Stabilization of expansive soils for use in construction

Expansive clay soils are extensively distributed worldwide, and are a source of great damage to infrastructure and buildings. These soils can cause heavy economic losses, as well as being a source of risk to the population. This article presents an experimental study in the stabilization of an expansive soil, consisting of the reduction of its swelling capacity and the improvement of its mechanical capacities by the addition of by-products and waste materials of industrial origin. This achieves the double objective of reducing the problems of this type of soil, and also of providing a use for the additives, thus eliminating the economic and environmental cost involved in managing them. From the point of view of expansivity, it was possible to reduce it to levels well below what Spanish legislation contemplates for expansive soils. As to the improved mechanical capacities of the soil, all treatments tested offered improvements of between two and four times the compressive strength of the untreated soil. Of the waste materials, the most notable is the behavior of Rice Husk Fly Ash, highly effective in stabilizing soil from the two aspects considered in this experiment. (c) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.