Stabilization of Tropical Peat Soil from Sarawak with Different Stabilizing Agents

Abstract

This paper describes a study on tropical peat soil stabilization to improve its physical properties by using different stabilizing agents. The samples were collected from six different locations of Sarawak, Malaysia, to evaluate their physical or index properties. Out of them, sample having the highest percentage of organic content has been selected for stabilization purposes. In this study, ordinary portland cement (OPC), quick lime (QL), and class F fly ash (FA) were used as stabilizer. The amount of OPC, QL, and FA added to the peat soil sample, as percentage of dry soil mass, were in the range of 5–20%; 5–20% and 2–8%, respectively for the curing periods of 7, 14, and 28 days. The Unconfined Compressive Strength (UCS) test was carried out on treated/stabilized samples with the above mentioned percentages of the stabilizer and the result shows that the UCS value increases significantly with the increase of all stabilizing agent used and also with curing periods. However, in case of FA and QL, the UCS value increases up to 15 and 6%, respectively with a curing period of 28 days but decreases rather steady beyond this percentage. Some UCS tests have been conducted with a mixture of FA and QL to study the combined effect of the stabilizer. In addition, Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) study was carried out on original peat soil and FA, as well as some treated samples in order to study their microstructures.