CHAPTER 13

MODIFICATION BY ADMIXTURES

Terminology, Construction Techniques, and

Typical Uses
This chapter deals with modifying soils by the mechanical
addition of granular materials or chemical compounds such as
cement, lime, bitumen, and calcium chloride.
The purpose:
Increase strength
Reduce deformability
Provide volume stability
Reduce permeability
Reduce erodibility
Increase durability
Control variability

Improving the engineering properties of a soil by admixtures is often referred

to as soil stabilization.
Soil additives may help to:
Enhance subgrade or subbase properties in order to reduce the required
overall pavement thickness.
Improve trafficability on construction sites
Prepare the ground for shallow foundations
Stabilize slopes by improving the soils shear strength
Reduce erosion by surface runoff or internal seepage (piping)
Construct embankments
Form load-bearing columns (in situ)
Improve the workability of borrow materials
Reduce traffic-generated dust
Contain hazardous wastes
Rehabilitate polluted or mined ground
Different ways of mixing additives with soil are illustrated in Figure 13.1.

Figure 13.1 Examples of Ground Modification with Admixtures

 Stabilization with admixtures is distinguished from

grouting by the fact that the in situ soil is at least
partially remolded during construction process.
The additive is usually in the form of a pulverized solid
or thick slurry, rather than a viscous liquid as in
grouting.
Injecting grout increases the density of a soil by filling
its existing voids or by displacing and compressing the
surrounding ground.
In contrast, mixing soil with additives like lime often
creates additional voids; nevertheless, chemical and
physical reactions still ensure increase ground strength
and reduced compressibility.

Types of Admixtures & Their Effect on Soil

Properties
The most common artificial additives are:
Portland cement
Lime
Bitumen and tar

Granular Admixtures
The strength coarse-grained materials is largely related to their
density, which in turn depends significantly on the particle size
distribution. Maximum density is obtained in soils which have a
particle size distribution which can be approximated by
(NAASRA, 1986):

d
p 100

where:
p = percentage passing the sieve with aperture d
D = maximum particle size
n = exponent
For most soils used in pavement construction, densest particle
packing is achieved when n is in the range of 0.45 to 0.5 well
graded soil.

Portland Cement

Soil with cement admixtures are generally termed

cement-stabilized or cement-treated. Mitchell (1976)
reserves the name soil-cement.
Gravels, crushed rock, or coarse sands with enough
cement to achieve a stress-strain modulus in the range
of 2000 to 20000 MPa are described as cement-bound
and may serve as subbase or base course materials.

Engineering Benefits of Cement Stabilization

Major gains in the cement treatment of soils are:
Increased strength & stiffness
Better volume stability
Increased durability
The mixing efficiency Em :
Em

Sf
SL

Where:
Sf = the strength of the soil mixed in the field
SL = the strength of the soil mixed in the laboratory
Good construction procedures may result in efficiencies in excess
of 80%.
Typical cement contents in soil stabilization range from 2 to 10%.

Lime
Lime is used in the form of quicklime, CaO, or hydrated
lime, Ca(OH)2. A third version of lime, CaCO3, is used
for agricultural purposes only.
Ion Ca++; Mg++; Na+; Ka+.

Soil Lime (CaO) Reactions

Short-term reactions include hydration (for quicklime)
and flocculation (ion exchange).
Longer-term reactions are cementation and carbonation.
Hydration: This drying action is particularly beneficial in
the treatment of moist clays.
Flocculation: When lime is mixed with clay, sodium and
other cations (+ ion) adsorbed to the clay mineral
surfaces are exchanged with calcium. Lime causes clay
to coagulate, aggregate, or flocculate. The clays
plasticity is reduced, making it more easily workable and
potentially increasing its strength and stiffness.

 Cementation: The clay-lime reaction removes silica

from the clay mineral lattice to form products not
unlike those of cement hydration. Cementation is the
main contributor to the strength of the stabilized soil.
Carbonation: Reaction of lime with carbon dioxide
(CO2) in the open air or in voids of the ground forms
a relatively weak cementing agent.

Engineering Benefits of Lime Stabilization

1. Improved workability:
o.Workability is improved because flocculation makes
the clay more friable.
o.The plasticity decreases, mainly because of an increase
in the plastic limit.
o.The LL may increase or decrease, depending on the
type of soil (Fig. 13.4).
o.Lime increases the optimum water content for
compaction. The maximum dry density achieved with a
particular compactive effort is reduced (Fig. 13.5). The
compaction curve for lime-treated clay is flatter, which
makes moisture control less critical and reduces the
variability of the density produced.

Engineering Benefits of Lime Stabilization

o In the first few hours after mixing, lime additives
cause a steady increase in strength, but a slower rate
than cement. The need for compaction immediately
after mixing is less critical for lime than cement (Fig.
13.6).

Engineering Benefits of Lime Stabilization

2. Increase Strength:
Lime increases the strength of a clayey soil, typically
demonstrated in term of unconfined compressive strength
or CBR test results.
3. Increase Volume Stability:
Improved volume stability means reduce shrinkage and
swell upon drying and wetting, respectively. A typical
result of a shrinkage and swelling test is shown in Fig.
13.7.
4. Increase permeability:
It could mean better drainage and less pore pressure
buildup under load.

Calcium Chloride
Calcium Chloride (CaCl2) has been used in highway
construction and maintenance since early 20th century.
Today, CaCl2 still has a variety of uses, but it is probably
most appreciated as a dust palliative on highly trafficked
unpaved roads, such as haul roads in mining and on
large earth-moving projects.

Fly Ash
Fly ash is a solid waste product created by the
combustion of coal.
Only 15 to 20% of fly ash produced in the USA in 1986
was used constructively, less than half of that was used in
the manufacture of concrete.

Bitumen and Tar

Bitumen is a product obtained after processing the
residue that remains after the distillation or evaporation
of crude petroleum.
Tar is the result of destructive distillation of coal or other
carbonaceous material.
Bituminous stabilization is generally used to:
Waterproof soils or at least reduce water absorptions.
Add cohesion to granular soils