Behavior of Industrial Waste Bagasse Ash and Blast Furnace Slag-Treated Expansive Clay for Pavement Subgrade

Abstract

The stability of lightweight structure such as pavement is majorly influenced by subgrade soil. Expansive soil has high strength but it becomes problematic in the presence of water; it expands and shrinks during wet and dry conditions, respectively, because of its mineralogical composition. To minimize the cost of stabilization and to improve the load bearing capacity of such soil, these are the major concerns for problematic high plastic expansive subgrades. In this study, the experiment has been carried out to examine the feasibility of waste materials bagasse ash and ground granulated blast furnace slag as a soil stabilizer to improve subgrade. Consistency limits, California bearing ratio, unconfined compressive strength, and swelling pressure were studied to check the effect on high plastic clay when treated with waste material. The experimental results showed the improvement in soaked California bearing ratio and reduction in the swell–shrink behavior of soil when combined with bagasse ash and ground granulated blast furnace slag. Hence, these wastes can be used as a pozzolanic material to stabilize the high plastic expansive clay of the pavement subgrade.