Evaluation of the incorporation of construction waste (CW) for the stabilization of soil-cement mixtures

Abstract

The reuse of construction waste (CW) has been increasingly adopted as a way to reduce the environmental impact from inadequate disposal of this material worldwide. The stabilization of soils with cement is a common practice, enabling the use of this material in a variety of projects. However, depending on the type of soil, frequently large quantities of cement are needed, making the technique impracticable. The use of CW in the soil stabilization process may be an alternative for reducing the amount of cement and improving the strength of the mixture. The objective of this work was to investigate the use of CW to partially replace a lateritic clay soil in soil-cement mixtures. Besides the natural soil (S), a mixture of soil and CW (S-CW) was used with proportions of 50% of each. The cement content levels evaluated were 0%, 4%, 6% and 8% and the curing periods varied from 7 to 28 days. The results showed superior strength values for the S-CW compared to the soil-cement. This confirms that the use of CW reduces the percentage of cement necessary for the stabilization of a clayey soil and presents an alternative, more environmentally appropriate destination for this material.