Influence of Bagasse Ash on Compaction Behvaiour of Soil

Abstract

Bagasse is one of the main by-products remaining from Sugarcane industry in tropical and subtropical regions. This by-product is used as a fuel in production of the sugar and a high amount of ash is remained due to this process. The remaining bagasse ash traditionally is used as a fertiliser, however recently it’s been used as a cost-effective additive in improvement of the mechanical characteristics of the soils by practitioners. This study investigates effect of addition of different percentages of bagasse ash on improvement of the compaction characteristics of the cemented kaolinite. The results showed that addition of bagasse ash increased the optimum moisture content of the soil (OMC) and reduced the maximum dry density (MDD). The recorded increase in OMC was attributed to the extra moisture that required to add for the hydration. Also, reduction in MDD was attributed to the weightless bagasse ash in compare with kaolinite clay.