Stabilization of Black Cotton Soil Using Calcium Carbide Residue

A wide variety of soils are available in the world out of which some are good in views of construction engineers and few are problematic due to their swelling and shrinkage properties, and black cotton soil (BCS) is one of them. These properties can easily produce uplift movement and may lift the lightweight civil engineering structures and causing collapse, cracking and ultimately hazard to mankind. In such a case, there is an extreme need for soil stabilization and hence to find and introduce cheap and easily adoptable stabilizing agent. Calcium carbide residue (CCR) which is a by-product of acetylene gas manufacturing industry due to its alkaline properties can be effectively used as stabilizing material, and reducing the environmental problem of its disposal is taken into the frame. This study depicts the use of CCR in stabilizing BCS. Introducing CCR in BCS can increase the strength and swell property of soil, for this CCR fixation point was determined by sequentially adding 1–10% CCR to BCS and studying properties like pH and consistency limits. Strength and swell pressure of BCS were checked with varying percentage of CCR. To study strength properties, unconfined compression test is conducted, and to examine swell properties a portable and in-house fabricated swell pressure measuring device was used. Maximum strength development in stabilized clay is found at 7% CCR cured for 28 days at standard temperature. It was further observed that addition of CCR to BCS resulted in increased strength of about 5 times than that of virgin BCS and it was observed that stabilization of soil with 7% CCR reduces its swell pressure by around 88%.