Chemical stabilization of soft soils involves blending a binder (e.g., cement, lime,or fly ash or combinations thereof) with the soil in sufficient quantities to increase thestrength and stiffness to acceptable levels. Fly ash, a by product of coal combustionthat is produced in vast quantities, is a binder of significant interest because many flyashes are available at low cost. Past research has shown that many fly ashes areeffective for stabilizing soft inorganic soils, but little is known about their effectivenessfor stabilizing soft organic soils. The objectives of this study were (i) to determine iffly ashes can stabilize organic soils and, if so, (ii) to quantify the improvement in theunconfined compressive strength and resilient modulus of the organic soil asadmixed with fly ash and (iii) to investigate potentially important factors affecting thestabilization process such as fly ash and soil characteristics, fly ash percentage in themixture, and water content.
The full thesis may be found in the following file: