Efficacy of cement stabilisation for ultra-soft clay

As the need for land in Singapore rises, new land reclamation projects are moving closer to the outer areas of Singapore. Offshore land reclamation is very challenging when there is lack of granular fill and the ultra-soft soil such as dredged clay slurry has to be used. The dredged clay slurry usually has a very high water content, e.g. can be higher than twice of its liquid limit. Due to the extremely high water content, some traditional ground improvement methods, such as chemical stabilization using ordinary Portland cement (PC), may be not very cost effective for the dredged clay slurry.Ground granulated blastfurnace slag (GGBS) is a material that has come into the spotlight recently as an alternative to PC in terms of soil improvement. In order to strengthen and reach its full activation, an activator known as carbide slag (CS) is added together with GGBS. In this report the use of GGBS and CS is investigated and its effect on soil with very high water content is studied at different curing ages and binder ratios. This report also seeks the optimum ratio of CS/GGBS to benefit the cost factor for use in actual sites.Bachelor of Engineering (Civil