article · Alfa Mühendislik ve Uygulamalı Bilimler Dergisi
Lateritic soils used in tropical pavement subbases often suffer from high plasticity and moisture susceptibility. This research evaluated the stabilisation of lateritic soil using blends of stone dust and agricultural bamboo leaf ash. Chemical analysis confirmed the pozzolanic properties of both additives, while microscopic tests revealed denser fabric and cementitious bonding in the treated soil. An optimum blend of ten percent stone dust and three percent bamboo leaf ash reduced plasticity and substantially increased strength. Under heavy compaction, the soaked California bearing ratio rose from around eighteen percent to over sixty-five percent, with improved strength retention when wet. Performance estimates indicate that this treatment improves wet-condition stiffness and reduces rutting risk under cyclic traffic loading. The findings present the combination as an effective low-carbon alternative for road subbase layers, though further cyclic durability testing remains necessary.
Roads built on tropical lateritic soils frequently deteriorate because moisture weakens the underlying pavement layers. Using industrial stone dust alongside agricultural bamboo leaf ash provides a low-carbon stabilisation method. This approach strengthens road subbases against seasonal rainfall and traffic loads while offering an environmentally friendly alternative to traditional binders.
This stabilisation approach could be applied in road construction by civil engineering contractors, infrastructure agencies, and materials suppliers seeking low-carbon subbase additives. The work relies on industrial stone waste and agricultural ash. It is at an applied laboratory stage, having demonstrated mechanical and moisture improvements under standard testing, but it requires further repeated-load and cyclic durability validation before commercial deployment.
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Lateritic soils are widely used in tropical pavement construction but often exhibit high fines, plasticity, and moisture susceptibility that undermine long-term performance. This study synthesizes engineering, chemical, and microstructural evidence from a lateritic soil stabilized using stone dust (SD) and bamboo leaf ash (BLA) to assess (i) moisture-related durability indicators and (ii) mechanistic–empirical (M–E) performance implications relevant to cyclic traffic loading. Lateritic soil was treated with SD (0–30% at 5% intervals) and with combined SD-BLA blends (BLA: 3 to 9%; SD: 5 to 20%) and tested for Atterberg limits, compaction (BSL/WAS/BSH), soaked and unsoaked CBR, UCS, and shear strength. XRF confirmed the pozzolanic character of SD and BLA (SiO₂+Al₂O₃+Fe₂O₃ = 85.51% for SD; 66.71% for BLA), while XRD/SEM evidenced microfabric densification and cementitious bonding in stabilized blends. The combined SD–BLA blend provided the best overall performance, with an optimum at 10% SD + 3% BLA (by dry soil mass), reducing plasticity (PI down to ~10%) and increasing strength. Moisture durability improved substantially: under British Standard Heavy (BSH) compaction, soaked California bearing ratio (CBR) increased from ~18% (natural) to ~65.48% (SD-BLA optimum) and the CBR retention ratio (soaked/unsoaked) improved from ~0.44 to ~0.71. For M-E interpretation, resilient modulus was conservatively estimated from CBR using a standard correlation, indicating a marked increase in wet-condition stiffness and reduced rutting susceptibility, thereby improving seasonal performance of subbase layers. These results support SD-BLA as a low-carbon stabilizer system for lateritic pavement layers, while highlighting the need for follow-on repeated-load and wet-dry cycling to fully quantify cyclic durability.
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DOI: 10.70988/ajeas.1957903
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