Strength Improvement of Silt Loam Using Egg Shell Powder and Quarry Dust

Proper sub-soil investigation at the proposed site and proper foundation design on the basis of settlement and shear strength criteria is essential for long-life serviceability of a structure. Stabilization of weak and soft soil deposits with solid domestic and industrial wastes is a beneficial alternative of stabilizing the soil using traditional expensive agents like cement, lime, etc., which also gives a suitable solution for disposal of waste materials and environmental pollution. Silt has low bearing capacity and hence requires improvement for bearing the structural load. Chicken Egg Shell Powder is rich in CaO and Quarry Dust is rich in SiO₂. In this study, the suitability of Egg Shell Powder and Quarry Dust as stabilizing materials for silt loam is analyzed through laboratory experiments. Soil was mixed with Egg Shell Powder and Quarry Dust in varying % of dry wt. of soil. Unconfined Compressive Strength tests (UCS) were conducted on soil samples mixed with optimum percentages of Egg Shell Powder and Quarry Dust and a significant increase in strength with increase in percentage of additives was observed. Hence from these results, it’s concluded that Egg Shell Powder and Quarry Dust can be effectively used as eco-friendly and economic stabilizing agents for strength improvement of silt.