Volume Change Behavior of Expansive Soil Stabilized with Coir Waste

Abstract

Coir waste, as, its name indicates, is a waste by product of the coir manufacturing industry. Past records show that for every ton of fiber extracted, about two tons of coir waste is produced. Thus handling of coir waste has become an immediate concern due to its massive accumulation and lack of dumping yards. The present work aims to study the use of coir waste to control the volume change behavior of marine clay keeping sustainable development in focus. Consolidation tests, swelling pressure tests, and three-dimensional (3D) shrinkage strain tests were conducted to analyze the effect of addition of coir waste on volume change behavior. Coir waste consists of pith along with some short fibers which were separated to study their independent effects on volume change behavior. Volumetric swelling of optimum soil-pith-fiber mix was also studied by conducting three-dimensional free swell tests. Mixing of coir waste with expansive soil helps to mitigate the volume change behavior of expansive soil. Thus the material which was considered as a curse to the environment and the society has turned out to be a boon to the civil engineering community.