INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCIENTIFIC & TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH VOLUME 8, ISSUE 10, OCTOBER 2019 ISSN 2277-8616

Soil Improvement by Fine Fraction Residue from

Recycling Construction and Demolition Waste
B J S Varaprasad, Joga Jayaprakash Reddy, Talluri Rajesh, Y Yaswanth Kumar, K Ram Mohan Reddy

Abstract— Reutilizing the wastes as a construction material protects natural assets, saves energy, decreases solid waste, diminishes water and air
toxic substance and cuts large quantities of greenhouse gases. The civil engineering construction industry has the potential to reuses and gets benefited
through utilizing wastes and its recycled materials. Due to the rapid rise in the construction industry produces more wastes, which creates environmental
concerns about the toxic threat. A cost-effective practice of reducing this waste is to reuse waste materials instead of new materials. The main motivation
of this study is to examine the potential use of construction demolished waste (CDW) on Expansive Soil. CDW is Mixed with Expansive soil at 5%, 10%,
15%, 20%, 25% and tested for its Consistency limits, Unconfined Compressive Strength (UCS), Free Swell Index (FSI), California Bearing Ratio (CBR),
and Swell Pressure test were conducted. Test outcomes exhibit that there is a great increment in UCS value and CBR value and reduction in FSI and
Swell Pressure of stabilized soils. Microstructural images revel the bonding between CDW and clay by showing white lumps and filling the void gaps.

Index Terms— Construction Demolition Waste, Eco friendly materials, Fine Fraction Residue, Sustainable Development, Soil Stabilization.

——————————  ——————————

1 INTRODUCTION
Expansive soils cover many places in the world, majorly arid
and semi-arid regions, which are more prone to Volume
Changes with change in moisture content [1]. The ability of
volume changes in this soils are mainly depends on the clay
mineralogy, particle composition and arrangement, Moisture
Content (MC), reduction of overburden stress and the
presence of sodium, calcium, magnesium and potassium
cations which can result in the accumulation of large
quantities of water in between the clay particles, causing the
closely packed clay particles to drift apart [2-5]. There are
several soil stabilization’s approaches for countering the
hazards presented by these soils, such as chemical, electrical,
mechanical and thermal stabilization. Chemical stabilization is
more popular and economical, stabilizing with cement, lime,
fly ash and other materials were done by many researchers,
which come with their very own benefits and limitations. Due
————————————————
 Dr B J S Varaprasad is an Associate Professor in Civil Engineering
Department working at G Pulla Reddy Engineering College, Kurnool-
518007, Andhra Pradesh India, PH- 8682898922. E-mail:
drbjsvp.ce@gprec.ac.in
 Joga Jayaprakash Reddy is a PhD student working at GPREC Research
Centre Kurnool-518007, Andhra Pradesh, India PH-9494891479. E-mail:
jogajprs@gprec.ac.in
 Talluri Rajesh is an Assistant Professor working in Department of Civil
Engineering at CMR College of Engineering and Technology Kandlakoya,
Medchal Road, Hyderabad-501 401, Telangana, India PH-9940524074. E-
mail: rajeshtalluri3@gmail.com
 Y Yaswanth Kumar is an Assistant Professor working in in Civil Engineering
Department working at G Pulla Reddy Engineering College, Kurnool-
518007, Andhra Pradesh India, PH-8309440727. E-mail:
yawanthk2059@gmail.com
 K Ram Mohan Reddy is an in Assistant Professor working Civil Engineering
Department working at G Pulla Reddy Engineering College, Kurnool-
518007, Andhra Pradesh India, PH-8074203647. E-mail:
rammohan409@gmail.com

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to the rapid rise in urbanization, construction activities are
more to meet modern society needs, as a result, production of
waste from construction 60% waste is generated from
Hongkong, 57% in Australia, 30% in the USA, 30% in
European countries [6]. Majority of these wastes ends up in
landfills. In many countries space is a constrain and dumping
is not possible, which make them recycle or reuse of these
wastes. Many researchers suggested that CDW in a coarse
fraction is used in pavements and a replacement in concrete.
But fine fractions were still not used as efficiently in civil
engineering construction [7]. This fine fractions from CDW
were arises as a residue of coarse fraction production as high-
grade recycled construction material for pavements. Mainly
these fine fractions consist of natural grains which are crushed
from concrete, brick powder, cement powder and motor. Being
a pozzolanic and non-cohesive fine fraction one better
technique for reuse is by using in geotechnical works for
stabilization of fine and soft-grained soils.
In this study geotechnical and environmental laboratory is
conducted to assess the performance with expansive soils by a
series of testing’s like Atterberg limits, pH test, sieve analysis,
Free Swell Tests, Standard Proctor Tests, Unconfined
Compressive Strength, and California Bearing Ratio are
conducted and results are compared to road authority
specifications for base and sub-base for pavements. SEM
analysis was conducted to know the morphology changes in
treated sample as curing days pass.
2 METHODS AND MATERIALS
2.1 Soil Sample
The clay sample employed in this research was collected from
a construction site at Kurnool town in Andhra Pradesh India.
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The Clay specimens were collected in a disturbed state below 2.3 Testing Procedure
3 meters for the ground level to arrest the vegetation and loose
Expansive Soils were blended with CDW at a variety of 5, 10,
soils on the ground surface. Collected samples were
15, 20, and 25% by dry weight of soil. Laboratory experiments
preserved air tied polyethene bags to avoid Moisture
like Atterberg limit, specific gravity, Free Swell Index
variation. further soil is dried under air and then pulverized
Compaction test, Unconfined Compressive Strength (UCS),
by soil pulverize then stored in air tied bags. soil is tested as
Swell Pressure (SP) and California Bearing Ratio (CBR) tests
per Indian standard soil classification system IS 1498 1970 for
were done as per IS code recommendations. Expansive Soil is
its geotechnical properties, the soil sample is identified as Clay
mixed with CDW at various percentages by its dry weight of
of High Compressibility (CH) and detail investigations were
soil were organized for finding Optimum Moisture Content
shown in Table 1.
(OMC) and Maximum Dry Density (MDD) as per Indian
100 Standard code (IS: 2720-7 1974). All samples are mixed with
C&D Waste their respective OMC and MDD for every test thereafter. Free
Percentage Passing (%)

80 Swell Index test is conducted to find the volume of expansion

clay in expansive soils for every combination mix and the method
60 adopted to this test is as per Indian Standard code (IS 2720-40
1977). The Unconfined Compressive Strength (UCS) test is
40
used to find the stresses corresponds to maximum load in a
UCS testing apparatus at a strain rate of 1.25mm\s. all
20
samples for this testing were prepared to their OMC and MDD
0 for every combination mix and for every curing days (7, 14, 28,
0.0001 0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10 and 60 days) samples are cured under ambient condition and
Grain size (mm)
the Indian Standard code (IS 2720-10 1991) procedure is
Fig. 1: Sieve Analysis results for CDW and Expansive soil followed for preparing and testing the samples. Swell Pressure
test is conducted as per the Indian Standard code (IS 2720-41
Table 1
1977) to know the change in volume and find the required
Laboratory Investigation on CDW and Soil
Characteristics Soil CDW pressure to bring back the swell to its original state. California
Specific Gravity (G) 2.62 2.48 Bearing Ratio (CBR) tests were performed to know the
Liquid limit 83 14 usability of soil as a base or sub-base material test were
Plasticity Limit 36 0
performed in accordance with Indian Standard code (IS 2720-
Plasticity Index 47 14
Soil Classification CH SP 16 1987).
OMC 28.6 15
MDD 1.68 1.73 3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
K 8.36*10-9 3.36*10-4
3.1 Compaction Characteristics on Soil
pH 6.6 7.2
The standard proctor test is employed for identifying the
2.2 Construction Demolition Waste (CWD) Maximum Dry Density (MDD) and Optimum Moisture
Content (OMC) of the combination mix. As figure 3 shows
The construction and demolition waste (CWD) material are CDW increases the MDD of soil mix decreases for all
collected for free of cost from disposal sites, which consist of combinations from 1.68g/cc to 1.54g/cc and a similar trend is
bricks, motor and plastering cement for walls and floors. observed with OMC values also as it decreases from 28.4% to
plastering cement consist of cement Fine Sand mainly used for 16% for a virgin sample to 25% CDW. Existence of fine sand
flooring and covering purpose, which is the rich hydrated which generally possess lower specific surface area compared
motor and Fine sand. Collected CDW were dried crushed and to clay may be the reason for the decrease in OMC value for all
filtered through 4.75mm sieve and kept in air tied polythene Combination of mixes. for MDD decrement mainly for two
bags in a controlled temperature. Properties of CWD are reasons, initially being fine sand and its low specific gravity
represented in Table 1, and Grain Size Analysis of CDW was compared to clay. secondly, as CDW has unreacted cement
shown in Figure 1, as per Indian standard soil classification which flocculates with clay to offers less densification; Similar
system IS 1498 1970 it falls under Poorly Graded Sand (SP). results were obtained by [8].

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 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCIENTIFIC & TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH VOLUME 8, ISSUE 10, OCTOBER 2019 ISSN 2277-8616

40 1.7 increased by 4 times than the original value for 28day curing
period. The UCS results are increased for all curing periods
30 1.65 and for all percentages as 1.17, 2.2, 2.7, 3.76, and 3.8 times, for
28 day curing period. At lower concentrations, the increment
is high for initial curing days but after 14days the increment is
OMC (%)

MDD (g/cc)
20 1.6
marginal. This is can be due to the cementitious\pozzolanic
reaction happens between the CDW and expansive clay
10 1.55 similar trend is seen in [8, 9].
Optimum Moisture Content (OMC)
Maximum Dry Density (MDD) 1400
0 1.5 5% C&D 10% C&D 15% C&D
0 5 10 15 20 25 1200 20% C&D 25% C&D
Admixture (%)
1000

UCS Value (KPa)

Fig. 2: Compaction Test results for various CDW percentages with
800
expansive soil
600
3.2 pH test
400
pH tests were led as the rules given by Indian standard soil 200
classification system IS 2720-26 1987 for every combination of
0
CDW (5%,10%, 15%, 20%, 25%). 30 g of the collected sample is 0 7 14 28 60
passed through 425 microns were mixed with distilled water Curing Days
of 75 ml, the particular mix is stirred for a minute and leave it
for an hour with occasional stirring. instantly before the Fig. 4: Variation of UCs value with Curing Period and Percentage
Admixture
testing sample is stirred with mechanical striver and Digital
pH meter is injected in the tumbler and wait till a constant 3.4 Free Swell and Swell Pressure
reading is displayed.
As figure 5 shows the decrement of the free swell index of
7.3 treated samples, as CDW waste increases the Free Swell Index
decreases, reason behind the decrement in FSI the presence of
7.2
fine sand in CDW which decreases the specific surface area of
7.1
clay and affinity towards water and cement present in CDW
7 helps to remove adsorbed double-layer surrounded by clay
particles. In the figure 6, it indicates the swell pressure starts
pH Value

6.9
decreasing with increasing in CDW, at lower percentages the
6.8
decrement is very less, but at 15, 20 and 25% CDW the
6.7 decrement is much more. This decrement is due to fine sand in
6.6 the mix, which obstructs the voids by taking water and
6.5 pozzolana reduces the interparticle attraction between clay
0 10 20 particles.
Admixture (%)

Fig. 3: pH test results for different percentages of CDW treated soil

3.3 Unconfined Compressive Strength

Unconfined Compressive Strength test was carried out to

evaluate the improvement in compressive strength on
stabilizing soil with CDW. Figure 4 shows that the UCS values
of treated samples cured at room temperature for various
curing days and various CDW percentages. As Figure 4
reveals that the increment in UCS value is throughout for 60
curing days and percentage improvement in strength is
maximum for soil treated with 20% of CDW, as UCS value is
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10
150 5% C&D 10% C&D 15% C&D 5% C&D 10% C&D 15% C&D
9
20% C&D 25% C&D 20% C&D 25% C&D
8
130
7
110 6

CBR Value
FSI (%)

5
90
4
70 3
2
50
1
30 0
0 7 14 28 60 0 7 14 28 60
Curing Days
Curing Days

Fig. 5: Effect of FSI with curing days for CDW treated soil
Fig. 7: Difference in CBR value for various curing days and admixture
percentages
8.4
3.6 SEM Analysis
7.4
Figure 8 (a & b) revels the SEM images of the CDW stabilized
Swell pressure (%)

6.4 samples for 28 and 60-day curing period. The specimen with
7 Days 20 % CDW and clay for 28 day curing period reveals that
5.4 white lumps, which are the proof for the pozzolanic reaction
14 Days that happened and the filled voids are due to the fine non-
4.4 cohesive particles occupied void spaces and bond with clay by
28 Days
the pozzolanic reaction. but in 60-day curing period image
3.4
60 Days with the same percentage of CDW mix, the pozzolanic
2.4 reaction is rarely visible, which means before 60dasy all
0 5 10 15 20 25 pozzolan is reacted.
Admixture (%)

Fig. 6: Effect on swell pressure with various combinations of CDW

treated soil

3.5 CBR test

CBR test samples are prepared for 7, 14, 28 and 60 curing days
and samples were cured under ambient conditions. the
addition of CDW to clay soil increases the CBR value by 3
times compare to virgin sample for 28 curing days. as figure 7
shows the CBR values for 2.5mm penetration for all curing
days with corresponding CDW mixture. the optimum value of
CDW on the CBR test is 20% CDW as it increased CBR value
to 4 times for 60-day curing period and at same combination
swell pressure decreases more compare to other combinations.
As CDW contains largely fine aggregate and cement, which
helps to increase in internal friction of clay and cement helps (a)
to bind between clay particles and sand present in CDW by
the pozzolanic reaction. As CBR is a very useful parameter to
design pavements, it is recommended that at least CBR value
of 5 is suggested for construction of rural roads.

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[3]. Mitchell, T. K., & Raad, L. (1973). Control of volume

changes in expansive earth materials. Publication of:
Frost I Jord/Norway/, 2(Workshop Proceedings).
[4]. Cherian, C., & Arnepalli, D. N. (2015). A critical
appraisal of the role of clay mineralogy in lime
stabilization. International Journal of Geosynthetics and
Ground Engineering, 1(1), 8.
[5]. Zhao, H., Liu, J., Guo, J., Zhao, C., & Gong, B. W.
(2014). Reexamination of lime stabilization
mechanisms of expansive clay. Journal of Materials in
Civil Engineering, 27(1), 04014108.
[6]. Hidalgo, C., Carvajal, G., & Muñoz, F. (2019).
Laboratory Evaluation of Finely Milled Brick Debris
as a Soil Stabilizer. Sustainability, 11(4), 967.
[7]. Müller, A., Weiß, A., & Schnell, A. (2011). Up-cycling
von Mauerwerkbruch. RECYCLING magazin, (4), 30-
(b) 33.
Fig. 8: SEM images of CDW treated soil for (a) 28 day curing period; (b) [8]. Sharma, R. K., & Hymavathi, J. (2016). Effect of fly
60 day curing period ash, construction demolition waste and lime on
geotechnical characteristics of a clayey soil: a
4. CONCLUSIONS
comparative study. Environmental Earth Sciences, 75(5),
Liquid Limit and Plasticity Index of the treated sample
377.
decreases with increase in CDW for all percentages as CDW is
[9]. Ransinchung, R. N. G. D., Kumar, P., & Sharma, P.
a non-cohesive and pozzolanic material. Soil Specific Gravity
(2012). Stabilization of clayey soil with fines from
decreases with increases with CDW and pH value of the soil is
waste crushed concrete cubes for construction of
increased with increase in CDW to the soil. MDD of the
pavements. In Proceedings of international conference on
treated mix is decreased and OMC increases with increases in
engineering and information technology (ICEIT), Toronto,
CDW content to the soil. as CDW contains fine non-cohesive
Canada (pp. 24-28).
soil will fill the pores and start reacting with clay particles to
rearrange its structure. UCS value of treated soil increases for
all curing days but the maximum increment is seen in the
addition of 20% CDW to expansive soil as it increases UCS
value by 4 times compare to virgin soil. CBR values of virgin
soil are not recommended for pavement construction but the
addition of CDW increases CBR value and for 20%CDW the
CBR value increases by 4.5 times and is recommended for
pavement base material. Swell Pressure of soil decreases by
80% compared to the virgin sample, it is due to cation
exchange between CDW material and clay particles. After
analyzing of results of CDW treated soil, it is more economical
to use as a pavement material for expansive soils, as it is
cheap, easily available, eco-friendly and it is a solution for
waste management.

4. REFERENCES
[1]. Schanz, T., & Elsawy, M. B. (2015). Swelling
characteristics and shear strength of highly expansive
clay–lime mixtures: A comparative study. Arabian
Journal of Geosciences, 8(10), 7919-7927.
[2]. Snethen, D. R., Johnson, L. D., & Patrick, D. M.
(1977). An evaluation of expedient methodology for
identification of potentially expansive soils (No. FHWA-
RD-77-94). United States. Federal HIghway
Administration. Office of Research and Development.

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