Improvement of soil by using bitumen emulsion

Abstract

Soil is one of nature’s most abundant construction materials. Almost all type of constructions are built with or upon soil. If the sub-grade is not good enough, cracks may appear in the whole structure which may ultimately lead to failure. Conventionally, the sub-grade is normally replaced with stronger soil materials to improve the strength, but this practice is not economical. In this project, an attempt has been made to increase the strength of soil by adding bituminous emulsion instead of replacing it with stronger soil. The soil has been classified by conducting soil tests such as sieve analysis, liquid limit test, plastic limit test, shrinkage limit test, standard proctor test. The initial strength of soil has been determined by conducting soil tests such as California bearing ratio tests and unconfined compression test. The results obtained is then compared with the soil treated with 7% (by weight) of bitumen emulsion at different grades of bitumen emulsion and conclusion were drawn on to which grade would be suitable for the chosen soil.