Geotechnical Behavior of Construction Waste (CW) as a Partial Replacement of a Lateritic Soil in Fiber-Reinforced Cement Mixtures

Abstract

It is increasingly important to find solutions for the problem of construction waste (CW) which is generated in high quantities and is often disposed of irregularly. The reuse of this material in large scale projects, such as base and sub-base layers for road pavements, can lead to long term environmental benefits. This paper describes the novel use of CW to partially replace a lateritic natural soil in fiber-reinforced cement mixtures. In addition to the CW, Portland cement and polypropylene fibers were added to the natural soil as a percentage of its dry mass. The geotechnical characterization, unconfined compressive strength, tensile strength, direct shear strength, permanent strain and resilient modulus were used to the evaluate the effect of polypropylene fiber and Portland cement on the behavior of the soil–CW mixtures. Laboratory test results indicate that the partial replacement of soil with CW and the addition of 0.1% of 50 mm long polypropylene fiber to soil–CW mixtures produces a viable alternative material for geotechnical applications, with better performance than natural soil alone.