Swelling soils treatment using lime and sea water for roads construction

Abstract

The cyclic heave and settlement of expansive soils could be the main reason to considerable damages to the structures, roads and highways. In Egypt there are many regions containing such expansive soils especially at the desert lands. The remote areas are used now for establishing many projects such as (wind farms, solar plants, irrigation projects and nuclear power plants). The use of a mixture of lime-treated swelling soil mixed with potable water to overcome the swelling potential of these soils is available in many countries especially in U.S.A. For the projects located adjacent to the coasts of Sea, the sea water is available instead of potable water. This paper presents an experimental and field case study on the lime-treated soil but mixed with sea water instead of potable water. The effect of using sea water instead of potable water on the swelling behavior, engineering properties, and the consolidation parameters were studied. On the other hand, this research deals with the behavior of the lime-treated soil in swelling state as well as in consolidation state. Tests results showed that there are significant reductions in the swelling potential, engineering properties, and the consolidation parameters in case of using sea water instead of potable water as mixing water. The environmental and economic impact gained from such process was put into consideration. Keywords: Lime-treated soil, Swelling, Consolidation, Potable water, Sea water