of Base Course and Subgrade Soils)
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16 pages, 2142 KiB  
Article
Enhanced Flexible Pavement Performance Using Treated Compared to Untreated Aggregate Bases: A Comparative Case Study in the Southern United States
by Mena I. Souliman, Hemant GC and Zabi Mohammed
Infrastructures 2021, 6(8), 110; https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures6080110 - 6 Aug 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2186
Abstract
One of the important aspects of highway design is aggregates. Aggregates strength and consistency has an effect on pavement structure’s overall performance. The consistency of the base material near the site of the construction doesn’t always match the requirements of pavement construction and [...] Read more.
One of the important aspects of highway design is aggregates. Aggregates strength and consistency has an effect on pavement structure’s overall performance. The consistency of the base material near the site of the construction doesn’t always match the requirements of pavement construction and carrying quality aggregate raises the cost of construction. Stabilizing agents such as asphalt cement, lime, fly ash were used to improve the strength of these materials in order to make greater use of locally available materials. Layer materials present in the pavements and the structure of them influence pavement performance. The compressive strain and the tensile strain in the layer of subgrade and asphalt layer respectively are influenced by the stiffness of the base layer. The important aspects causing rutting and fatigue cracking are compressive strain in the top region of the subgrade layer and tensile strain at the bottom of the asphalt layer, respectively. In this research study, field performance (cracking, rutting, and surface roughness) of pavement sections with untreated and treated bases were collated to assess the impact of the stabilizing agents. The treated sections performed well significantly compared to the untreated sections in terms of pavement surface roughness and fatigue cracking. The treated sections performed higher than the untreated sections in terms of the cumulative average values of all 3 distresses with fatigue cracking averaging 5 times lower than the untreated sections. The combined IRI and rutting of treated sections averaged about 1.5 times and 0.11 inches smaller, respectively than those of untreated sections. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nontraditional Stabilization of Base Course and Subgrade Soils)
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