Internal Erosion Stabilization of Cohesionless Soil Using Lime

Abstract

Soil embankments are valuable for the adequate reserve and supply of water to multiple industries. However, they are susceptible to internal soil erosion, which may ultimately lead to structural collapse. To counteract this issue, soil stabilization is practiced in the construction industry. This paper proposes the internal erosion stabilization of cohesionless soil using quicklime. For this research, two cohesionless soil types were investigated and treated with quicklime: poorly graded and well-graded cohesionless soils. For poorly graded soil, the lime percentage varied from 0.0% to 6.0% based on the soil’s weight, while for well-graded soil, it ranged from 0.0% to 3.0%. All the soil specimens were cured for 24 h and tested using the hole erosion test (HET) to replicate the internal erosion effortlessly. The analyzed results demonstrated the efficiency of quicklime as an internal erosion stabilizer for cohesionless soils. The optimum lime content for poorly graded cohesionless soils was 5.0%; for well-graded, the percentage was approximately 3.0%. Moreover, adding lime significantly improved the strength, critical shear stress, and erosion rate index of the soil.

Piping Stabilization of Clay Soil Using Lime

“…Factors include soil water content; unit weight; plasticity index; void ratio; soil swell; and percent passing sieve #200, soil pH, and clay minerals [4]. Other studies [5,6] showed that internal soil erosion is affected by soil type, water and material properties, and soil-piping resistance relationships. Generally, these factors resemble the physical and mineral composition of the soil [4].…”

“…Various types of internal erosion are recognized in hydraulic structures, such as piping, suffusion, blowout (heave, uplift), Suffusion, and backward erosion [5][6][7]. Piping involves the formation of a continuous tunnel, and as a result, water will flow between the upstream and downstream of the earth structure.…”

“…Studies by Luthi [14] and Banu and Attom [5,6] revealed that approximately 30-50% of embankment failures and are caused by the internal erosion of the soil. These percentages are considered a very high percentage and indicated that the majority of the earth fill dams and embankments are failed due to internal erosion.…”

“…Several materials and techniques have been used in soil stabilization such as cement stabilization [15,16], lime stabilization [5,6,17], bituminous stabilization [18,19], electrical stabilization [20,21], grouting [22,23], fly ash stabilization [24,25], burned sludge stabilization [26][27][28], sisal fiber stabilization [29,30], polypropylene stabilization [31,32], and compaction [33]. These materials and techniques were used to increase the shear strength properties, as well as to reduce settlement, compressibility, and expansion of the soils.…”

“…Lime is used in stabilizing soils against swelling and to improve the mechanical properties of weak soils [5,6]. Lime stabilizes the soil due to the soil-lime reaction that generates long-term cementitious pozzolanic bonding.…”