Utilization of lateritic soil stabilized with alkali solution and ground granulated blast furnace slag as a base course in flexible pavement construction

The natural aggregates are depleting in developing countries due to the excessive usage in road and building construction. In the present study, the engineering properties of abundantly available lateritic soil stabilized with Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (GGBS) and alkali solutions like Sodium hydroxide and Sodium silicate was evaluated. The suitability of stabilized soil as a base course in flexible pavements was investigated. The lateritic soil was treated with 15, 20, 25 and 30% of GGBS and alkali solutions consisting of 5% of Sodium oxide with Silica Modulus (Ms) of 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 at a constant water binder ratio of 0.25. The improved unconfined compressive strength, flexural strength, and fatigue life were observed from the soil treated with 30% of GGBS and alkali solution having Ms 1.0 air-cured for 28 days at ambient temperature. The improvement is due to the formation of Calcium Silicate Hydrates and Calcium Alumino Silicate Hydrates from an exothermic reaction between Calcium ions and the dissolved silicates and aluminates present in GGBS and alkali solutions. The samples treated with 25, 30% of GGBS and alkali solution having 1.0 Ms cured for 28 days found to be durable in Wetting-Drying and Freezing-Thawing tests. The compact and densified crystal orientation of the treated soil samples was observed from the microstructure images obtained from the Scanning Electron Microscope technique. The design of low and high volume roads was suggested with stabilized soil and strains developed at different locations on the proposed pavement were analyzed using pavement analysis software.