A STUDY OF CHANGE IN ENGINEERING PROPERTIES OF EXPANSIVE SOIL ON TREATED WITH CALCIUM CHLORIDE SOLUTION

Abstract

Primary step while constructing a structure is to evaluate the bearing capacity of the soil strata over which the foundation of the structure will be laid on. As the much larger part of south India and some parts of Madhya Pradesh and southern region of Rajasthan has expansive soil. While this soil is great for the farmer as it is rich in nutrients but, it causes problems to the Civil engineers. The expansive soil shows its characteristic swelling and shrinking behavior along with seasonal variation as the water available to be absorbed by the soil varies with seasons. This volumetric change in the soil strata causes excessive damage to the structure. To overcome this an engineer have to enhance the engineering properties of the soil. On the field, various methods are being used viz. Addition of calcareous materials like lime, marble dust, etc. But, many of these methods are cumbersome due to they are more
laborious and not quite effective while using at larger projects. An easy method can also be applied which is more effective and less laborious that is the addition of property enhancing material in solution form. So that the mixing will be effective and so the results will be more worthy. The present study is a critical evaluation of the addition of calcium chloride solution in black cotton soil. Concentration of the CaCl2 solution adopted is 1%, 2%, 3% and 4%. Results show that the solution of 3% CaCl2 concentration found to be the optimum dose. Swelling pressure reduced by 67% and the Unconfined Compressive strength increased by 30%