Influence of Waste Marble Powder on Characteristics of Clayey Soil

Soil stabilization is came in the picture when we handle a soil which is weak in strength or show unusual behavior of excessive swelling and shrinking with in and out of water respectively. Clay is also shown similar kind of behavior. In India, it found in the Indian Deccan plateau which covers about 0.8x106 km2 (approx.20 % surface area) area [1]. There are many ways to stabilize the soil with different types of materials like cement, lime, geopolymers etc. but the authors choose Waste Marble Powder (WMP) which is the waste generated from the marble industry as the stabilizer for the research work. WMP has Calcium Oxide (CaO) as the major constituent in its composition which has binding properties itself. This waste is approximately 40 % share of the total marble handled. The disposal of the waste marble is a big problem for the marble industry. To solve this entire problem, the best solution is to use the marble waste for good cause like soil stabilization. The authors added the marble waste in the soil as 10 %, 20 % and 30 % by weight and compare the properties of parent soil with the stabilized soil. In this research work, the authors include the index properties like liquid limit, plastic limit and engineering properties like Compressibility and Permeability and California Bearing Ratio (CBR) for the comparison. With the increase in the percentage replacement OMC has been decreasing and MDD has been increasing. The value of CBR is also shows a progressive improvement with change in percentage of marble dust.