Influence of Lime on Lime Soil Stabilization on Natural Occurring Acidic Soil Engineering Properties

The need to intervene in improving the structural stability of soils arises so as to bring about stability. One of the intervention which has been used and still in use involves the application of lime to soil so as to enhance the stability in the soils. Investigations into the properties of lime treated (lime-soil stabilization) soils seeks to assess the suitability of soil tested for its suitability for usage. Using lime to stabilize soil has a number of benefits, among many, decrease in soil plasticity index, increase in soil strength, increase in durability, decrease in swell potential and volume change of the treated soil, add to the list. In the construction industry, the use of lime to soil is associated with weak, unstable or unsuitable soils. Soil referred to may be natural or imported natural occurring soil encountered during road construction for base courses or other.An experimental program was undertaken to investigate the effects of hydrated lime on natural occurring acidic soil engineering properties. Three (3) natural occurring acidic soil samples were collected from three different locations and treated with different lime contents (i.e. 2%, 4%, 6%, 8% and 10% by weight of soil). Laboratory test such as soil gradation, consistency limits, compaction, Unconfined Compression Strength (UCS) and California Bearing Ratio (CBR) tests were conducted. The UCS and CBR tests were carried out after 7 days curing time. The test results indicated that the inclusion lime reduces the plasticity of the soil. The results of this investigation have shown that beneficial effects are obtained by the addition of lime contents to soil samples. The dry density of the soil sample decreases with increase in lime content. For UCS indications are that lime stabilized material for sample 2 at each lime content with highest strength recorded at lime content of 10% after curing for seven days with CBR tests for soil samples treated with different lime contents reporting constant increase when compacted at 55 comp active efforts.