Engineering Properties of Crushed Glass-Soil Blends

Abstract

This paper reports on a laboratory study to evaluate the feasibility of using crushed glass to improve the engineering characteristics of fine-grained, marginal materials (e.g. kaolin, quarry fines) and conversely, to explore the extent to which soil blending could enhance the cohesive behavior of crushed glass (CG). Several basic physical and mechanical properties of two different soil-glass blends were evaluated. The results indicated that the cohesive strength of the CG was increased by 50% to 100% by the addition of fine-grained soils; however, this was accompanied by a 20% to 45% reduction in frictional strength. When considering the addition of CG to marginal soils to improve their strength characteristics, the results show a significant amount of frictional strength was added to the fine grained soils through addition of CG.