Effect of cement stabilized kaolin subgrade on strength properties

Abstract

Subgrade performance generally depends on the load bearing capacity of soil. This load is often affected by degree of compaction, moisture content and soil type. Poor subgrade should be avoided by removal, replace and add stabilizer agent to provide a suitable strength for subgrade. This study presents the effect of cement stabilizer on California Bearing Ratio (CBR) and Unconfined Compressive Strength (UCS) for kaolin clay in low traffic volume road. The test conducted includes determination of liquid limits which leads to plasticity index for tested sample. Standard proctor test have been conducted to determine the optimum moisture content and maximum dry density of kaolin clay by using soil stabilizer with 0, 7 and 13% of Ordinary Portland cement (OPC). The CBR and UCS was conduct to determine the strength of kaolin clay at optimum moisture content and 7 days curing period to obtain minimum strength of the soil. Finding of this study shows cement stabilizer effectively increase the strength of kaolin clay. 8 % of cement was found to be the optimum percentage of cement content value to be added into kaolin soil which complies with the Malaysia Public Work Department (PWD) specification.