Designing of Flexible Pavement by using Geosynthetic Material (Cotton Fiber)

Soil stabilization is the process which involves enhancing the physical properties of the soil in order to improve the strength, durability etc. by blending additives. By blending cotton fibers to the soil the CBR values will improve and thickness of pavement layer also reduces. By the application of soil stabilization method in construction the cost gets reduced. The liquid limit of the soil with addition of cotton fibers was found to be decreasing when compared to liquid limit of soil alone. The plastic limit of the soil decreases with the blending of fibers. The shrinkage limit of the soil was increased with increase in fibers. The MDD of the soil with addition of cotton fibers by weight of soil is found to be increasing upto 0.75% after that it decreases and the corresponding OMC is decreased with addition of fibers. The shear strength of soil decreased substantially with addition of cotton fibers. The CBR value of the soil increased substantially. Different tests were conducted in order to determine the different characteristics and properties of the red soil and obtained with following results. The liquid limit of the soil alone was found to be 36.6%. The MDD of the soil with addition of 0.25%, 0.5% cotton fibers by weight of soil is found to be decreased by 0.84% and 0.76% , 1.0% cotton fibers by weight of soil is found to be increased by 0.11 % and 16.98% respectively and the corresponding OMC is decreased by 15.62%, 21.87% and 33.75% respectively. The shear strength of the soil with the addition of 0.25%, 0.5%, 0.75% and 1% of cotton fibers is found to be decreased by 38.57%, 38.57%, 35.25% and 5.85%. The CBR value of the soil with addition of 0.25%, 0.5%, 0.75% and 1.0%, cotton fibers by weight of soil is found to be expanded. flexible pavement design thickness before stabilization is obtained as 450mm and after stabilization is obtained as 250mm.The estimated cost for constructing flexible pavement before stabilization of soil is obtained as 4018051 Rs/Km and after stabilization of soil is obtained as 3721895 Rs/Km. the estimated cost after stabilization is found to be decreased by 7.35%. Citation: B Mary Devika, B Durga Vara Prasad, K Suseela. "Designing of Flexible Pavement by using Geosynthetic Material (Cotton Fiber)." Global Research and Development Journal For Engineering 6.1 (2020): 30 - 34.