Stabilization of Black Cotton Soil with Blending of Coir Fiber

Abstract

Stabilization of soil is a major challenge in civil engineering. About 20 % of land area in India is covered by black cotton soil. Structures built on black cotton soil may be damaged because of high swelling and shrinkage characteristics of this soil with variation of water content. Black cotton soil is an expansive soil which loses its strength in presence of water.  On the other hand, it reflects behavior of shrinkage when loss of moisture is there. Because of its swelling and shrinkage properties, it is under category of expansive soil. The present paper is an attempt to develop an alternative method for stabilization of black cotton soil by using coconut fiber (coir) to control swelling properties of black cotton soil.  Impact on its strength characteristics and dry density due to mixing of coir was also studied. The test results show that with blending of 2% coir fiber, the shrinkage limit is changed from 7.50% to 12.60%. Increase in compressive strength was observed from 1.09 to1.32 kg per sq cm.

Keywords: Black cotton soil, coir fibers, swelling behavior, shrinkage, stabilization

Cite this Article

Priyank Goyal, Ashutosh Shanker Trivedi, Manoj Sharma. Stabilization of Black Cotton Soil with Blending of Coir Fiber. Recent Trends in Civil Engineering & Technology. 2015; 5(2): 8–11p.