Experimental Investigation of Impact of Adding Lime on Atterberg Limits in Golestan Province Soils

ABSTRACT: Swelling soils account for large volume of the ground. These soils are swelled due to moisture changes in different seasons of the year which leads to damage and crack to structures built on these soils and considerable financial loss would be incurred. Thus this phenomenon may be described as dangerous like other natural disasters. Soil stabilization is a good technique for reducing such loss. Mechanical techniques such as concentration lead to improved soil characteristics. However, authors have concluded that chemical stabilization of the soil is more effective. In this paper, lime is used as a stabilizing chemical for swelling soils of Golestan province. Four soil samples with plasticity index 20, 30, 35, and 40 were used in experiment. Plasticity characteristics (including limits of smoothness, plasticity, contraction and plasticity index) of clay soils in the region regarding mentioned samples are studied and compared using combination of various percentages of lime.