Swell-Shrink Studies on Stabilized Quarry Dust Cushion for Expansive Soil

Increase in the construction activities has enhanced the demand for aggregates which lead to the liberation of huge amount of quarry dust consequently. Highway construction is one of the prominent fields for the use of quarry dust in abundance. However, presence of expansive soil in the most of integral part of India leads to questioning on the suitability of quarry dust for pavement construction. Hence, an attempt has been made to understand the potential of quarry dust cushion to prevent seasonal swell-shrink in expansive soil. Comprehensive studies of linear swell and cyclic swell-shrink of expansive soil with the use of lime treated quarry dust cushion of different thickness have been carried out. The results revealed that increase in the thickness of lime treated quarry dust cushion significantly reduces the swell strain of the expansive soil. The present study proposed that lime treated quarry dust cushion layer of thickness equivalent to soil layer can be used effectively and economically for the pavement construction in expansive soil.