Study of expansive soil stabilized with agricultural waste

Abstract During any construction on soil surface such as construction of road and airport pavements, compaction of the soil is required and soil stabilization plays a vital role. Various characteristics of soil should be optimized with different factors. Expansive soil has property of swelling when moisture content increases and shrinking when water gets evaporated. Rice husk is a major agricultural waste that is easily available in in India and is generally burnt to get rice husk ash (RHA). This study has been aimed to get dual benefit, first to stabilize expansive soil by addition of RHA and second to effectively utilize RHA, the agricultural waste. It has been observed that at 12% RHA in presence of 5% cement can be effectively used to improve plasticity of soil and CBR value resulting in effective soil stabilization. Thus, the research demonstrates that agricultural waste has efficient use in soil stabilization.