Mechanical improvement and vertical yield stress prediction of clayey soils from eastern Canada treated with lime or cement

The method of soil stabilization is well known and has been used throughout the world for many decades to improve some soil properties. Although many researchers have studied the effect of adding a cementing agent to a soil, not many of these researchers have explored the effect of treatment on the resulting properties of high water content soils like dredged material. Also, there has been little work concerning the prediction of the mechanical changes to the soil. Therefore, this paper summarizes the results of a research project conducted to define the general mechanical behavior of high water content clayey soils from eastern Canada treated with lime or cement, in terms of compressibility. In the light of this research, the general compressibility behavior has been obtained, defined by relationships between initial void ratio, additive content, and vertical yield stress for a given inorganic or organic soil. These relationships have been normalized on the basis of the one-dimensional compression curve of the remolded and reconstituted untreated soil to give a simple method for predicting the vertical yield stress of a treated soil for any initial void ratio and its resistance to compression.Key words: stabilization, compressibility, yield stress, clayey soils, lime, cement.