Study on Performance and Efficacy of Industrial Waste Materials in Road Construction: Fly Ash and Bagasse Ash

Abstract

Enormous quantities of domestic, industrial, agricultural and mining waste are generated annually. A large quantity of waste material is dumped at land filling site, which if investigated properly can be utilized in road construction sector. The utilization of these waste materials can be an economical and eco-friendly alternative in nearby areas for road construction. The results, to date, indicate that there is a wide scope for the use of such materials. However, in developing countries, only a few materials have been used and that too on experimental basis. The main objectives of the present investigation is to assess the usefulness of industrial waste as a soil admixture, and focused to improve the engineering properties of soil to make it capable of lower layer of road construction. Present investigation describes the behavioral aspect of soils mixed with industrial waste materials viz. Fly ash (FA) and bagasse ash (BA) to improve the load bearing capacity of the soil. Clayey soil has been considered using two different types of stabilizer viz. FA and BA ranging from 5 to 35% by weight of soil. The physical and chemical properties of these stabilizers were ascertained and compared. Admixing of all these stabilizers improve soaked CBR and unconfined compressive strength (UCS) values substantially and dramatic reduction in dry density was observed. Stress-strain characteristics of these ashes admixed with clayey soil is similar and showed mark influence of compacted density on angle of internal friction and cohesion. Microstructural investigation by using SEM technique, morphological properties of soil-FA and soil-BA mixtures was studied. From the SEM image analysis, presence of enormous quantities of amorphous compounds is also confirmed.