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St. Paul University Philippines

Tuguegarao City, Cagayan 3500

Chapter 1

Introduction

Soil stabilization is any process that enhances soil's

physical properties, such as increasing shear strength,

bearing power, etc. that can be achieved by using

controlled compaction ``or by adding appropriate admixtures

such as cement, lime, and waste materials such as fly ash,

phosphogypsum, etc. Over recent years, the cost of adding

such additives has also risen, opening the door wide for

the production of other kinds of soil additives such as

plastics, bamboo etc. The modern soil stabilization method

can be used successfully to address environmental problems,

to reduce the quantity of waste, extracting useful material

from unsuitable waste materials.

The basic principles are to analyze the properties of

the given soil, to determine the lack of soil property and

to choose efficient and economical method of soil

stabilization and to design the stabilized soil mix for the

intended stability and durability values.

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Stabilization can increase a soil's shear strength

and/or regulate a soil's shrink-swell properties, thereby

enhancing a subgrade's load-bearing capacity to support

pavements and foundations. Furthermore, this process can be

used for the treatment of a wide range of sub-grade

materials from vast clays to granular. Better soil

gradation, reduction of the plasticity index or swelling

capacity, and increases in resilience and strength are the

most common improvements obtained by stabilisation.

Stabilization may also be used in wet weather to provide a

work platform for building operations. These types of

changes in soil quality are called soil alteration.

Benefits of soil stabilization include higher

resistance levels, reduced plasticity, lower permeability,

reduced pavement thickness, removal of drilling, transport

and storage of materials and importation of base materials,

compaction aids, all-time access

Industrialization has brought about a rapid

improvement in living standards; however, it has also

resulted in pollution and solid waste production that has

recently reached epic proportions. The need of the hour is

an effective alternative for waste management. For quite a

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while now, reuse of waste materials has been advocated and

the use of industrial waste in improving the properties of

poor soils opens up a new avenue for solid waste

management. Expansive soils were one of the most

problematic soils a Civil Engineer encountered. There are

many techniques available to stabilize such poor soils,

including stabilization of lime and cement. The use of

solid waste in soil stabilisation is, however, an area of

potential and promise. And it also provides the double

advantage of waste management along with soil improvement.

With this as a basis, this paper attempts to review the

various industrial waste that has been adopted as a

standalone stabiliser without lime or cement in soil

stabilisation, in order to shed light on the prospects of

increased use of solid waste in soil stabilisation.

Review of Related Literature

This section presents the sources of information and

the background readings on the related literatures and

studies and other concepts relevant to the present study:

Brooks M . Robert et al. [2009]

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Studied using fly ash and rice husk ash for soil

stabilisation. He had carried out experiments such as

compaction checking, UCS, CBR and free swell indexing. The

test results concluded that the increase of CBR weight, UCS

and swell deduction results in increased rice husk ash to

the soil. For increased fly ash content, the stress strain

behavior of confined compressive force increased. He

concluded that the optimal amount of fly ash and rice husk

ash was found to be 25 and 12 percent respectively. He also

concluded that these soils can be highly recommended to

strengthen large soil sub-grade.

Choudhary, Jha And Gill [2010]

Demonstrated the ability of high-density polyethylene

(HDPE) to use as soil reinforcement to improve sub-grade

soil engineering properties. HDPE strips are collected from

waste plastic and combined uniformly with the soil, and a

series of CBR tests were conducted on hardened soil by

varying percentages of HDPE strip length and proportions.

Our CBR test results show that the use of strips cut from

recycled HDPE is useful in highway application as soil

reinforcement.

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Lavanya et al. [2011]

Examined the use of copper slag in geotechnical

applications. She studied the index properties, free swell

index, compaction properties, CBR and UCC in this article.

She concluded that the partial replacement of copper slag

with black cotton soils from 30 per cent to 50 per cent

showed the increase in soil properties considerably. She

also concluded that partial replacement of copper slag with

black cotton soil resulted in the use of these soils in sub-

grade, sub-base, and road embankment, and the sub-grade soil

quality was also improved.

Otoko Rowland et al. [2011]

Investigated stabilization of Nigerian Deltaic

Laterites with ash from saw dust. The soil properties have

been established through liquid limit, plastic limit,

shrinkage limit, free swell index, plasticity index, MDD

with OMC, UCC, and CBR studies. Finally, he concluded that

the physical properties and engineering characteristics of

Nigerian deltaic laterites were improved with the

introduction of 4 percent of saw dust powder, and 14

percent of CBR values also increased. He also concluded

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that construction costs were cut due to the use of solid

waste.

Patel V Arpita et al. [2011]

Examined the geotechnical properties of black cotton

soil that is polluted with castor oil and stabilized by saw

dust. Many experiments including specific gravity,

Atterberg limits, MDD with OMC, CBR (soaked and unsoaked)

and UCC were performed. He addressed the index and

engineering properties of polluted cotton black soil.

Instead he addressed that the findings were increased in

polluted black cotton soil with 7.5 per cent partial

replacement of saw dust. He finally concluded that although

soils were polluted with castor oil, their properties were

improved by adding up to 10 per cent of sawdust to the

soil.

Malhotra Monica et al. [2013]

Investigated the stabilisation of vast soils through

the use of low cost materials. In this paper fly-ash and

lime were applied with varying percentages as stabilizing

agents. He had conducted several tests such as liquid cap,

free swell index and regular proctor check. He finally

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concluded that partial soil replacement with both lime and

fly-ash produced a substantial increase in properties such

as uneven settling. He also concluded that the soil's

characteristics of shrinkage and swelling were developing.

Malhotra Akshat and Ghasemain Hadi [2014]

The effect of high-density polyethylene(HDPE) plastic

waste on Unconfined Compressive Soil Resistance was

studied. In the soil, 3 percent, 4.5 percent and 6 percent

of the weight of dry soil HDPE plastic waste is applied in

a proportion of 1.5 percent. He concluded that on adding

plastic waste, the Unconfined compressive strength of black

cotton soil increases. Once 4.5 percent of plastic waste

was mixed with the soil, the intensity obtained was

287.32KN / m2 which is maximum as the normal soil

resistance was 71.35KN / m2.

Dhatrak A.I. et al [2015]

After evaluating the performance of plastic waste

mixed soil as a geotechnical material, it was observed that

the consistency of sub-grade pavement soil improvement is

an alternative method for the construction of flexible

pavement using waste plastic bottle chips. Within his

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paper, CBR is measured using a series of experiments on

soil combined with different percentages of plastic (0.5

percent, 1 percent, 1.5 percent, 2 percent, 2.5 percent).

Based on the experiment he performed using plastic waste

strips he concluded that waste plastic strips would

increase the quality of the soil and can be used as a

subgrade. Disposing waste plastic is an inexpensive and

environmentally friendly process, as there is lack of good

quality soil for embankments and fillings.

Michael Tiza et al. [2016]

The stabilisation of industrial solid wastes had been

checked. He learned in this paper about the replacement of

various materials such as red mud, copper slag, brick dust,

polyvinyl waste, ceramic dust, sawdust, and fly ash.

Atterberg limits, CBR, and compaction measures were used to

test the soil samples. He had found that almost all

industrial waste has the ability to improve the abundant

soil at a lower cost than traditional soil.

All the studies on soil stabilization indicate that

the shear and bearing strength of soil will be improved by

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adding suitable admixture such as cement, lime, fly ash,

plastic waste, bitumen etc. goes better with the soil, too.

But most of them are very expensive, except for some

admixtures. So most of the time, use of this admixture is

not feasible. New soil stabilisation research on waste

materials such as plastic, fly ash, etc. is economical.

Work on soil stabilisation should therefore be more focused

on adding appropriate admixtures that can not only improve

soil properties but can also be cost-effective and

practical for the most part.

1.1) METHODS OF SOIL STABILIZATION

There are different materials available from which to

achieve stabilization of the soil. The methods of soil

stabilization are broadly classified into two groups, based

on the different internal factor that defines the bonding

between the soil and the stabilizer used. They are as

follows:

1.1.1) Mechanical stabilization

Stabilization of soil friction plays a key role in this

process. In this process, soil and admixture friction helps

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to increase soil properties.

1.1.2) Chemical stabilization

In this soil stabilization method, there are chemical

reactions between the soil minerals and the various

admixtures added to the soil.

Plastics are considered as one of the most significant

invention which has assisted noteworthy in various fields of

life. The use of plastic has been enormously increasing from

past few years. But now, it is becoming the major pollutant

of Environment because of the habit of using it and throwing

it. The use of plastic has to be restricted otherwise

prepare for the dangerous circumstances that human and

environment has to face in near future. Various researches

are going on for utilizing the waste to the soil and

stabilizing it so that it can be used for various purposes.

Thus, using plastic as stabilizer will help in two ways, one

in helping the problem of disposing the plastic waste

without any harsh effect and second, stabilizing the

comparatively weaker soil for construction and other

activities. Present study is conducted on the soil taken

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from Rithala located about a distance of 4km from Delhi

Technological University and plastic bottles strips are

added for its stabilization. For comparison of strength

between natural soil and soil having plastic strips, UCS

(unconfined compression strength) test is done in this study

1.2) Objective of This Study

1. To test the improvement in soil strength (i.e.

stability) with the addition of different quantities of

plastic bottle strips of 0 percent, 0.25%, 0.5% and 0.75%

w/w and small quantities of cement (1% and 1.5%) with 3-day

healing time.

2. Compare soil strength change with varying plastic

bottle strip content with varying cement content.

3. To find out the optimum content (w/w) of plastic bottle

strips for maximum soil resistance for different cement

content.

4. Compare the difference in soil strength for the same

amount of plastic bottle strips content(w / w) with varying

cement content.

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1.3.) PLASTIC

Plastic is material that can be molded into solid

materials composed of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic

materials. Plastics are mass organic polymers, and contain

other substances as well. They are mostly petrochemical

derivatives. Plastics are used in a ton of products due to

their impermeability to water, low cost, ease of manufacture

and versatility. They took on conventional material such as

wood. Around one third of total plastic is used in packaging

in developed countries, and almost the same in piping and

plumbing. Certain fields include vehicles, chairs and toys.

India uses about 40 per cent of total plastic consumption in

packaging. Due to its very slow rate of decomposition, the

popularity of plastics resuming from the early 20th century

contributes to environmental concerns. One innovative way to

tackle this issue towards the end of the 20th century was

substances that were taken extremely molecular and that way

recycling.

1.3.1) Properties of Plastic

Plastic has many properties which make them far

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superior and usable than any other material. These different

properties are mainly categorized into physical and physical

chemical properties and properties.

1.3.2) Physical Properties

Plastic is clear, flexible, elastic, water resistant,

electrical resistant and when heated, is soft. Those are

some plastic physical properties.1.3.3) Chemical properties-

Reactivity to chemical and thermal resistivity,

flammability, combustion heat etc. These are a few of

plastic's chemical properties.

1.4) Types of Plastic

1.4.1) Common Plastic

This category includes both commodity plastics, and

engineering plastics. Some examples are

 polyamides

 polycarbonate

 polyvinyl chloride

 polyester

 polyinyliden chloride

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 polyethylene- it includes packing bags and plastic

bottles.

 high density polyethylene

 Low density polyethylene

 polyethylene terephthalate

1.4.2) Special plastic

 Polyepoxide

 Phenol formaldehyde

 Urea formaldehyde

 Polymide

1.4.3) Type of plastic used in this study :

Plastic bottling strips are used in this analysis.

Plastic bottles fall under the category of terephthalate

polyethylene. Some of the Polyethylene terephthalate

properties are:

I. It is hard strong and dimensionally stable material.

II. It absorbs very less water.

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III.It can be transparent and colourless but thick sections

are opaque and off white.

Chapter 2

Methodology

The materials that are considered are soil and plastic

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with a polypropylene chemical composition. Tests are carried

out to determine the different properties of the collected

soil sample and the findings are tabled and described in the

table

S. No Laboratory Test Result

1 Swelling Index 65.3%

2 Specific Gravity 2.62

Sieve Analysis

Gravel 0%

Coarse Sand 0%
3
Medium Sand 0%

Fine Sand 0%

Silt and Clay 100%

Atterberg Limits

Liquid Limit, LL 68.5%

4
Plastic Limit, PL 33.3%

Plasticity Index, PI 35.2%

Unconfined Compression Test

5
Compressive Strength 2
90.8 kg/cm

Modified Proctor Test

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Optimum Moisture Content, OMC 20.5%

6

Maximum Dry Density, MDD

1.62 gm/cc

7 California Bearing Ratio Test, CBR 1.0%

The plastic that was obtained from used plastic chairs is

stored and is made into different pieces. Plastic strips

with a density of approximately 0.42 gm / cc are applied in

percentages of 2, 4, 6 and 8 to the Black Cotton Soil and

the modified proctor test was performed on the sample and

the graphs obtained are shown below in Figures 1 to 4.

Soil with 2% Plastic

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Soil with 4% Plastic

Fig. 3 Soil with 6% plastic

Fig. 4 Soil with 8% plastic

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Similarly, California Bearing Ratio (CBR) Test was conducted

to obtain the CBR Value on the samples with plastic strips

in various percentages of 2, 4, 6 and 8 and the results

obtained are presented as load vs penetration graphs below

in Figures 5 to 8.

California Bearing Ratio, CBR = (Load / Standard Load) * 100

Fig. 5 Soil with 2% plastic

Fig. 6 Soil with 4% plastic

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Fig. 7 Soil with 6% plastic

Fig. 8 Soil with 8% plastic

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

CBR can be said as the indirect measure of the strength as

soil deformed was shear in nature. From the results, it is

evident that waste plastic increases the CBR value. There is

a major increase in CBR value when the soil is incorporated

with Plastic strips and compared to that of soil with no

plastic. The results are tabulated and presented below in

Table 2.

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CBR test is performed on the samples with varying

percentages of Plastic strips i.e., 2%, 4%, 6% and 8%. In

this regard, the CBR value has been increasing up to 4%

plastic content and thereon it started to decrease. From

this, it can be inferred that, 4% plastic content is the

OPTIMUM CONTENT of utilization of waste plastic in the soil.

Sample Description MDD (gm/cc) OMC (%) CBR (%)

Soil 1.62 20.5 1.00

Soil with 2% plastic 1.75 19.0 2.02

Soil with 4% plastic 1.81 11.70

18.5

Soil with 6% plastic 1.71 4.80

18.0

Soil with 8% plastic 1.65 4.40

17.4

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