EFFECT OF LIME AND RICE HUSK ASH ON ENGINEERING PROPERTIES OF BLACK COTTON SOIL

Black Cotton Soils exhibit high swelling and shrinking when exposed to changes in moisture content and hence have been found to be most troublesome from engineering considerations. This behavior is attributed to the presence of a mineral montmorillonit. The wide spread of the black cotton soil has posed challenges and problems to the construction activities. To encounter with it, innovative and nontraditional research on waste utilization is gaining importance now a days. Soil improvement using the waste material like Slags, Rice husk ash, Silica fume etc., in geotechnical engineering has been in practice from environmental point of view. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of using Rice Husk Ash with lime as soil stabilization material. A series of laboratory experiment has been conducted on5%lime mixed black cotton soil blended with Rice Husk Ash in 5%, 10 % 15 % and 20 % by weight of dry soil. The experimental results showed a significant increase in CBR and UCS strength. The CBR values increases by 287.62 % and UCS improved by30%.The Differential free swell of the black cotton soil is reduced by 86.92 % with increase in Rise Husk Ash content from 0 % to 20% respectively. From this investigation it can be concluded that the Rice Husk Ash has a potential to improve the characteristics of black cotton soil