Investigating the Suitability of Snail Shell Ash as Partial Replacement for Soil Cement Stabilization

Snail shells is a waste product which is obtained from the eating of a small greenish-blue marine snail, which is found in a V shaped spiral shell, found in many deltaic regions. These shells are a very strong, hard material. These snail are found in the creeks and mudflats of the delta areas, the people in this area eat the edible part as sea food and dispose the shell as a waste product, but a large amount of these shells are still disposed of as waste and with disposal already constituting a problem in area where they cannot find any use for it, and had led to large deposits having accumulated in many places over the years. It is with this understanding that this experimental study seeks to investigate into the suitability of snail shell ash as partial replacement for ordinary Portland cement in concrete The engineering properties considered are Optimum Moisture Content, Maximum Dry Density and California Bearing Ratio. The changes in these properties of the soil cement with the addition of snail shell ash waste in different proportions were evaluated. It is observed that the above properties have optimally improved by adding snail shell ash waste. This study shows that snail shell ash can be satisfactorily used as a stabilizing agent for subgrade layers and sub-base layers of a flexible pavement.