Compaction and Permeability Characteristics of Biopolymer-Treated Soil

Choice of biodegradable, environment-friendly materials like biopolymers for soil stabilization is a step forward in sustainable development. An attempt was made to study the effect of two different biopolymers namely Xanthan gum and Guar gum on the compaction and permeability characteristics of soil for 0, 3, 7 and 28 days. The tests were conducted in accordance with the IS: 2720 and IS: 4332 specifications. The results of the study showed that the dry density of the treated soil decreased for guar gum, but in the case of xanthan gum increased at 0.25% and then on further addition decreased. The optimum moisture content increased for both guar gum and xanthan gum. The permeability of the treated soil for both biopolymers and at all biopolymer contents showed a marked decrease. On the 28th day, the permeability of the in situ soil decreased from 1.03 × 10−2 cm/s to 7.23 × 10−9 cm/s and 6.41 × 10−8 cm/s at 1.5% addition of xanthan gum and guar gum, respectively. The results show that xanthan gum is more effective than guar gum. This study is limited to a period of 28 days.