Stabilization of expansive soil with lime and brick dust

Expansive soils in construction pose significant challenges due to their low strength, high compressibility, and potential for swelling. The article is dedicated to assessing the effectiveness of using lime and brick dust as additives to enhance the properties of highly plastic soils. Various tests were performed on soil samples treated with different lime and brick dust concentrations, including moisture content, maximum dry density, unconfined compressive strength, yield strength, plasticity, and swelling index. The results indicate that the addition of 5 % lime improved the soil's strength properties, resulting in a significant increase in its compressive strength. With increased lime concentration, a decrease in plasticity was observed, indicating that the soil became less plastic. Scanning electron microscopy analysis revealed changes in the surfaces and pores of the treated soil samples, suggesting structural changes induced by the lime and brick dust treatment. Furthermore, adding lime significantly reduced the plasticity index of the soil, and brick dust reduced the soil's swell index, with the lowest index of 8 % observed in the sample treated with 5 % lime and 30 % brick dust. The study's findings suggest that lime and brick dust can improve the stability of expansive soils, rendering them more suitable for construction purposes.