Evaluation of properties of alluvial soil with addition of wastes from thermal power plant and rice mill

Abstract

Pond ash and rice husk ash (RHA) are produced in large quantities from thermal power plants and rice mills respectively. These wastes are usually located over dumping zones near the plants, which requires wastage of good agricultural lands, which are in short supply in many places. Therefore, safe disposal without adversely affecting the environment and subsequent provision for required larger storage area are major concerns. The present study investigated the benefits of utilizing these waste materials after mixing with alluvial soil by evaluating the Atterberg limits, compaction, California bearing ratio, and unconfined compressive stress properties. The results indicated that the use of pond ash and RHA produced improvements in strength of alluvial soil without increasing any significant demand of water for compaction. Furthermore, to achieve significant improvements in strength, 20% RHA to be mixed with the pond ash mixed soil in proportion of 60∶40.