Experimental Study on the Influence of Coir and Calcium Chloride on the Strength Characteristics of Expansive Soil

Expansive soils are the problematic soils, this kind of soil is portrayed by its outrageous hardness while drying and with high swelling process on the wetting. This type of soil has been always presented problems for pavements, light loaded structures, by merging under load and by changing volumetrically alongside regular dampness variety. This article illustrates the influence of inclusion of coir in conjunction with Calcium Chloride on expansive soil stabilization is presented. The present study carried out the viability of using the combination of coir and Calcium Chloride in expansive soils. The effect of coir fibre length 10 mm and three percentages (0.3, 0.6, 0.9% by dry weight of soil), coir pith with three percentages (1, 2, 3% by dry weight of soil) and Calcium Chloride with three dosages (0.25, 0.50, 1.0% by dry weight of soil) were considered. Both untreated and chemically treated fibre reinforced with expansive soil samples were prepared. Maximum dry density, optimum moisture content and UCS tests were conducted. Coir consists of pith along with fibre which was separated to study their independent effects of shear strength behaviour. UCS tests were conducted 0, 7, 14 days of curing, it was observed that the combination of 1% coir pith +0.6% coir fiber +1% CaCl exhibited high shear strength. Mix of coir waste and CaCl₂ with expansive soil improved the shear strength behaviour of expansive soils. Expansive soil can be successfully stabilized by the coir and Calcium Chloride.