EFFECT OF A NON-TRADITIONAL STABILIZERON THE COMPACTION OF FINE-GRAINED SOILS

Abstract

Reduction of environmental impact of earthworks is a growingissue. One of the major challenges of earthworks companies is touse most of natural materials extracted within the constructionsite, even materials with very low geotechnical characteristics.The common solution in earthworks is to add lime or cement inthe soil to improve its geotechnical properties. But, all soils cannot be treated with these additives and sustainable developmentprinciples also imply to reduce the consumption of water and nonrenewable energies. To reach this aim, the use of industrial by-products with limited environmental impact has been proposed.In this study, three silty soils were treated with an acid solution.For one of the tested soils, the experimental results showed areduction of the optimum Proctor water content that leads to animmediate improvement of the unconfined compressive strengthof treated soil. The modifications of compaction characteristicsallowed a better compaction of dry soils and savings of waterand energy. However, the effects of the treatment appeared to behighly dependent on soil nature.