Rainfall erosion of natural fibers cement treated mud

Abstract

This study evaluated the possible application of inexpensive mud stabilization treatments for the purpose of reducing soil erosion. The soil erosion was investigated by measuring soil loss over the surface of compacted specimens made by natural fibers cement treated mud exposed to a rainfall test sequence. The compacted specimens were made by adding 5 kg/m3 to 50 kg/m3 cement and 0 kg/m3 to 20 kg/m3 natural fibers to 40% to 60% water content mud. The results showed that the increasing of either cement content or natural fibers content reduced the soil erosion from 50% to 80%. Furthermore, a numerical function was developed to predict the value of soil loss of the treated mud based on the ratio of cement content, natural fibers content and initial water content.