An Experimental Investigation of Properties of Black Cotton Soil Treated with Copper Slag and Groundnut Shell Powder

Expansive soils have large volume changes due to the variation of water content. Therefore, expansive soils are also known as problematic soils due to its expansive nature. The black cotton soil has very low bearing capacity, high plasticity, high compressibility, low permeability and high swelling and shrinkage properties due to the presence of montmorillonite mineral. Due to these properties, black cotton soils are problematic soils. Therefore, it is necessary to improve its properties by using soil stabilization method. This study aims at conducting stabilization of black cotton soil of Bharuch region in Gujarat state by using combination of two soil stabilizing agents: copper slag and groundnut shell powder. In this research, copper slag is added 5% and 10% and groundnut shell powder is added 2% and 4%, respectively. The research gives comparison between the soil properties of non-treated and treated black cotton soil. Various laboratory tests are carried out such as specific gravity, liquid limit, plastic limit, shrinkage limit, free swell index, standard proctor compaction test, unconfined compressive strength test for both the cases by taking IS:2720 as reference. These laboratory tests results can be helpful to engineers to carry out soil stabilization on field during construction.