A Study on Engineering Characteristics, Design and Treatment of Expansive Silty Soil to Build Road Foundation

摘要

Some roads made of weak expansive silty soil in the middle and low regions along the Yellow River become damaged making roads unusable after short periods of time. Laboratory tests were conducted to study the physical and engineering characteristics to find treatments of the silty soil as a road base material in order to solve this problem. After analysis of the physical properties and mechanisms behind the damage caused by the weak expansive silty soil, the conclusion was that by applying an external force soil expansion and soil liquefaction of the road foundation can be inhibited, leading to a reduction in shear strength. By treating the test soils with lime, fly ash, and cement as stabilizing materials in the building base course and underlayer cushion, road conditions were improved and reached the design criterion. This research can provide the engineer guidelines for the design and construction of roads using weak expansive silty soil as a building material.