STABILIZATION OF BLACK COTTON SOIL WITH WASTE PLASTIC STRIPS

Abstract

Black cotton soil is fine textured and clayey in nature. It has high amounts of lime, iron, magnesium and generally low quantities of phosphorus, nitrogen and organic matter.In this project an attempt is made to reinforce and stabilize black soil with plastic bottle strips. The plastic strips were prepared and added at different mixing ratio (2%,4%,6%,8% and 10%) by weight and in aspect ratio(2mm*10mm).The experimental results showed that there was a significant improvement in shear strength parameters. The swelling and desiccation cracking behavior of the soil were also expressively reduced. There was a substantial reduction in the optimum moisture content and slight increment in maximum dry density. The optimum plastic content that results in optimum result can be selected based on the importance of the selection parameter for a specified engineering work. Stabilizing Black soils with waste plastic bottles simultaneously solves the challenges of improper plastic waste recycling that is currently a teething problem in most developing countries. The results obtained from this study favorably suggest that inclusion of this material in expansive soils would be effective for ground improvement in geotechnical engineering. Keywords: Black cotton soil, Plastic strips, Soil stabilization, Ground improvement