Expansive clay soils—those that change significantly in volume with changes in water content—are the cause of distortions to structures that cost taxpayers several billion dollars annually in the United States. Much has been learned about their behavior over the past 60 years, and relatively successful methods have been developed to modify and stabilize them. This paper reviews some of the key advances developed over the past 60 years in improving our understanding of the nature and methods of modifying and stabilizing expansive clay soils. The state of the practice in stabilization is presented, and practical and research needs to help improve the state of the practice are discussed.

Review of Stabilization of Clays and Expansive Soils in Pavements and Lightly Loaded Structures—History, Practice, and Future

This report presents information on the characterization of cementitiously stabilized layers and the properties that influence pavement performance. It also contains recommended performance-related procedures for characterizing these layers and performance-prediction models for incorporation into the mechanistic–empirical pavement analysis methods. Individual chapters highlight pavement distresses of hot-mix asphalt pavements and concrete pavements, laboratory tests and model development, and model calibration. The material contained in the report will be of immediate interest to state materials, pavement, and construction engineers and others involved in the different aspects of pavement design and construction.

Characterization of Cementitiously Stabilized Layers for Use in Pavement Design and Analysis

Sulphate attack and ettringite formation in the lime and cement stabilized marine clays

Sulfate-induced heaving in soils is primarily attributed to ettringite formation from the reactions between calcium of a lime or cement stabilizer, reactive alumina in soils, and sulfates in soils. Ettringite formation and subsequent heaving in soils are complex topics that are not well understood. This research is an attempt to advance the state of the knowledge on these topics. Ettringite was successfully synthesized in the laboratory by simulating conditions close to those in chemically treated sulfate-bearing soils. Soils spiked and compacted with the synthesized ettringite did not undergo heaving in one-dimensional free swell tests. However, heaving was observed when ettringite was formed inside the lime-treated soil specimen by including ionic reactions. Mineralogical studies including x-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscope studies were used to evaluate the presence of ettringite. Experimental investigations showed that the ettringite or sulfate-induced heaving was higher in clays than in sands under similar chemistry and environmental conditions. This is attributed to the void sizes of soil types and crystalline ettringite formation in the voids. Also, the effects of soil type, lime and sulfate amounts on this type of heaving, and hypothesized threshold levels of chemical ions to form ettringite mineral in treated soils, are addressed.

Experimental Studies on Ettringite-Induced Heaving in Soils

This paper presents the shear strength characteristics of a low lime class F fly ash modified with lime alone or in combination with gypsum. Unconfined compression tests were conducted for both unsoaked and soaked specimens cured up to 90 days. Addition of a small percentage of gypsum (0.5 and 1.0%) along with lime (4–10%) enhanced the shear strength of modified fly ash within short curing periods (7 and 28 days). The gain in unsoaked unconfined compressive strength ( qu ) of the fly ash was 2,853 and 3,567% at 28 and 90 days curing, respectively, for addition of 10% lime along with 1% gypsum to the fly ash. The effect of 24 h soaking showed reduction of qu varying from 30 to 2% depending on mix proportions and curing period. Unconsolidated undrained triaxial tests with pore-pressure measurements were conducted for 7 and 28 days cured specimens. The cohesion of the Class F fly ash increased up to 3,150% with addition of 10% lime along with 1% gypsum to the fly ash and cured for 28 days. The modified fly a...

Strength Characteristics of Class F Fly Ash Modified with Lime and Gypsum

A 3.5-km (2.2 mi) section of a road in Georgia developed unexpected transverse bumps within 6 months after construction. The source of the bumps appeared to be expansion within the cement-stabilized base course. Laboratory examination of samples from areas showing distress revealed the presence of ettringite, a calcium sulfoaluminate the formation of which can be accompanied by severe expansion. This expansive materials was the probable cause of the volume changes causing the transverse bumps. The calcium and alumina needed to form ettringite ware available from the portland cement and the stabilized soil`s clay minerals. The source of the sulfur was identified as the well water that was mixed with the cement-stabilized base. Sulfate attack of cement-stabilized soils is a relatively infrequent problem, but it is highly destructive when it occurs. Currently, there are no firm criteria for identifying when sulfate attack of a cement-stabilized soil is a potential problem nor are there established methods of preventing the attack.

J P Burkes

Papers

Sulfate attack on cement-stabilized sand