The Use of Cohesive Soils Improved
The Use of Cohesive Soils Improved
Abstract
A common practice in civil engineering during earthworks is the usual replacement of cohesive soils
(fine soils), excavated during earthworks, with non-cohesive soils (coarse soils). Until recently, such a
procedure was dictated primarily by economic and technical reasons. From an economic point of view,
the ease of access and therefore low cost of using such soils instead of cohesive soils was crucial. The
technical reason is, above all, the ease of compacting fine soils (as opposed to cohesive soils) and well-
developed and well-known engineering methods for controlling their compaction.
The situation changed radically when the new environmental regulations came into force and
enforcement by the inspection authorities began. Currently, soil removed from a construction site
according to regulations should be classified as waste. This fact has completely changed the approach
of participants in the construction process to the use of local soils, especially cohesive soils (e.g. clays).
Their use "on site" has stopped being an expensive option and has become a necessity.
This paper presents aspects of the use of lime-improved cohesive soils that can be successfully used
on site as excavation backfill. Problems related to the proper preparation of soil-lime composites are
described, as well as the results of compaction tests. The paper presents the author's own methodology
for selecting the content of quicklime in the soil-lime composite.
Introduction
Subsoils built of made grounds used in earthworks should have sufficient bearing capacity and stiffness to meet
design criteria for ultimate and serviceability limit states. These criteria are designed to ensure the durability of the
earth-structure and the safety of its use. Since the problem of made grounds concerns a very wide spectrum of human
construction activities, many papers have been dedicated to this topic (e.g. Sulewska, 2009; Sulewska 2012). In
Poland, one of the most respected authors dealing with the subject of soil compaction and compactability is Stanisław
Pisarczyk (Pisarczyk, 2015; Pisarczyk, 2014). From an engineering point of view, an important element in the process
of soil structure designing and performing earthworks are standards, regulations and various types of guidelines
issued by opinion-giving research and development centers. The standards in the analyzed field are primarily
concerned with the area of road construction. The reason for this is that all earthworks are a natural and integral part
of this type of construction. From a formal point of view, an important source of guidelines for the requirements for
https://dx.doi.org/10.37105/iboa.146
Received 15 September 2022
Available online 30 September 2022
ISSN 2450-1859, eISSN 2450-8721
Published by Centrum Rzeczoznawstwa Budowlanego
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Inżynieria Bezpieczeństwa Obiektów Antropogenicznych 3 (2022) 10-20
earthworks and soil structures is the Regulation of the Minister of Infrastructure dated June 24, 2022 on technical
and construction regulations for public roads (effective from September 21, 2022).
The PN-S-02205: 1998 standard is still used in the design practice of road construction in Poland. It should be
noted that the standard for earthworks EN 16907-1: 2018 is now formally in force. Also important are materials
issued by the General Director of National Roads and Highways, among which it is necessary to list, for example,
the "Catalogue of typical constructions of flexible and semi-rigid pavements", which is an Appendix to Order No. 31
of 16.06.2014, and the "Conditions for the execution and acceptance of construction works" (D-02.00.0 1 v03.
Earthworks. General requirements. General Directorate of National Highways of September 30, 2019).
The requirements for soils as materials for use in earthworks given in the documents mentioned above have a
major impact on design decisions as well as decisions made during the execution of earthworks. In engineering
practice, there are often situations where local cohesive soils were classified as unsuitable or even unsuitable for
further use after excavation. Such soils were transported to an offsite, often many kilometers away, and replaced with
delivered soils, usually non-cohesive. Quite rarely was the decision made to reuse local soil after it had been properly
improved. This was due to the factors, which are discussed below.
1) Non-cohesive soils are considered more useful than cohesive soils due to their easier compaction. In addition,
non-cohesive soils are less sensitive to moisture and do not create frost heave.
2) Sourcing and transporting non-cohesive soils (gravels, sands) was relatively cheap.
3) The standard techniques used to improve cohesive soils have quite a few limitations (primarily due to
equipment availability) and can be time-consuming and expensive.
4) The technology of using improved cohesive soils is well developed for earth-structures with large volumes and
work areas. It is very seldom used for linear trench.
5) Quality control of the compaction of embankments and backfills made of non-cohesive soils is easier to carry
out than in cohesive soils. Inspection and acceptance procedures for non-cohesive soils are better known and there
are correlative relationships that allow the use of dynamic probing tests and light falling weights deflectometers.
6) Often in the project documentation, the authors impose the need to use only backfill of non-cohesive soils
without analyzing the possibility of using cohesive soils.
7) The habits and beliefs of participants in the decision-making process very often influence the disqualification
of cohesive soils as a possible building material already at the initial design stages.
In addition, an important element of the problem discussed seems to be the lack of precision in the area of existing
and applied norms and guidelines. An example is the removal of Appendix No. 4 in the Announcement of the Minister
of Infrastructure and Construction dated December 23, 2015. (on the announcement of the consolidated text of the
Ordinance of the Minister of Transport and Maritime Economy on the technical conditions to be met by public roads
and their location), which a discussion of the bearing capacity classes of road subsoil were included. However, the
classification into bearing capacity classes is still present, for example in the "Catalogue of typical constructions of
flexible and semi-rigid pavements." Not surprisingly, designers and construction managers are consternated by the
problem presented.
The implementation of new environmental regulations (THE ACT of December 14, 2012 on waste. Journal of
Laws of 2020, item 797, 875, as amended) harmonized with European Union law (Directive 2008) has significantly
changed the situation. According to the new regulations, soil removed from a construction site must be classified as
waste, which cause significant additional costs. The use of cohesive soils as trench backfill or embankment material
has basically become a necessity instead of an expensive alternative.
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Inżynieria Bezpieczeństwa Obiektów Antropogenicznych 3 (2022) 10-20
where:
m
w opt – the optimum moisture content of soil with the addition of lime, %,
D – quicklime content, %.
The addition of lime also makes the preparation and processing of the soil significantly easier. This is due to the
fact that aggregation occurs - the soil is much easier to crumble, easier to mix and homogenize. The plasticity index
and liquidity index of cohesive soils decreases and the soil becomes more crumbly and granular and thus easier to
build and compact (Di Sante at. al., 2014).
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Inżynieria Bezpieczeństwa Obiektów Antropogenicznych 3 (2022) 10-20
Cohesive soils after being excavated from the trench should be properly prepared at the construction site before
being embedded again. At the first stage, the soils should be crushed so that they become material in the form of
clumps. Crushing can be carried out with a recycler, commonly known as a sieving bucket, (Fig. 1).
Figure 4. Mixing the soil with lime and further crushing with a recycler
The prepared soil-lime mixture is then poured into the excavation using a recycler (Fig. 5) with further crushing
of the soil.
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Inżynieria Bezpieczeństwa Obiektów Antropogenicznych 3 (2022) 10-20
Embankments should be raised in layers of about 30 - 40 cm thick with simultaneous compaction. It is particularly
effective to use plate compactors mounted to the excavator (Fig. 6). Each of the performed layers (e.g., Fig. 7) should
be inspected geotechnically (make an acceptance of the quality of earthworks).
Figure 6. Compaction of the soil layer in the excavation by means of a hydraulic plate compactor
The peculiarity of all the presented stages of the technological process of soil preparation and embedding is the
use of individual pieces of equipment, which are very efficiently mounted to the excavator by means of a fully
automatic hydraulic quick connector. In addition, this technique, unlike the standard method used in road
construction, makes it possible to carry out operations in cuttings.
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Inżynieria Bezpieczeństwa Obiektów Antropogenicznych 3 (2022) 10-20
To begin with, identification and description of the soil was carried out in accordance with EN ISO 14688-1 and
additionally based on PN-88/B-04481. The type of soil, its moisture content and color were evaluated. The tests were
performed several times during the laboratory studies. It is estimated that a total of a dozen tests were carried out. It
was found that the tested soil should be classified as:
- according to PN-88/B-04481 - brown silty clay (Gπz) layered with gray sandy silt (πp) with stiff consistency,
- according to EN ISO 14688 - brown silty clay (siCl) layered with gray sandy silt (saSi) with stiff consistency.
The moisture content of the soil was determined by the drying method in accordance with PKN-CEN ISO/TS
17892-1 and PN-88/B-04481. A total of 8 moisture content tests were performed. The average moisture content of
the tested soil was 19.6%.
The determination of optimum moisture content (wopt) and maximum dry density (rds), was carried out in
accordance with PN-EN 13286-2:2010-11E and its accompanying appendices. This test is based on the Proctor
method. Due to the grain size of the tested soils, the A+A method was used. The laboratory compaction test is based
on compacting the soil in a standardized cylinder and determining the dry density of the soil (r d) at different soil
moisture contents (w). Based on the relationship rd(w), the optimum moisture content (wopt) and maximum dry density
of the soil (rds) were determined (the coordinates of the maximum on the graph), (Fig. 8).
The Proctor compaction test was aimed at determining the correct amount of improvement additive. This test was
conducted a total of 4 times using the method of successive trials using incremental increases in the amount of
quicklime. A total of 4 complete test series were made:
- once for the soil without any improvement additives,
three times for soil improved with the addition of Proviacal ST quicklime (0.5%, 1.0% and 1.5% by weight of
soil in the natural state).
The results of the compactability test are shown in Figure 8.
a)
b)
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Inżynieria Bezpieczeństwa Obiektów Antropogenicznych 3 (2022) 10-20
c)
d)
Figure 8. Results of the test of optimum moisture content (wopt) and maximum dry density (ds):
a) cohesive soil without the addition of quicklime; cohesive soil with the addition of quicklime: b) 0.5%, c) 1.0%,
d) 1.5%
It is assumed that a one-percent addition of lime reduces the moisture content of the soil by about 1%. Analyzing
the results given in Figure 8 and taking into account the natural moisture content of the tested soil of 19.6%, it was
determined (from proportionality) that the needed additive of quicklime is 0.83%. Therefore, for practical reasons,
an addition of 1.0% was assumed in the case under study.
The earthwork company used the proposed formula to improve the tested cohesive soil. In each case, they
obtained, after embedding the properly prepared soil-lime composite, the required value of the degree of compaction
Is ≥ 0.97 and the value of the secondary deformation modulus of the subsoil E v2 ≥ 40 MPa, which were the values
required by the design for the reconstruction of underground pipelines under the modernized road.
In the Report (Gosk at. al., 2018), it was shown that soil-lime composites with a properly selected amount of
quicklime additive can be properly compacted and subsoils made from them can obtain even higher values of degree
of compaction and stiffness parameters. During the realization of the project, values of degree of compaction I s = 1
and the plate load test modulus of the subsoil Ev2 exceeding 70 MPa were obtained. These values successfully meet
the standard requirements for backfilling of excavations of municipal infrastructure (e.g., pipelines) as well as for the
construction of traffic embankments.
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Inżynieria Bezpieczeństwa Obiektów Antropogenicznych 3 (2022) 10-20
2021 2022
Option 1 – replacement
Option 2 – improvement
It can be observed a very large, about 2.5-times increase in price in the perspective of one year. The benefits
associated with the use of lime-improved soil are unquestionable. While in 2021 it was possible to save PLN 30 per
1 m3 of earthworks (67%), in 2022 the amount of savings is PLN 72 (64%). In the case of the work of one brigade
during one work shift, during which an average productivity of about 300 m3 is achieved, the cost savings amount is
PLN 21600!
5 Conclusions
The author's previous research has shown that the cohesive soils analyzed can be successfully used as backfill
for excavations performed during the construction of underground infrastructure of municipal engineering, as well
as foundation excavation of buildings and road embankments. Noteworthy is the fact that even a small one percent
addition of lime has a very positive effect on the characteristics of cohesive soils and improving their compactability
and suitability in terms of use for earth structures. The expected values of degree of compaction of cohesive soils
with lime can be gained with great care during their construction. Such soils should be compacted in layers so that
after compaction the individual layers are 30-40 cm thick. A key element in the correct construction process of the
embankments in question is to bring the embedded cohesive soil-lime mixtures to a moisture content close to the
optimum. At this moisture content, the soil is most easily compacted and can then achieve the maximum dry density
and a high value of the density index.
Previous experience of the author of the paper shows that in the case of cohesive soils, this is a challenging task.
In contrast to the use of non-cohesive soils as embankment or trench backfill material, the requirements for
supervision, inspection and acceptance of works during construction increase in the case under consideration. It can
be stated that cohesive soils are more difficult to use due to the fact that they are not forgiving of construction errors.
Despite these difficulties, the on-site use of cohesive soils obtained during excavation is becoming an indispensable
part of the construction process, is economical and in line with the philosophy of sustainability. In particular, it should
be noted that there is no need to obtain and transport non-cohesive soil from mines. In a sense, a closed cycle of
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Inżynieria Bezpieczeństwa Obiektów Antropogenicznych 3 (2022) 10-20
material is realized, which is cohesive soil re-installed and not taken out of the construction site and replaced with
non-cohesive soil.
In addition, the use of the technique of using parts mounted to the excavator arm largely eliminates the need for
personnel to be in the excavation, which is not insignificant in terms of workplace safety.
Acknowledgments
This work, carried out at Bialystok University of Technology, was supported by Polish financial resources on
science under project no. WZ/WB-IIL/5/2020.
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