Stabilization using Waste plastic for Subgrade soil

Abstract

The Biggest challenge in a developing country like India is to build infrastructure system especially roads with limited financial source available. Use of local materials can considerably lower down the construction cost. If the stability of local soil is not adequate for supporting wheel loads, the properties are improved by soil stabilization techniques e.g. use of waste material obtained from industries or waste plastic in the subgrade soil, this can help in improving strength of subgrade. Research has been done in this area to improve engineering performance of subgrade soil by adding different types of waste plastic content. In this study different types of waste plastic were randomly mixed with the sandy soil, then a series of California Bearing Ratio (CBR) tests were conducted to evaluate the strength of subgrade soil. High density polyethylene (HDPE), and Polypropylene (PP) at various percentages were used for improving soil strength. Results from the tests established that addition of these materials in gives sufficient strength to subgrade soil. It was observed that the Bearing ratio index (BRI) increases with increase in fiber content upto a certain percentage but decreases with further addition of waste plastic content.