IMPROVEMENT OF MARGINAL

MATERIALS FOR RURAL ROADS

CONSTRUCTION
OBJECTIVE: For the relaxation of existing specified limits for
construction materials and to maximize the use of
locally available materials for construction of rural
road .

MARGINAL MATERIAL
It can be simply elaborated as follows;

Any material which is not wholly in accordance with the

specification in use for normal road construction but shall be
successfully used either in special conditions, made possible
because of climatic characteristics, recent progress in road
techniques or after subjecting to particular treatment.
Some Examples for Marginal Materials

Moorum Shale

Brickbats Laterite
Way Forward
Need to collect and analyze the information on
international practices and norms on use of marginal
materials.
Investigation of availability of marginal materials in our
country and their physical properties in a better way.
Preparation of realistic design and construction guidelines on
marginal materials to be used for rural road construction.
To adequately consider the main issues like Traffic, Rainfall,
Water logging and the availability of materials in the guidelines.
Research & Development work on usage of such materials,
field demonstration projects and collection of performance
data etc.
If the locally available materials including marginal and
industrial waste materials are utilized, it shall be
possible to reduce the cost of road construction.
Several types of marginal materials are tried to
establish the efficacy of road construction. However,
the use of new materials and technologies is not
becoming popular due to certain procedural constraints
as well as lack of awareness and hence appropriate
measures shall have to be taken for the popularization
of new technologies for construction of better rural
roads with low cost.
Adoption of such technique may also result in the
conservation of natural resources, energy and
environment.
Guidelines on Use of Marginal Materials
• Use of better granular soil
Well graded soils with low plasticity index have better physical properties and
should be reserved for use as improved subgrade/ sub base or surfacing in case
of earth roads. Such soils can be identified by their high proctor density and
low PI values.

• Stabilization of local soil

A variety of techniques are available for stabilization of local soils for improving
their physical properties. The stabilization mechanism and applicability of
individual techniques are as follows;
 Mechanical stabilization
 Lime stabilization
 Cement stabilization
 Lime-fly Ash stabilization
 Bitumen stabilization
The mix proportions are generally worked out in the laboratory based on the
soaked CBR value.
• Use of Waste Materials
There is a variety of waste materials which, if available close to the
construction site of a rural road project, can be utilized to advantage. The
various waste materials that can be incorporated in rural road works are as
follows;
 Fly ash
 Iron and steel slag
 Rice husk ash
 Recycled concrete aggregate
Other waste materials like quarry dust & muck

Fly Ash
Fly Ash can be used for the construction of road embankments and
stabilization of sub base and base courses as well. Fly Ash may be either from
anthracitic coal or lignitic coal. Fly Ash to be used in lime-fly ash stabilization
shall conform to the requirements of the specification for rural road
construction.
The mixing process can be done by a Rotavator.
USE OF FLY ASH FOR ROAD PAVEMENT CONSTRUCTION
 Stabilized soil subgrade & sub-base/base courses
• Mixing with soil reduces plasticity
• Characteristics of subgrade
• Addition of small percentage of lime or cement greatly improves strength
• Leaching of lime is inhibited and durability improves due to addition of fly ash
• Pond ash & bottom ash can also be stabilized
• Lime-fly ash mixture is better alternative to moorum for construction of
water bound macadam base

 Effect of Fly Ash Usage in Concrete

• Replacement of cement – Mix to be redesigned based on improvement in
workability
• Concrete becomes more impervious
• Increase in durability, sulphate resistance and reduction in alkali-aggregate
reaction even in chemically aggressive environment
• Usage is economical and environment friendly
Demonstration of Rural Road Project using Fly Ash
Other Waste Materials to be improved
Many other waste materials like processed municipal waste, quarry
waste, marble slurry dust, other metallic slag are available in the
country. As per the Laboratory and field studies conducted on these
materials, above waste materials can be utilized for the construction
of lower layers of road pavement and embankment as well.

Use of Stone Aggregate

The Stone aggregate shall be used in the sub-base, base and surface
courses of road pavement. These aggregates have to bear the stresses
imposed by wheel loads on the pavement structure and therefore
shall possess the properties of resistance to crushing, abrasion action
of traffic, impact by traffic and withstand the adverse action of
weather etc.
The suitability in broad terms of the aggregate obtained from
different type of rocks available in different parts of our country.
However, the construction technologies with the use of such marginal
materials can be successfully adopted. For the improvement of soil
properties by stabilizing of clayey soil is very useful method.
The following results can be achieved by above method of
improvement;

• Improve Atterberg limits to make soil suitable for road pavement

construction.
• Increase the Unconfined Compressive Strength (UCS) of soil and CBR
as well.

Alternative Technologies for Construction of Rural Roads

There are other several technologies that can be adopted in conditions of less
bearing capacity soils, marshy lands and locations with drainage problems
such as the use of geo-textiles.
Several types of geo-textiles including synthetic, jute coir etc. are proved to
give good results and provide cost effectiveness for construction of rural
roads.
 Thank you
Prepared by:
C.M.A Sujeewa Chandrasekare
Materials Engineer – PIC 02
iRoads, Puttalam district.