Enhancement of the Geotechnical Properties of Soils Using Marble and Lime Powders, Guelma City, Algeria

As quality soils become scarce and their location is more difficult and expensive, it becomes increasingly necessary to improve soil quality through soil stabilization. The benefits of energy saving and resource conservation, effective recycling of all solid wastes (fly ash, slag, lime, marble dust, etc.) has become a global concern that requires research and development. This article presents the results of a laboratory tests to investigate the effects of marble powder and lime on compaction characteristics, Atterberg limits, shear strength parameters, and unconfined compression test of two Algerian soils. Marble powder and lime are added in varying percentages (2%, 4%, and 6% by weight) to the soil samples. Test results reveal that the liquid limit and plasticity index decrease, whereas the plastic limit increases with the addition of lime and marble powder for soil A and soil B, in which the decrease is more significant with soil A than soil B. The unconfined compressive strength increased with increasing curing time and percentages of lime and marble powder for the two soils. The highest unconfined compressive strength was achieved at 6% marble powder for soil B after 28 days. The addition of marble powder for both soils decreased the optimum moisture content and increased the corresponding maximum dry unit weight. However with lime addition, both soils show decrease in the optimum moisture content and in the corresponding maximum dry unit weight. The shear strength parameters increased for both soils with increase of lime percentages. Whereas for the addition of marble powder, there is an increase of friction angle and decrease of cohesion for soil A. There is considerable change for soil B with marble powder, a decrease in friction angle and an increase in cohesion. The results show that marble powder could be used as a stabilizer for soils with high clay content and known mineralogy composition. In addition, it is very important to get rid of its negative effect on environment and to obtain economical benefit from it.