Abstract
Improvement in subgrade has always been an area of concern to highway and geotechnical engineers. In case of a highway, a weak subgrade results in greater thickness of pavement layer which increases the cost of pavement construction. To strengthen the subgrade soil, the use of jute fiber is advantageous because they are cheap, locally available, biodegradable, and eco-friendly. Jute fiber mixed randomly with subgrade soil has significant impact on the improvement of subgrade characteristics over the last decade. Keeping this in view an experimental study was conducted on locally available soil reinforced with jute fiber. In this study the soil samples were prepared at its maximum dry density corresponding to optimum moisture content in the CBR mold with and without reinforcement. The percentage of jute fiber by dry weight of soil was taken as 0.3%, 0.6%, 0.9%, and 1.2%. In the present investigation the length of fiber was taken as 15 mm and 30 mm, and two different diameters (4 mm and 8 mm) were considered for each fiber length. From the laboratory tests the effect of jute fiber content on density of soil (optimum moisture content and maximum dry density) was observed for each length and diameter of jute fiber. It was observed that the optimum moisture content increases and the maximum dry density decreases with the increase in jute fiber content for each length and diameter of jute fiber. The laboratory CBR values of soil and soil reinforced with fiber were determined. The effects of aspect ratio (length/diameter ratio) of jute fiber on CBR value of soil were also investigated. Test results indicate that CBR value of soil increases with the increase in length of jute fiber. It was also observed that increasing the diameter of jute fiber further increases the CBR value of reinforced soil, and this increase is substantial at fiber content of 1.2% for aspect ratio of 3.75 (length = 30 mm, diameter = 8 mm).
Highlights
Transportation plays a vital rule in the development of economy, industry, society and culture of any country
This paper presents the influence of jute fiber on the California Bearing Ratio (CBR) value of the studied soil
The Proctor tests results obtained from the tests conducted on the soil sample without jute fiber and with different percentage of jute fiber for various aspect ratios are discussed as below: It is observed that inclusion of jute fiber reduces the maximum dry density (MDD) and increases the optimum moisture content (OMC)
Summary
Transportation plays a vital rule in the development of economy, industry, society and culture of any country. From this study it was concluded that jute fiber reinforcement reduces the maximum dry density and increases the optimum moisture content of the subgrade soil. Md. Akhtar Hossain et al.: Application of Jute Fiber for the Improvement of Subgrade Characteristics these materials into a usable form is an employment generation activity in rural areas of these countries. Akhtar Hossain et al.: Application of Jute Fiber for the Improvement of Subgrade Characteristics these materials into a usable form is an employment generation activity in rural areas of these countries If these materials are used effectively, the rural economy can get uplift and the cost of construction can be reduced, if the material use leads to beneficial effects in engineering construction.
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