IMPROVING SOME GEOTECHNICAL PROPERTIES OF AN ORGANIC SOIL USING CRUSHED WASTE CONCRETE

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Many urban areas are now struggling with the high volume of solid wastes, especially the construction and demolition materials. In this study, the crushed waste concrete (CWC), which is considered one of the biggest components of solid waste, was used to improve some geotechnical properties of organic soil. The CWC at the ratios of 5%, 10%, 15%, and 20% were added to organic soil in order to conduct an intensive series of experimental tests. The laboratory tests included the consistency limits by fall cone, modified compaction, unconfined compressive strength (UCS), and swelling percentage. The results show that when the CWC percentages were increased to 50%, there were decreases of about 30% and 60% in liquid limit and plasticity index of clay, respectively. An increase of about 35% in γ_drymax for the organic soil was noticed when the CWC content was increased from 10% to 50%. A reduction of about 50% of w_opt for organic soil was shown by increasing the CWC percentage to 50%. The UCS values of the organic silt increase by around 25% by increasing the CWC percentage up to 50%. The swelling percentage increased by adding CWC up to 30%, and then decreased with the addition of CWC up to 50%.

Keywords

• soil stabilization,organic soil

References

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