Treatment of expansive clayey soil with crushed limestone

Abstract EN

This paper aims at the improvement of expansive clays, by the addition of crushed limestone, obtained from the waste of masonry factories situated in the polluted industrial area, to the east side of Mosul city.

This abandoned waste material creates serious environmental problems in the areas surrounding these factories requiring an urgent solution to dispose of the huge quantities heaped in there.

Different percentages of the crushed limestone by weight (passing sieve No.40) were added namely (2, 4, 6, 8 and 10%) to the clay obtained from "Al-Wahda district in Mosul" to reduce its expansiveness and improve its characteristics for many earth work construction.

The test results showed pronounced reduction in the plasticity of the clay and significant decrease in the swelling properties, in the range of more than three and half times that of untreated one.

These results represent very important factor for road embankment constructions.