Soil Stabilization Materials and Methods You Should Know

Many construction workers lose their lives every year in extraction accidents. This is always caused by the cave-ins created by poor soil stabilization techniques.

Luckily, there are many things a company or a team can do to make sure the soil in the construction site remains stable enough for heavy machines to operate without making any cave-ins.

We will highlight some techniques such that you can know the available options for a business owner, foreman, or worker. Read on to learn more about the techniques and materials you can utilize to stabilize the soil.

Materials Used for Soil Stabilization

Here are some of the soil stabilization materials. They might be used with different methods that will be mentioned here.

Lime

Slaked lime is utilized in the stabilization of road bases and subgrades, especially in soil that is highly plastic or clay-like. Once added, it strengthens the soil to make it stable.

Cement

Cement is one of the famous materials used in stabilizing the soil. Cement can be added to a range of soil types, making it versatile. Other stabilization materials like lime, fly ash, or sodium sulfate can be added to the soil and cement to improve the stabilization.

Bitumen

Asphalt and tar are good examples of bitumen. They help the soil cohere, and this improves stability and lessens water absorption.

Chemical Compounds

Even though there are numerous chemicals that can be mixed into the soil to improve its stability, the most common ones include sodium chloride, sodium silicate, and calcium chloride. These chemicals work the same way and assist the soil in compacting and making it more stable.

Methods of Soil Stabilization

Here, we’ll look at the methods used to stabilize the soil and prevent cave-ins and other mishaps in the worksite.

Mixing the Soil Stabilization Materials

This is the common technique for soil stabilization. However, the workers must take care to mix the appropriate parentage of additives for the quantity of soil you have.

Grouting

This is a costly method of soil stabilization. It is used to reach parts of the earth that are buried, making it hard or impossible to mix stabilization materials into it. There are many forms of grouting techniques that might be used. They include chemical grouting, bituminous grouting, polymer grouting, clay grouting, and chrome lignin grouting.

A stabilizer is injected into the soil, and its let permeates and mixes well to form a strong and compacted area. Even though this technique can work for many soil types, it doesn’t work for clay-like soil since clay has low permeability.

Electrical Stabilization

Electrical stabilization is another costly technique of stabilization. It’s exclusively utilized in clay-like soils. It’s also known as electroosmosis. This is a soil stabilization engineering method that works by inserting metal electrodes in the earth, and a direct current is run through them, and water moves towards the cathode. At the same time, water is extracted from the soil, it’s good to be compacted, which lets it offer a strong foundation for construction machinery.