CEMENT TREATED BASES FOR

COST EFFECTIVE RURAL ROADS

Dr. U. C. Sahoo
School of infrastructure
IIT Bhubaneswar

National Level workshop on “Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana

(PMGSY) Revisited “ during 17-18 December, 2019
Introduction

 Huge length of road network is being developed in

India by NRIDA under PMGSY.
 For sustainable development of Infrastructure:
 Need to save the limited natural resources
 Increase reuse, recycling and reprocessing

 Need to use the locally available materials

 Use Eco-friendly Construction Technologies

 Adoption of New Technologies for developing low cost

durable roads
Stabilization- Need

 Costly aggregates-High conveyance cost

 Soft subgrades
 Marginal aggregates
 Sites with drainage issues
 High Water Table
Materials for Stabilized Layer
 Crushed Rock
 Soils including gravel and sand

 Lateritic soils/ Gravels

 Kankar

 Crushed concrete

 Brick metal / brick bats

 Crushed slag

 Fly ash, pond ash

 Other industrial wastes

Stabilizers
 Lime
 Cement
 Lime-fly ash or Lime-slag
 Other commercial stabilizers
 Zydex Nanotechnology (Organosilane chemistry)
 Terrazyme (A bioenzyme product)
 RBI Grade 81(Lime based soil stabilizer)
 Stabil Road
 Enviortac (Acrylic based Co-polymer)
 Others..…
Soil-Cement Base
Soil-Cement
 Soil-cement is a mixture of locally available soils,
Portland cement and water, that hardens after
compaction and curing to form a strong and durable
pavement layer.
 This has been used as a pavement base for
highways, roads, streets, parking areas, airports,
industrial facilities, and material hauling and storage
areas in many developed countries.
 For Low volume rural roads, soil-cement can be
effectively used to economise the construction.
 Soil-Cement
 By stabilizing the soil
with cement, the entire
mass is hardened into a
slab that results in
sufficient rigidity and
strength to spread the
loads over a large area
of the subgrade.
Unstablized granular base versus soil-
cement base (Halsted et al. 2006)
Advantages of Soil-Cement Base

 Provides a stronger, stiffer base that reduces

deflections due to traffic loads extending the
pavement life.
 Thickness requirement for base is less compared to
granular bases carrying for the same traffic load as
the loads are distributed over a large area.
 A wide variety of in-situ soils can be used,
eliminating the need to haul in expensive select
granular aggregates.
Advantages of Soil-Cement Base
 Rutting is reduced due to presence of a stiffer
cement stabilized base.
 Forms a moisture-resistant base that keeps water
out and maintains higher levels of strength.
 Provides a durable, long-lasting base in all types
of climates, designed to resist damaged caused by
cycles of wetting and drying.
 Continues to gain strength with age.
Disadvantages Soil-Cement Base
 When soil-cement strengths are too low, it will not
provide adequate support to traffic, resulting in
rutting and large deflections.
 When the strengths are too high due to excessive
amounts of cement, it may lead to wide shrinkage
cracks.
Factors Affecting Cement Stabilization

 Type of Soil/ Aggregate

 Cement
 Pulverisation and Mixing
 Compaction
 Curing
 Additives
Type of Soil
 Almost all types of soil can be stabilized using
Portland cement, because its stability is obtained
from the hydration of the cement and not by the
cohesion and internal structure of the material (PCA
1995).
 The most preferred choice of soil-cement base are
coarse-grained soils, because of their ability to
pulverize and mix more easily than fine-grained
soils (ACI 230 2009)
Type of Soil
 Fine-grained soils require more cement than coarse-
grained soils for specified strength of soil-cement
base
 Soils having high moisture demands require more
cement, making them more prone to drying
shrinkage issues.
 According to ACI 230 (2009), coarse-grained soils
containing between 5% and 35% fines passing the
No. 200 (IS 75 micron) sieve produce the most
economical soil-cement base.
Portland Cement

 All types of cement have been successfully used for

soil-cement bases.
 The required amount of cement varies depending
on the desired properties (strength & durability)
and soil type.
 Cement contents may range from as low as 4 to as
high as 16 percent by dry weight of soil (ACI 230
2009).
Cement requirements for various soils

(Source: ACI 230, 2009)

Water
 Water is necessary in soil cement to help obtain
optimum compaction and for hydration of the
Portland cement.
 Potable water or other relatively clean water, free
from harmful amounts of alkalis, acid, or organic
matter may be used.
 Higher water content than OMC was observed to
adversely affect the strength.
 Mix Design
 Minimum 7 days unconfined compressive strength of
3.0 MPa for base course and 1.7 MPa for sub-base
for application in low volume roads (IRC:SP:72-2015).
 The material loss after 12 cycles of wetting and
drying test (carried out as per ASTM D 559) should
be determined.
Durability Requirement

(Source: PCA, 1971)

Wet-Dry Durability Test
Wet-Dry Durability Test

Mass Loss after 12 cycles 
(Granular Lateritic Soil + Cement)
Standards to follow
 ASTM-D1632 − 17: Standard Practice for Making
and Curing Soil-Cement Compression and Flexure Test
Specimens in the Laboratory
 ASTM- D559- Test Methods for Wetting and Drying
Compacted Soil-Cement Mixtures
 IRC:SP-89:2010- Guidelines for Soil and Granular
Material Stabilization using Cement, Lime and Fly Ash
 IRC:SP-89-Part:II-2018-Guidelines for the Design of
Stabilized Pavements
Construction Procedure

 Soil Cement mixing process can be divided into two

types:
 Plant-mix stabilization

 Mix-in-Place stabilization

 In-situ stabilization involves the following operations:

 Preparation of ground

 Spreading of Stabilizer

 Mixing

 Compaction and Finishing

Construction Process
Stone Grafting

 Stone Grafting with 40 mm-25

mm size aggregates should be
done before final compaction.
 This will ensure good bonging
with the bituminous surfacing
layer.
Curing
 Proper curing of soil cement is important because
strength gain is dependent upon time, temperature,
and the presence of water.
 About 7-day curing period is desired, during which
time equipment heavier than rubber-tired rollers is
prohibited.
 Light local traffic, however, is often allowed on the
completed soil cement immediately after construction
provided that the curing coat is not damaged.
 Water-sprinkling and bituminous coating are two
popular methods of curing.
Curing
 In bituminous curing, the soil cement is commonly
sealed with bitumen emulsion.
 Before emulsion is applied, the surface of the soil
cement should be moist and free of dry loose
materials. In most cases, a light application of water
precedes the bituminous coating.
 If traffic is allowed on the soil cement during the
curing period, it is desirable to apply sand over the
bituminous coating to minimize tracking of the
bituminous material.
Soil Cement Base after Prime Coat
Surfacing over Soil Cement Base
 For lighter-duty roads, a two-coat surface dressing
is usually recommended as the wearing surface
directly on the stabilized base.
 The first layer may be constructed with 13.2 mm
chips and second coat with 9.5 mm pre-coated
chips.
 On heavier-duty roads, an additional 50-100 mm
of unbound crushed aggregate is added to
increase section thickness before chip-seal
application.
Surface Dressing
Finished Road Surface

Photos of Roads Constructed in Balangir, Odisha

Shrinkage and Cracking
 Cement-treated soils undergo shrinkage during drying.
 The shrinkage and subsequent cracking depend on
cement content, soil type, water content, degree of
compaction, and curing conditions.
 Soil-cement made with clays develops higher total
shrinkage, but crack widths are smaller and individual
cracks more closely spaced
 However, soil-cement made with granular soils
produces less shrinkage, but larger cracks spaced at
greater intervals.
Shrinkage and Cracking
Control of Cracking
 Compacting at slightly less than optimum moisture
content
 Limiting the fines content in the soil
 Using interlayers to inhibit propagation of cracks
from the base layer such as providing a surface
dressing layer with PMB or 50-100 mm unbound
granular aggregate interlayer
 Delayed surfacing and prolonged curing
Quality control for soil-cement base
 Field Testing for quality checks during construction
 Pulverization

 Uniformityin mixing
 Water content

 Density

 Cement content (ASTM D5982 may be used to

determine the cement content of freshly mixed soil
cement.)
Evaluation soil-cement base
 Stiffness Evaluation
 Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD)
 Light Weight Deflectometer (LWD)

 Soil Stiffness Gauge (SSG)

 Field Testing for strength

 Dynamic Cone Penetrometer (DCP)
 Mould casting

 Core cutting
Evaluation soil-cement base

FWD LWD SSG

DCP

 Dynamic Cone Penetrometer

 DCP is an in-situ testing device
used in field exploration and
quality control of compacted
soils during construction.

log(UCS) = 3.21 – 0.809log(DN)

(McElvaney and Djatnika 1991)

 UCS = the unconfined compressive

strength (kPa), and
 DN = the DCP reading (mm/blow)
Standards to follow
 ASTM- D6951/ D6951M − 18: Standard Test Method for Use
of the Dynamic Cone Penetrometer in Shallow Pavement
Applications
 ASTM-D4694−15-Standard Test Method for Deflections with a
Falling-Weight-Type Impulse Load Device
 ASTM-E2583−15- Standard Test Method for Measuring
Deflections with a Light Weight Deflectometer (LWD)
 ASTM-D6758−18 Standard Test Method for Measuring
Stiffness and Apparent Modulus of Soil and SoilAggregate In-
Place by Electro-Mechanical Method
Moulded Cylinder Strength

 Standard Proctor mould and hammer

used to make soil-cement specimens
 ASTM D 1632 (2007) states that the
molded specimen remain in the mold
while curing in a moist room for 12
hours or longer, then it shall be
removed
 Once extruded, the specimens are
placed back into the continuous moist-
curing room. At the end of the moist-
curing period, the specimens are
tested immediately after.
Moulded Cylinder Strength

 D1633 − 17- Standard Test

Methods for Compressive
Strength of Moulded Soil-
Cement Cylinders
 The cylindrical steel moulds
used had an inside diameter
of 2.8 inches (71.1 mm) and
a height of 9 inches
(229mm).
Core Strength

 Cores should be taken on the sixth

or seventh day after completion
of the soil-cement roadbed for in-
place compressive strength testing.
 All cores once removed from the
in-place soil-cement bed are to be
placed in a plastic bag to
minimize moisture loss.
 If water was used during the
coring operation, the surface of
the cores samples shall be let to
air dry in the shade for 30
minutes before placing them in a
plastic bag
Summary
 For sustainable development of Infrastructure there is a
need to save the limited natural resources and increase
use of locally available marginal materials.
 Stabilization of the soil using cementitious materials for
replacing the granular layers is a common ecofriendly
practice in most of the countries to save the natural
resource.
 Almost all types of soils/granular materials can be used
for making soil-cement bases, which is a step towards
development of cost effective rural roads.
References
 ACI 230. 2009. Report on Soil Cement. (ACI 230.1R-09), American Concrete
Institute, Farmington Hills, MI.
 ASTM D 559-03 (2015). Standard Test Methods for Wetting and Drying
Compacted Soil-Cement Mixtures. ASTM International, West Conshohocken, PA.
 Biswal, D. R., Sahoo U. C. and Dash S. R., (2018) “Mechanical Properties of Cement
Stabilized Granular Lateritic Soils”, Road Materials and Pavement Design, Taylor &
Francis Pub. (Published online).
 George, K.P. 2002. “Minimizing Cracking in Cement-Treated Material for Improved
Performance.” Research and Development Bulletin RD123, Portland Cement
Association. Skokie, IL.
 Halsted, G.E., Luhr, D.R., Adaska, W.S. 2006. Guide to Cement-Treated Base (CTB).
Portland Cement Association. Skokie, IL.
 McElvaney, J. and IR. Bunadi Djatnika. 1991. “Strength Evaluation of Lime-
Stabilized Pavement Foundations Using the Dynamic Cone Penetrometer.” Australian
Road Research, Vol. 21, No. 1, pp. 40-52.
 Portland Cement Association (PCA). 1971. “Soil Cement Laboratory Handbook.”
Engineering Bulletin, Portland Cement Association. Skokie, IL.
Thank you