EXPANSIVE SOIL STABILIZATION USING IRON ORE TAILINGS

The foundation of the natural world is the soil, which is prevalent in many parts of India and has a high silt content, low strength, and weak bearing ability. The loads placed on these soils during construction or during the structures useful life are too great for them to bear. In India, expansive soil covers 20 percent of the land. To enhance the functionality of expansive soils, soil stabilization is used.In this research work, an attempt has been made to use Iron Ore Tailings (IOT) an industrial by-product as stabilizing agent for expansive soil. In this study, expansive soil is replaced with IOT from 0% to 30% at 5% interval. It was found from the experimental observations that the values of Liquid limit and Plastic limit decreased with increase in percentage of IOT. Free swell index shows a total decrement of 55% at 30% IOT content. MDD of standard and modified compaction increased with higher percentage of IOT whereas the OMC decreased accordingly. CBR values of un-soaked condition yielded whereas no penetration resistance was observed in soaked condition. Swelling pressure effectively decreased to a total of 50% at 30% IOT content. Hence, it can be concluded that IOT will help in improving the mechanical properties of expansive soil.