Efficacy of Cement-stabilized Fly Ash Cushion in Arresting Heave of Expansive Soils

Expansive clays swell and shrink seasonally when subjected to changes in the moisture regime causing substantial distress to the structures built in them. Techniques like sand cushion and cohesive non-swelling soil (CNS) layer have been tried to arrest heave and consequent damages to structures. Sand cushion has been proved to be counter-productive. Studies have indicated that even though CNS layer was effective initially, it became less effective after the first cycle of swelling and shrinkage. Research carried out by the authors, using cement-stabilized fly ash as a cushioning material, has shown that it was quite effective in arresting heave. Fly ash cushion, stabilized with 10% cement with thickness equal to that of the expansive soil bed reduces heave by about 75% in the first instance. With subsequent swell-shrink cycles, the performance further improves, unlike in the case of a black cotton soil provided with a CNS cushion. At the end of fourth cycle of swelling, the reduction in the amount of heave is as high as 99.1%.