Black Cotton Soil in Highway Construction

Abstract

The use of naturally available unsuitable soils in the construction of roads will open new avenues in the
construction industry. The process of making the naturally available unsuitable soil being suitable is known as
soil stabilisation. Black cotton (BC) soil is highly expansive in nature when gets in contact with water, thus
making it unsuitable for construction. The unsuitability of BC soil can be changed by making the soil water
repellent and exhibiting high bond strength. This can be achieved by application of Terrasil and Zycobond (A
Zydex product) when added to soil mixed with water. It improves the bond strength between the soil particles
and creates a protective layer by permanently changing the soil properties. It increases the California Bearing
ratio of the soil mass exponentially over a period of time thus, making it suitable for infrastructure projects and
high chances to be used as non-expansive BC soil in infrastructure development. This paper demonstrates the
use of organosilane based nano materials and nano acrylic co-polymer to convert expansive BC soil into nonexpansive
BC soil by stabilisation. This will have substantial impact on the use of naturally available unsuitable
material which can be made suitable by stabilisation process.