A Laboratory Study on the Stabilization of Marine Clay Using Saw Dust and Lime

The technology of road construction is subjected to changes to cope up with changing vehicular pattern, construction materials and sub grade condition. Majority of the pavement failures could be attributed to the presence of poor sub grade conditions and expansive sub grade is one such problematic situation. Marine soils, because of the specific physico-chemical makeup are subjected to volume changes with changes in their ambient environment. The losses due to extensive damage to highways running over expansive sub grade are estimated to be in billions of dollars all over the world. In many countries like India, these soils are so aerially extensive that alteration of highways routes to avoid the materials is virtually impossible. Accumulation of various waste materials is now becoming a major concern to the environmentalists. Saw dust is one such by-product from Timber industries and Wood cutting factories. Saw dust by itself has little cementitious value but in the presence of moisture it reacts chemically and forms cementitious compounds and attributes to the improvement of strength and compressibility characteristics of soils. So in order to achieve both the need of improving the properties of marine clays and also to make use of the industrial wastes, the present experimental study has been taken up. In this paper the effect of Saw Dust and Lime on strength properties of marine clay has been studied.