Utilization of Waste Wheat Straw Fibers for Improving the Strength Characteristics of Clay

Abstract

This paper presents the evaluation of engineering properties of Dhanauri clay reinforced with wheat straw fibers. A series of experiments were conducted to find the index and strength properties that is unconfined compressive strength and California Bearing Ratio (CBR) values of compacted soil specimens in unreinforced and reinforced conditions. These tests were carried out with different percentages of fiber inclusion (0% to 2%). It is found that the unconfined compressive strength significantly improved (about three times) with the inclusion of wheat straw fibers. CBR values have also increased by 44% with inclusion of these fibers. The increase in strength characteristics of soil indicates that the waste wheat straw fibers can be used as reinforcement in subgrade of rural roads and mud housing.