Laboratory Investigation of Shedi Soil Stabilized with Pond Ash and Coir

IGC 2009, Guntur, INDIA

LABORATORY INVESTIGATION OF SHEDI SOIL STABILIZED WITH POND

ASH AND COIR

P. Suresh Praveen Kumar

Asst. Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, KSRM College of Engineering, Kadapa–516003, India.
E-mail: potulasuresh@gmail.com
K. Rajasekhar
Assoc. Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, KSRM College of Engineering, Kadapa–516003, India.
E-mail: krs_str@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT: Stabilizing the locally available weak soils is of paramount importance in contemporary practices in
construction industry. This paper presents results of laboratory investigation made on strength behaviour of a weak soil
blended with pond ash and coir. Shedi soil is a problematic soil and is abundantly available in the Konkan belt. It is blended
with pond ash, a solid-waste from the Thermal Power Stations. Pond ash added to soil is to alter the gradation and make the
soil coarser. Influence of pond ash content on Optimum Water Content (OMC) and Maximum Dry Density (MDD), and on
strength parameters such as UCS and CBR values of stabilized soil mixes are studied and discussed.

1. INTRODUCTION The main objectives of the present study are as follows:

Effective and bulk utilization of both locally available weak
construction material and large quantity of disposed
industrial waste is of global concern. Two major subjects of
serious concern are, availability of good construction
material and safe disposal of huge amount of solid waste
from industries. In the very first decade of second
millennium, India saw sudden boost in infrastructure
development and it is still in boom state, which might
continue for long. There should be a safe disposal of huge
amount of coal ash generated at a rate of more than 110
Metric tonnes per annum as a waste by-product from the
large number of thermal power stations, which causes
hazards and environmental problems. As the disposal of coal
ash requires large area, therefore it is important to have its
bulk utilization in base and sub base courses of the
pavement, embankments, backfills etc., to increase ash
utilization in the country.
• To stabilize the locally available weak sub-grade, (i.e.
Shedi soil) by varying the percentage of pond ash and
coir fibres.
• To study the influence of pond ash content on the OMC
and MDD, strength parameters.
• To arrive at the optimum pond ash content.
1.2 Scope of the Study
The scope of the work includes characterization of the Shedi
soil and pond ash, determining the moisture-density
relationship with respect to IS-light compaction for the soil
blended with varying pond ash content and coir fibres and
determine the laboratory UCS and CBR. The main purpose
of adding pond ash to soil is to alter the gradation and make
the soil coarser, and addition of fibres is for tensile action.

1.1 Objectives of the Study 2. EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES

In the present investigation, an attempt is made to examine
strength behaviours of Shedi soil, which is quite problematic,
abundantly available in the region of South Canara District
of Karnataka State, India. Shedi soil is characterized by its
poor strength in compression and shear particularly in wet
condition it exhibits appreciable strength. Roads constructed
on this type of soil sub-grade become problematic during
monsoon and exhibit spongy nature and poses difficulties for
design, construction, and maintenance of most of the rural
roads in these regions.
2.1 Materials
The materials used for the study are Shedi soil, pond ash and
coir fibres. The Shedi soil is procured from the nearby
village at Surathkal, Mangalore, Karnataka. Pond ash, a solid
waste is procured from Raichur Thermal Power Station
(RTPS), Raichur. The physical and strength properties of
the Shedi soil and pond ash are tabulated in Table 1. The
chemical composition of the pond ash is shown in the
Table 2.

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 Laboratory Investigation of Shedi Soil Stabilized with Pond Ash and Coir

Table 1: Properties of Shedi Soil and Pond Ash microns and due to its non-plastic behaviour it has been
Property Shedi soil Pond ash classified under the group of SW. Replacing Shedi soil by
Specific Gravity (G) 2.53 2.00 pond ash by more than 15 percent, particle distribution
Grain size distribution changes from fine grained to coarse grained. Reduction in
Gravel size fraction, % 0.65 22.00 fine-grained fraction is found to be nearly 15 percent with 15
Sand size fraction, % 37.35 44.00 percent pond ash content, and 40 percent with 50 percent
Silt size fraction, % 55.00 34.00 pond ash content.
Clay size fraction, % 7.00 0.00
Consistency limits
Liquid Limit (LL), % 46.01 Non-

3
kN/m3
inkN/m
Plastic Limit (PL), % 34.00 Plastic 18
Plasticity Index (PI), % 12.01 16
Standard Proctor Test

MDDin
IS Classification SM-MI SW 14

MDD
IS Light Compaction 12
OMC (WOMC), % 17.00 27.20 0 20 40
MDD (γd), kN/m3 16.78 11.79
OMC
OMC inin
%%
Strength Values
Un-Confined Compressive
Fig. 1: Relation between OMC and MDD
Strength 72.59 0.00
C, kN/m2 44.00 50.00
φ, Degrees 21 30.00 3.2 Effect of Pond Ash Content on Strength Values
CBR-Unsoaked Condition, % 5 N/C 3.2.1 Un-Confined Compressive Strength
CBR-Soaked Condition, %
Un-Confined Compressive test are carried out on 38 mm
N/C = Not Conducted diameter and 75 mm height samples of the soil mix
proportions. The results shows that there is continuous
Table 2: Chemical Properties of Pond Ash
increase in UCC value with the increase in coir content in the
Property Test values (%) mix for 1 day and 7 days samples (Fig. 2). The addition of
SiO2 85.42 pond ash improves strength by one percent after curing one
Al2O3 1.38 day and 1.4 percent after seven days curing (Fig. 3). The
Fe2O3 2.08 UCC strength of the blended soil (soil + pond ash + coir)
CaO 5.33 increases with increase in percentage of coir and keeping
MgO 0.37 pond ash content (i.e. 15%) constant. The UCC increases
Na2O 0.02 from 251.04 kN/m2 to 372.39 kN/m2 with the addition of
K2O 0.03 0.8% coir for mix of 82.4% soil and 15% pond ash for one
SO3 0.06 day UCC test in light compaction. The gain in strength in 7
days curing samples may be because of long term reaction
2.2 Methodology such as pozzolanic and carbonation. The Shedi soil samples
tested for one day and 7 days showed that there is an increase
Shedi soil is stabilized with the pond ash and coir fibres. The in UCC strength of 7 days samples, this may be because of
quantity of pond ash content is varied gradually as 5, 10, 15, some additives are present in original soil that may be adding
20, 25, 30, 35, and 40 percent by weight of total mix. The to the strength of the Shedi soil.
blending of the soil, pond ash and coir fibres are carried out
manually. The properties of the different mixes with varying
kN/m 2

pond ash content were studied for laboratory prepared 400

3
StrengthinkN/m

specimens after curing for 7 days. The MDD and OMC 300
values were determined for IS-light compaction (Fig. 1). 1 Day Curing (LC)
UCCStrength

200

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 100

7 Days Curing (LC)
0
UCC

3.1 Grain Size Distribution

0 20 40 60
Physical properties of Shedi soil are shown in Table 1. Based PondAsh
AshContent
Content in
Pond in %
%
on the higher fines content (more than 50 percent), liquid
limit (LL) and plasticity index (PI), it is classified under the
group of SM-MI as per IS: 1498-1970. Where as pond ash Fig. 2: Relation between UCC Strength and Pond Ash
contains more than 50 percent of material retained on 75 Content

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Laboratory Investigation of Shedi Soil Stabilized with Pond Ash and Coir

coir for both one day and 7 days curing. The percentage
500 increase after one day curing is 8 and for 7 days curing
UCC Strength in
kN/mkN/m3

400 is 15 for light compaction.

1 day Curing (LC)
2

300 • Maximum value of CBR is obtained at OMC for 0.6% of

UCC Strength

200 coir and 15% of pond ash in the soil mix. The
100 percentage increase is found to be 55 at OMC and 116 in
7 days Curing (LC)
0 soaked condition for light compaction.
0 0.5 1 1.5 • At any particular settlement, the load carrying capacity
Coir Content in % of Shedi soil-pond ash-coir mix increases with the
Coir Content in % addition of pond ash upto 15% and 0.8% coir and there
Fig. 3: Relation between UCC Strength and Coir Content after it decreases.

3.2.2 CBR REFERENCES

The CBR value of blended soil (85% Soil + 15% pond ash)
increases with increase in percentage of coir. The CBR
increases from 20.54% to 44.64% at 0.6% of coir and at
0.8% of coir, the CBR decreases to 38.44% at un-soaked
condition and the CBR increases from 4.71% to 10.17% at
0.6% of coir and at 0.8% of coir the CBR decreases to 8.93%
under light compaction. CBR may be increasing because of
following reasons:
The coir offers resistance to the penetration of the plunger.
The resistance may be made up of bond between soil mix.
The increase in CBR value can be attributed to the better
packing of different fractions.
4. CONCLUSIONS
Based on the test results, the following conclusions have
been drawn:
• The locally available Shedi soil properties have been
improved by adding pond ash and coir. To satisfy the
sub-base requirement the per cent replacement of pond
ash and coir to soil, based on laboratory investigation is
15% and 0.8% respectively.
• Maximum value of unconfined compressive strength is
exhibited in the soil mix with 15% pond ash with 0.8%
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