MODULE –3 CHEMICAL MODIFICATION

Chemical Modification-I: Definition, cement stabilization, sandwich

technique, admixtures. Hydration – effect of cement stabilization
permeability, Swelling and shrinkage and strength and deformation
characteristics. Criteria for cement stabilization. Stabilization using Fly ash.
Chemical Modification-Ii: Lime stabilization – suitability, process, criteria for
lime stabilization. Other chemicals like chlorides, hydroxides, lignin and
hydrofluoric acid. Properties of chemical components, reactions and effects.
Bitumen, tar or asphalt in stabilization.
(Refer Ppt For Graphs & Figures)
Cement Stabilization
➢ The binding of soil particles without alteration is known as cementing.
➢ Portland cement stabilizes soil by “cementing”.
➢ Cement blended with soil and water is known as soil-cement.
➢ The cement reacts with the siliceous matter in soil to cause cementing.
➢ The physical properties of soil cement depend on:
• The type of soil
• Type of cement
• Amount of cement
• Placement and curing conditions

Soil Cement Water Reaction

➢ The reaction of cement and water forms cementitious calcium

silicate and aluminium hydrates, which bind soil particles together.
➢ The hydration releases Ca(OH)2, slaked lime, which in turn may
react with soil components.
➢ Hydration of cement is independent of the soil type and hence
cement stabilization is effective for many soils.

Types of Soil Which Can Be Treated With Cement

➢ All inorganic soil that can be pulverized.
➢ Organic content reduces the strength of soil cement.

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➢ The maximum per cent of organic content that can be present is limited to
2%.
➢ Soils with more specific surface area need more cement for
stabilization.
➢ Angular particles have more specific surface area than spherical particles.
➢ Soil with angular particles need less cement compared to soil with spherical
particles.
➢ Presence of clay makes pulverizing, mixing and blending difficult.
➢ Expansive clays are difficult to be treated.
➢ In clays cement stabilization depends on exchangeable ion.
➢ A favorable exchangeable ion for cement stabilization is Ca2+.
➢ Therefore, lime or calcium chloride is added to clays before cement
stabilization.
➢ Cement stabilization is difficult in highly plastic clays as mixing is difficult.
Presence of certain salts like sulphates affect the structure of soil cement as
these salts will crystallize in the pores affecting the strength of soil- cement.
➢ Best results are obtained with well graded soils with per cent fines <50 %
and plasticity index < 20 %
Basic Processes Involved in Construction with Soil Cement
• Pulverizing
• Mixing
• Compacting
• Curing
Pulverizing of Soil:-
✓ At the end of soil cement should not contain lumps.
✓ Hence the soil before the process starts should be well mixed.
✓ Pulverization can be improved by slower speed of the mixing vehicle, by
additional passes and by replacing the worn mixer teeth.
✓ The soil with high moisture content won’t mix well with cement.
✓ In no case the moisture content of soil should be more than its OMC before
cement spreading.
Mixing:-
✓ A proper quantity of cement is being spread over the soil.
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✓ They are mixed homogeneously.

✓ Then measured water is added and mixed thoroughly. The mixing can be
done by several hand mixing equipment or machines.
Compaction:-
✓ The soil cement water mixture is well compacted at Optimum moisture
content of the soil with a suitable compaction equipment for the soil.
✓ Once done, the whole mixture layer is cemented permanently at a very high
density resulting in less settlements.
Curing:-
✓ After compaction the soil should be finished as per requirement.
✓ The last step is curing which is performed to prevent evaporation of water to
the atmosphere.
✓ This is done by spraying very small amounts of water and covering the soil
with an impermeable membrane (plastic), straws or bitumen.
Amount of Cement
✓ The amount of cement depends on the type of soil.
Type of soil Percentage cement by weight
Gravels 5 to 10 %
Sands 7 to 12 %
Silts 12 to 15 %
Clays 12 to 20 %

✓ The compressive strength of soil increases with increase in percentage of

cement.
✓ As curing time increases the soil compressive strength also increases.
✓ More compressive strength is obtained with high early strength cement than
with normal cement.
✓ With the increase in percentage of cement the increase of compressive
strength is more in sandy soils than in clayey soils.

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Mixing:-
✓ More uniform soil-cement water mixture provides strong and durable soil
cement.
✓ The intimacy of the mixture doesn’t depend on the energy of mixing.
Continued mixing leads to segregation. Hence continued mixing should be
up to an optimum level.
✓ Mixing after cement hydration has started can have deleterious effects.
✓ The mixtures made in the laboratory have higher strength and durability than
mixtures made in field.
✓ Soil cement by mix in place and rotary tiller has 50 % to 70 % the strength
of laboratory mixture.
𝑆𝑓
✓ The mixing efficiency is given by Em =
𝑆𝐿
Where, Sf is the strength of the soil mixed in the field and compacted in the
laboratory SL is the strength of the soil mixed and compacted in laboratory.
Moisture Content (OMC of soil-cement)
The moisture content to be added to soil cement depends on the following:
✓ The adequate moisture content required for maximum compaction of soil-
cement.
✓ The adequate moisture content required for the hydration of cement.
✓ The governing criteria is the moisture content corresponding to maximum
compaction of the soil cement and once criteria is satisfied, it automatically
provides for adequate cement hydration.
✓ This moisture content depends on the type of soil and compaction adopted.
Age and Curing
✓ Compressive strength of soil-cement increases with age.
✓ In soil cement is cured after compaction.
✓ The surface is always prevented from drying.
✓ A damp environment is required for curing.
✓ The condition under which the soil cement is cured affects the strength.
✓ Soil cement cures rapidly with increase in temperature.

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Admixtures for Soil Cement

✓ Addition of any chemicals to soil-cement to improve the strength of soil
cement can be termed as an admixture.
✓ The admixture that can be used in soil-cement can be: Lime & Calcium
chloride
✓ These admixtures reduce the amount of cement to be used.
✓ These admixture helps the use of cement stabilization of organic soils.
Effect of Cement Stabilization Engineering Properties
✓ The optimum moisture content and maximum dry unit weight, decrease and
increase, respectively, with increasing amounts of lime portland cement.
✓ The addition of lime portland cement even in small amounts can
significantly improve the soil strength. The unconfined compression strength
increased approximately linearly with an increase in the cement content.
✓ Increasing the curing time increased the UCS, but the effect of curing time
on maximum UCS is more pronounced for higher amounts of cement.
✓ The unconfined compressive strength varies linearly with % cement. This
increase is more pronounced for coarse grained soil than for silts and clay.
✓ The stabilized soil exhibits brittle behaviour during UCS test. Significant
increases in modulus of elasticity and decreases in the strain at failure occur
with the addition of lime portland cement.
✓ The shear strength parameters, cohesion and angle of friction increases with
cement content. The substantial increase in cohesion is evident than internal
friction angle.
✓ There is a considerable increase in cohesion and internal friction angle in
samples containing lime portland cement with increasing curing time, but
the effect of curing time is more moderate than cement content.
✓ After peak shear stress, the maximum shear stress dropped towards
approximately the same value found for the direct shear test carried out on
the natural soil.
✓ Cement reduces the plasticity index of clayey soils. It depends on the soil
whether it is due to increase of plastic limit or by reduction of liquid limit.
✓ Even small additions of cement to an expansive subgrade soil significantly
reduce shrinkage and swell, generally below 1%. Cement provides stability
against freeze thaw cycle and repeated wet and dry cycles.

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Lime Stabilization
✓ Slaked lime Ca(OH)2 is most commonly used for soil stabilization.
✓ Slaked lime is formed by the hydration of quicklime.
✓ Quicklime is in the form of a coarse grain powder.
CaO + H2O = Ca(OH)2 + HEAT
✓ There is volume increase in the above reaction.
✓ Quicklime is more suitable for transport as volume increase if it hydrates to
slaked lime.
✓ Lime can be added with any admixtures like fly ash or cement and is not
applicable for improving gravels or sands.
Soil-Lime Reactions
Hydration
✓ Quicklime will react with water in the soil.
✓ This drying action is good in moist clays.
✓ If lime is placed as columns this hydration reaction will enhance
consolidation as volume increase is there in this reaction.
CaO + H2O = Ca(OH)2 + HEAT
Flocculation
✓ The Ca ion replaces the cation adsorbed on the clay minerals.
✓ This affects the way the structural components of the clay minerals are
connected together and hence cause the clay to flocculate.
✓ Clay’s plasticity is reduced thus increasing its strength and stiffness.
Cementation
✓ The second stage of clay-lime reaction removes silicas from clay mineral
lattice to form products like those of cement hydration.
✓ Cementation provides the strength.
✓ The higher the surface area more effective is this process.
✓ Once the silica is used up there is no improvement in strength. Hence the
percentage of lime added should be such that it uses up the available silica.
✓ Too much of lime will have a negative effect.
Carbonation
✓ Lime reacts with carbon dioxide in the voids to form a weak cementing
agent CaCO3. The calcium carbonate formed will not react any further.

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Suitability of Lime Stabilization

✓ Lime is primarily used for treatment of clayey soils.
✓ It is not very effective for cohesionless soils unless used along with fly ash,
furnace slag etc.
✓ A soil where lime treatment leads to cementation is known as “reactive” soil.
✓ The most reactive clays are those containing montmorillonite with a high
base exchange capacity.
✓ A quick indication of reactivity can be measured by proctor needle test on
original and sample treated with lime (there will be a good difference in
penetration).
✓ Another test is by immersing the original and treated soil in water. The
treated soil will not disintegrate and will maintain the shape indicating
cementation.
Engineering Benefits of Lime Stabilization
✓ The workability of the clay is improved making it easier to mix and
compact.
✓ The plasticity of the soil decreases as plastic limit increases. (The liquid
limit may increase or decrease depending on the type of soil).
✓ Lime increases the OMC which is advantageous when dealing with wet soil.
✓ Flocculation makes compaction difficult hence the maximum dry density
obtained decreases for a compactive effort.
✓ The compaction curve for lime treated soil is flatter making moisture control
less critical.
✓ It increases the UCS and CBR values for clay.
✓ UCS improvement depends on
• Height diameter ratio of the sample
• Density or compactive effort
• Water content
• Curing time
• Temperature and humidity during curing
• Type and amount of lime
✓ Modulus of elasticity, cohesion and angle of friction increases with lime
percentage.
✓ Tensile strength develops at high lime percentages.

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✓ Lime reduces shrinkage and swelling.

✓ An increase in permeability could mean better drainage and less pore water
pressure buildup under load. Too high permeability may lead to softening of
the unstabilized soil below. Lime increases the pore size as it makes the soil
flocculated thus permeability increases.
Construction Operation for Lime Stabilized Soils
Same as cement stabilized soil. But more time is allowed for placing operations as
the strength gain rate is slower than that of cement.

Fly ash Stabilization

✓ Fly ash is the waste product created by the combustion of coal.
✓ It is of light to dark grey powder of silt size.
✓ Making use of fly ash for soil stabilization may reduce pollution on land.
But it pollutes the soil as it may contain heavy metals which may leach in to
the ground water and also it destroys the vegetation.
✓ Fly ash by itself has got no cementitious properties but in presence of
moisture it reacts to form cementitious materials if lime is present.
✓ Therefore, fly ash alone is not used for soil stabilization but it is used in
combination with cement or lime.
✓ By adding fly ash to soil we are supplementing soil with silica and alumina
so they can react with lime to form CSH gel and CAH gel.
Properties of Fly ash Chemical Composition and Reactivity
✓ The principles chemical constituents are the following:
• Silica (SiO2)
• Alumina (Al2O3)
• Ferric oxide (Fe2O3)
• Calcium oxide (CaO) (less amount)
✓ Minor chemical constituents are:
• Magnesium oxide (MgO)
• Titanium oxide (TiO2)
• Alkalies (Na2O and K2O)
• Sulphur trioxide (SO3)

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• Phosphorous oxide (P2O5)

• Carbon
✓ Fly ash is a heterogeneous material whose properties depend on coal type
and its purity, degree of pulverization, boiler type and operation and
collection (ash collected at bottom or by electrostatic precipitator).
✓ Cementitious calcium silicate hydrate and calcium aluminosilicate hydrates
are formed when glassy component of fly ash (3Al2O3. SiO2 or mullite) react
with water and lime. Lime will react with water to form calcium hydroxide
which will react with the pozzolan to give cementitious materials. This is
known as pozzolanic activity.
✓ Fly ash is an example of a pozzolan which exhibits pozzolanic activity.
✓ Critical to the pozzolanity of fly ash are the following conditions:
• Amount of silica and alumina in the fly ash.
• Presence of moisture and lime
• Fineness of fly ash
• Low carbon content
Class F fly ash
✓ The burning of bituminous coal produces Class F fly ash.
✓ Contains less than 7% lime (CaO).
✓ Possessing pozzolanic properties
✓ Requires a cementing agent, such as Portland cement, quicklime, or
hydrated lime—mixed with water to react and produce cementitious
compounds.
Class C fly ash
✓ Fly ash produced from the burning of sub-bituminous coal.
✓ Also has some self-cementing properties.
✓ In the presence of water, Class C fly ash hardens and gets stronger over
time.
✓ Class C fly ash generally contains more than 20% lime (CaO).
Behaviour of Fly ash when an Additive is added
✓ Flyash when compacted with 5 % cement the maximum dry density obtained
is higher than the maximum dry density obtained when 5 % of lime is added.
✓ The unconfined compressive strength of fly ash increases with % increase in
cement.

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✓ The unconfined compressive strength of fly ash increases with % lime but
reach a constant value once the silica and alumina in fly ash gets used up.
✓ The unconfined compressive strength increases with water content till the
optimum water content and then it decreases.
✓ This curve is flat for fly ash with lime.
Soils Modified with Fly Ash and Cement or Lime
✓ To stabilize cohesion-less soils fly ash should be combined with cement as
lime is ineffective with cohesion-less soils.
✓ To stabilize cohesive soil, fly ash can be combined with either cement or
lime.
✓ Cement-fly ash- sand/ gravel mixtures shrink less compared to soil cement.
That is fly ash helps in reducing shrinkage caused by cement drying.
✓ Lime-fly ash –sand/ gravel mixtures shrink more compared to cement-fly
ash- sand/ gravel mixtures. Cementitious materials are less in lime-fly-ash
mixes.
Cohesionless Soils Modified with Fly Ash Cement
✓ As cement percentage is increased the improvement in density is followed
by a decrease in density.
✓ The reason might be as fly ash is increased without addition of cement the
silica would have got used up leading to a stage where cementitious
materials are not formed.
✓ The maximum dry density decreases on addition of lime as lime cause
flocculation of soil.
✓ The OMC increases with increase of lime due to flocculation.
✓ The increase of UCS of clay with lime alone reaches a saturation as silica in
clay finishes.
✓ The UCS of clay with fly ash is higher as more silica is available from fly
ash.
Bitumen Stabilization
✓ The stabilization of soil by bitumen, tar and asphalt is known collectively as
bitumen stabilization.
✓ Bitumen is a black viscous mixture of hydrocarbons.

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✓ Bitumen is formed by processing the residue that remains after the

evaporation of crude oil. It can be formed by:
• Vacuum distillation - distillation of a liquid under reduced pressure,
enabling it to boil at a lower temperature than normal.
• High temperature pyrolysis – decomposition brought by high
temperature
✓ Tar is the result of destructive distillation of coal.
✓ Destructive distillation is the process of heating a substance in a closed
environment and collecting the volatile constituents.
✓ Asphalt is a mixture of bitumen with any inert material.
✓ Bitumen is usually added into soil as an emulsion or cutback or as hot
bitumen. Bitumen is not directly mixed in to soil because of its high
viscosity. Hence viscosity is reduced by making it an emulsion or cutback or
as hot bitumen. Mixing in emulsion or cutback reduces pollution.
Bitumen added to soil as emulsion
✓ Bitumen emulsion is a mixture of water and bitumen. Bitumen is not soluble
in water on its own. That is why an emulsifier is added.
✓ Addition of emulsifier with water facilitates breaking of bitumen into minute
particles and keeps it dispersed in suspension.
✓ The production of bitumen emulsion consists of two primary steps.
✓ In the 1st step water is mixed with appropriate emulsifying agent and other
chemicals.
✓ The 2nd step is the addition of bitumen with the water-emulsifier mix. This
is done in a colloidal mill.
✓ Water-emulsifier mix and bitumen is pumped to a colloidal mill. The
colloidal mill breaks the bitumen into tiny droplets.
✓ Emulsifier creates a coating of surface charge around the bitumen droplets
that helps to keep these tiny particles away from each other. It also helps to
keep these particles in a dispersed form.
Bitumen added to soil as cutback
✓ In cutback bitumen suitable solvent is used to lower the viscosity of the
bitumen. The solvent used are naphtha, kerosene and diesel oil. Here the
bitumen is thinned by the volatile oil.
✓ Once in soil, as the volatile evaporates the bitumen is deposited in soil.
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✓ Higher the volatile solvent (volatile oil) lower is the viscosity and it is easier
to mix but curing time reduces.
Bitumen added to soil as hot bitumen
✓ Heating bitumen to reduces its viscosity hence hot bitumen is also an option.
✓ Bitumen stabilizes the soil by binding the soil particles. The bitumen coats
every particles creating cohesion. (Predominant effect in cohesionless soil as
they need an increase in cohesion).
✓ Bitumen makes the soil water proof thus protecting the soil from the
deleterious effects of water. It binds clays in small clods (due to natural
cohesion the bitumen cannot coat each and every particle) and plugs the
voids. The loss of strength due to increase of water is reduced. The quantity
of bitumen required increases with the clay content. Soils having same clay
content but different water affinity may require different amount of bitumen
emulsions.
Bitumen stabilized Products
The product of bitumen stabilization is referred as :
✓ Soil bitumen – a water proof cohesive soil
✓ Sand-bitumen – sand particles cemented by bitumen (maximum strength
achieved is achieved when 3 to 4 % bitumen is added).
✓ Water proofed granular soils – a well graded soil with some low plastic
fines, water proofed with small amounts of bitumen (1 to 2 %).
✓ Oiled earth – a bituminous emulsion or cutback is sprayed on soil surface
providing water and abrasion resistance.
Bitumen suitability
Best results occur in following type of soil :
✓ Maximum particle size less than one third of the compacted thickness
of the treated layer.
✓ Greater than 50 % finer than 4.75 mm
✓ 35 to 100 % finer than 0.42 mm
✓ Greater than 10 % and less than 50 % finer than 0.075 mm
✓ Liquid limit less than 40 %

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✓ Plasticity index less than 18 % (Highly plastic there is difficulty to

mix).
✓ Organic matter is detrimental to bitumen stabilization.
✓ Not effective in fine grained soil of high pH.
Compaction
✓ A soil asphalt mixture is the strongest at its at its maximum density.
✓ The OMC of soil asphalt is not the same as soil alone.
✓ The OMC is reduced to take into the lubricating effect of cutback or
emulsion or Moisture content at fluff point.
✓ The density of soil stabilized with bitumen depends on the volatile content
of bitumen and the type and amount of compaction.
✓ Higher the volatile content lower the strength.
Compaction for soil stabilized with cutback bitumen
✓ The amount of cutback required and hence maybe the volatiles for maximum
strength maybe less from that required for most efficient mixing.
✓ Curing of the soil bitumen is done by allowing some time so that the
volatiles can evaporate.
✓ This time is provided between mixing and compaction as well as after
compaction.
Compaction for soil stabilized with cutback bitumen
✓ Bituminous emulsions are generally added in places where drying take place
faster.
✓ Bitumen emulsions are droplets of bitumen in water.
✓ These bitumen gets deposited in soil when they coagulate or break.
✓ In places where drying needs to be accelerated, lime is added so that
emulsion breaks due to heat of hydration.
✓ The OMC is below that moisture content for efficient mixing.
Curing Conditions
✓ Curing is the process in which bitumen or asphalt increases its consistency
as it loses solvent by evaporation.
✓ The longer the period of cure and warmer the temperature more is the
volatiles lost.

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✓ The strength of the soil bitumen is inversely proportional to the amount of

volatiles present.
Construction of Soil Bitumen / Soil Asphalt
• Pulverization of the soil to be treated.
• Addition of water for proper mixing
• Adding and mixing of bitumen
• Aeration to the proper volatile content for compaction
• Compaction
• Finishing
• Aerating and curing
• Application of surface cover
Engineering Characteristics of Bitumen Stabilized Soils (Clayey Sand)
✓ The maximum dry density obtained increases with % bitumen and decreases
after a certain point. If viscosity of bitumen used is less then more percent
bitumen is needed for more maximum density.
✓ The decrease happens that after certain % bitumen is because of increase of
fluidity.
✓ The optimum % of water to be added for maximum density decreases with
increase in % bitumen. This is because at increased % of bitumen fluidity is
more water required is less.
✓ The decrease is steeper for less viscous bitumen.
✓ The stabilized soil bitumen was soaked in water to check for water
absorption. The samples with more % bitumen absorbed less water
indicating more water proofing (given the same time of soaking).
✓ Unstabilized soil collapsed on immersing in water.
✓ Strength increases with % bitumen and decrease after the optimum % of
bitumen.
✓ Soaking reduces the strength.
✓ The unconfined compressive strength of soil stabilized with bitumen
decreases with soaking.

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Disadvantages of bitumen stabilization

✓ Initial reduction in shear strength- When bitumen is used for soil
stabilization in saturated soils, it can often temporarily decrease the shear
strength of the soil because of the fluid it contains. However, the soil will
increase in shear strength as it dries.
✓ Brittleness- Bitumen has a tendency to become brittle over time. This
tendency can weaken the strength of soils stabilized using bitumen.
However, this disadvantage is often worked around in bituminous soil
stabilization by combining bitumen with other additives.
✓ Burning risk- This is because bitumen must be added when it is very hot. It
must be at least 180˚ C when applied to soil mixtures to function effectively
as a soil stabilization additive.
✓ Environmental considerations- There are a variety of different additives
that are considered to be environmentally friendly options for meeting soil
stabilization needs. However, bitumen is not considered to be among these
"green" alternatives. Soil stabilization methods typically identified as being
environmentally friendly include using enzymes, biopolymers, synthetic
polymers, sodium chloride, and tree resins.
✓ Cost- The cost of using bitumen is relatively high in comparison to the cost
of using other common soil stabilization additives like cement and lime. For
this reason, bitumen is sometimes used in combination with these more
affordable materials to keep costs down.
✓ Limitations in soil types and environments- Great care must be taken when
using bitumen to ensure that it is properly used in only the appropriate
situations. Bitumen must only be present in stable soils at between 2 and 4
percent. It is best used in hot and dry environments, and it is considered
effective in either silty or sandy soils with a 25 to 35 percent liquid limit.
Soil Stabilization By Chlorides, Hydroxides and Lignin
Calcium chloride CaCl2
Physical properties
✓ Hygroscopicity – it attracts and absorbs moisture from the atmosphere.
✓ Deliquescence – it liquefies in moisture by its own absorption.
✓ Solubility – it is highly soluble in water. The solubility increases with
temperature.
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✓ Vapour pressure –tendency of a substance to change in to vapour state, at the

same temperature and humidity the vapour pressure of the CaCl2 is less than
that of water.
✓ Surface tension – CaCl2 has more surface tension than water.
✓ Freezing point – A lower freezing point than water.
Effect of Cacl2 in soil
✓ The Ca2+ ion replaces the cations on clay surface.
✓ This creates more repulsion between clay particles creating the structure
more flocculated.
✓ Reduce the thickness of diffused double layer.
✓ It reduces the plasticity of soil and increases the strength of soil.
✓ It changes the characteristics of water present in the pores.
✓ CaCl2 present in water in the pores lowers the rate of evaporation as CaCl2
has got lower vapour pressure than water.
✓ CaCl2 is hygroscopic and deliquescent and hence the moisture lost from the
pores is less.
✓ Thus, it reduces evaporative losses from soil.
✓ Hence used for moisture control during construction.
✓ It helps in control of dust generated from unpaved roads as it reduces
visibility as well as the fines which provides cohesion isn’t lost.
✓ Frost heave is reduced as the salt reduces the freezing point of water.
✓ All the improvement remains only if the salt remains in the pore water. If it
is washed off the benefits due to salt in pore water is lost.
✓ It damages vegetation and will leach downward.
✓ In cold regions CaCl2 is used for faster thawing for frozen soils and thus it
makes compaction possible.
✓ The strength reduction after repeated freeze thaw cycles is less for CaCl 2.
✓ It can be a useful additive for cement and lime stabilization. (it supplements
with Ca2+ ions).
✓ The maximum dry density increases and OMC decreases in the gravelly clay
due to the following factors:
• CaCl2 increases the surface tension of moisture films aiding
compaction.
• CaCl2 causes flocculation making compaction difficult.

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✓ Here the collective effect is CaCl2 has aided the compaction but this cannot
be generalized as it depends on the soil.
Sodium Chloride (NaCl)
✓ Has similar properties to CaCl2.
✓ Cheaper than CaCl2.
✓ Overall benefits are rated lower than CaCl2.
✓ In some cases, strength decreases (Brandl).
Sodium Hydroxide
✓ According to Brandl sodium hydroxide and hydrated lime (calcium
hydroxide) cause similar change to a fine-grained soil.
✓ Reacts with alumina in soil to form sodium aluminate which is cementitious.
✓ It reduces plasticity.
✓ It increases strength.
✓ Flocculation produced is less compared to Ca2+.
✓ Assist compaction and increases the maximum dry density for a compactive
effort.
Chrome-Lignin
✓ Chrome-lignin is a by-product of paper industry.
✓ Lignin is a natural cement in wood.
✓ It acts like a binder and make clayey soil less permeable.
✓ Reduce moisture evaporation.
✓ Chrome Lignin is water soluble hence improvement is not permanent.
✓ To make it an insoluble gel chrome lignin is made to react with hexavalent
chromium such as sodium or potassium bichromate.
✓ It reduces heave in soil.

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