Lightweight Foamed Concrete Research Articles

Study on the Engineering Properties of Lightweight Foamed Concrete Modified with Palm Stalk Fiber as an Additive

The escalation of agricultural waste in Malaysia has emerged as a significant focal point today. Agricultural trash is typically disposed of in landfills without regard for environmental considerations. Prior studies have demonstrated that highly reactive silica-containing debris can interact with calcium hydroxide in concrete, resulting in a thick microstructure. This study examines the possible application of palm stalk fibre (PSF) as an additive in lightweight foamed concrete (LFC) to enhance its engineering properties. The assessed engineering properties include compressive strength, flexural strength, splitting tensile strength, shrinkage and ultrasonic pulse velocity. Four distinct PSF percentages of 0.15, 0.30, 0.45 and 0.60 % were utilized as additions to the LFC mix. The findings indicated that incorporating 0.45 % PSF into LFC yielded optimal outcomes for compressive strength, flexural strength, splitting tensile strength, shrinkage and ultrasonic pulse velocity of LFC. The surface roughness of PSF enhances fiber-to-matrix interfacial bonding, since a rougher surface facilitates the interlocking of SBK fibre with the matrix within the LFC cementitious matrix.

Greener lightweight foam concrete using seaweed industrial by-product to replace natural sand with inorganic salt as a stabilizer

In recent years, the seaweed industry has expanded, resulting in higher volumes of seaweed industrial by-products (SWB). People commonly dispose SWB on land, which raises environmental concerns due to its hazardous chemical content. The use of waste materials as alternatives to natural sand has gained attention due to its potential to reduce environmental impact. Therefore, this study aimed to develop a greener lightweight foam concrete (LFC) by incorporating 0-30% SWB as a replacement for natural sand in fine aggregates and evaluate its performance. Furthermore, the study investigated the inclusion of inorganic salt concentrations ranging from 0 to 15% into the concrete mixture to improve performance. The production, sampling, and testing procedures followed the SNI 8640:2018 standards. Properties like density, water absorption, drying shrinkage, and compressive strength were analyzed for SWB percentage (0-30%), salt concentration (0-15%), foaming pressure (0.20, 0.39, and 0.59 MPa), and curing duration (7, 14, and 28 days). Viable specimens were further examined for microstructure, energy intensity, CO2 emission, and production cost. Specimen FS5 met standards with a density of 707.1 kg/m3, compressive strength of 2.12 MPa, water absorption of 25.45% (v/v), and drying shrinkage of 0.13%. The energy intensity, CO2 emission, and total cost of greener LFC were calculated to be 159.88 MJ/m3, 188.98 kg of CO2/m3, and IDR 682,130/m3, respectively. Ultimately, this work greatly contributes to the field of green manufacturing and environmental sustainability by successfully decreasing energy intensity, CO2 emissions, and environmental harm in LFC production processes.

The Potential Use of Palm Frond Fibre on the Mechanical Performance of Lightweight Foamed Concrete

The Potential Use of Palm Frond Fibre on the Mechanical Performance of Lightweight Foamed Concrete

Experimental and Numerical Study on Lightweight-Foamed-Concrete-Filled Widened Embankment of High-Speed Railway.

To study the performance of lightweight foamed concrete (LWFC) in widened embankments of high-speed railways, this study first conducted numerous strength, permeability, and water immersion tests to investigate the mechanical properties and water resistance of LWFC with designed dry densities of 550, 600, and 650 kg/m3. Secondly, a field test was performed to analyze the behavior of the deformation and the internal pressure within the LWFC-filled portions. Furthermore, a parametric study via numerical modeling was performed to investigate the effects of four key factors on the performance of the LWFC-filled, widened embankments. Results showed that LWFC possesses adequate bearing capacity and impermeability to meet high-speed railway embankment widening requirements. However, water seepage reduces LWFC strength. The additional pressure from LWFC filling increases initially but then decreases once dehydration occurs. The settlement induced by LWFC accounted for 71% of the total filling height, which is only 37.5% of the total settlement after construction. The parametric study results show that the maximum settlement of widened and existing portions induced by LWFC was 46.3-49.6% and 48.3-53.2% of those induced by traditional fillers due to the LWFC's lower density as well as their better self-supporting ability. Making an appropriate reduction in the thickness of the retain wall installed against the LWFC-filled widened embankment of the high-speed railway generates a few variations in the lateral deformation of the wall. Furthermore, the effects of the pile offset on the deformation of the LWFC-filled embankment were more sensitive compared to the diameter of the piles.

Preparation and Performance Characterization of Low-Density 3D-Printed Expanded Perlite–Foam Concrete

Traditional lightweight foam concrete typically introduces a large number of voids into the concrete using surfactants to reduce density. However, in 3D printing, the instability of lightweight foam concrete can affect the workability of the slurry. Additionally, the lower strength of foam with more pores also reduces its mechanical performance. This study found that by replacing sand with expanded perlite in 3D-printed foam concrete, the stability of the foam is improved, enhancing the workability of the mixture and increasing the constructability of printed concrete. Furthermore, analyses of mechanical properties, porosity, and pore size distribution showed that at the same dry density, foam concrete with a higher expanded perlite replacement ratio exhibited higher compressive strength, with a maximum strength increase of up to 39%. Moreover, the introduction of expanded perlite optimized the pore distribution of the foam concrete, resulting in a more uniform material structure. The 3D-printed expanded perlite–foam concrete (3DPFC) prepared in this study provides new insights for the preparation of lightweight 3D-printed concrete, which is of significant importance for the sustainable development of the construction industry.

Carbon Fiber Effect on Compressive Strength of Lightweight Foamed Concrete

Carbon Fiber Effect on Compressive Strength of Lightweight Foamed Concrete

High-performance lightweight foam concrete enabled by compositing ultra-stable hydrophobic aqueous foam

The major limitations of lightweight foam concrete are inferior mechanical properties and durability. This study designs a novel high-modulus hydrophobic foam to produce high-strength and durable foam concrete. Poly (methyl hydrogen)siloxane (PMHS) was employed to construct a hydrophobic boundary of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) foam. The produced hydrophobic foam bubbles exhibit a high modulus, fine bubble size, and exceptional thermodynamic stability. A dense foam wall of 8 μm in thickness functions as a structure for chemical loadings of inorganic-organic particles onto the viscoelastic bubble film. This facilitates their interaction effect of adsorption and chemical bonding, contributing to the hydrophobic nature of the foam wall. The resulting hydrophobic foam concrete shows low water adsorption and high mechanical strength. The hydrophobic foam concrete demonstrates superior chemical resistance and anti-chloride diffusion compared with normal concrete. This study might provide a practical strategy for designing high-performance lightweight foam concrete with significant potential as structural elements.

Mechanical and durability properties of polymer fiber reinforced one-part foam geopolymer concrete: A sustainable strategy for the recycling of waste steel slag aggregate and fly ash

This paper assesses the feasibility of geopolymers (GPs) for use as lightweight foamed concrete, a crucial step towards reducing the carbon footprint and conserving natural resources. A powder activator (i.e., sodium metasilicate) less harmful to the environment was used to activate the fly ash-based GPs, while the limestone aggregates were gradually replaced by up to 100 % waste slag materials to conserve natural resources. Polypropylene fibers were incorporated at high dosage rates of 1 % or 2 %, by volume, to reduce the concrete density and improve its durability properties. Tested properties include flow, density, water absorption, porosity, thermal conductivity, mechanical strengths, drying shrinkage, and resistance to sulfate attack, freeze/thaw cycles, and elevated temperature. Results showed that the concrete mechanical properties improved when the limestone aggregate was replaced by slag materials, but the density and thermal conductivity were slightly curtailed at higher addition rates. The use of polypropylene fibers proved efficient to improve the resistance to freeze/thaw cycles, drying shrinkage, and expansion due to sulphate attack. Such data can help sustain the green building industry development by reducing the carbon footprint and conserving natural resources in foamed concrete applications.

Enhancing the engineering performance of lightweight limestone calcined clay cement concrete using used engine oil as a foam stabilizer

Lightweight foam concrete is an appealing thermal insulation material with great potential for decarbonizing the building sector, given that its superior thermal insulation and reduced material usage promote energy-efficient and low-carbon constructions. However, traditional foam concrete largely depends on carbon-intensive ordinary Portland cement (OPC) and costly foam stabilizers, e.g., nanomaterials. To address these issues, this study developed an eco-friendly foam concrete formula incorporating limestone calcined clay cement as a low-carbon cement substitute and used engine oil (UEO) as a foam stabilizer. The viability of this formula was confirmed by assessing foam stability performance of UEO-enhanced foam and crucial engineering performance – thermal conductivity and compressive strength – of foam concrete. Experiments demonstrate that 1 % UEO notably boosts foam stability, with prolonged stable time by 75 % and enhanced remaining foam fraction by 43 %. Additionally, 1 % UEO-containing foam concrete exhibits superior compressive strength of 3.2 MPa and reduced thermal conductivity of 0.162 W⋅m-1K-1, outperforming foam concrete without UEO. The mechanisms of macroscopic performance changes were revealed through scanning electron microscopy (SEM), which disclosed a uniformly established UEO-enhanced pore system and UEO-driven hydration process as the microscale origins. These findings provide waste-enhanced foam stabilizers and present an environmentally appealing alternative to traditional foam concrete, with implications for clean waste management and building decarbonization.

Recycling and reuse of waste banded iron formation as fine aggregate in the production of lightweight foamed concrete: Fresh-state, mechanical, thermal, microstructure and durability properties assessment

This study investigates the possibility of using BIFs as sustainable fine aggregates to produce lightweight foam concrete (LWFC) by replacing sand with 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 % banded iron formations (BIFs). The fresh concrete properties, such as slump flow, density, and setting time, as well as its mechanical properties, including compressive strength, splitting strength, and flexural strength, were investigated. The thermal conductivity, specific heat, porosity, gas permeability, pore distribution, and sorptivity were measured to determine durability and thermal performance. Microstructural analysis of the mixes was performed using SEM, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), and mapping. The results recommended a 10 % replacement ratio to achieve an increased compressive strength ratio of 55.88 % compared to the control mix at 7 days (d). The strength at later ages increased compared to that of the control mix by 33.9 %, 30 %, 42.48 %, and 42.4 % at 14, 28, 56, and 180 d, respectively. In addition, the flexure increased by 42.7 % at 7 d, 49.6 % at 14 d, and 45.6 % at 28 d compared to the control mix. In addition, the UPV also increased gradually from 2757 to 3699 km/s with increase in BIFs content. Furthermore, the porosity decreased at 7 d, 14 d, 28 d, and 90 d. Moreover, chloride penetration decreased by 2.5 %, where an improvement in thermal conductivity was achieved with BIFs to 0.342 W/mK compared to that of the control mix. In addition, a reduction in the specific heat of the material from 1042 J/kg K to 1007 J/kg K was observed. SEM showed a better arrangement of pores when BIFs were utilized compared with that of control mix without BIFs. In conclusion, the incorporation of waste BIFs as fine aggregates in lightweight foam concrete demonstrates a promising potential for enhancing the mechanical and thermal properties of construction materials, paving the way for durable building materials in the construction industry.

Study on properties of re-dispersible latex powder and polypropylene fiber-reinforced lightweight foam concrete

Foam concrete has a broad application prospect due to its lightweight, convenient construction and other characteristics. However, the low strength and tensile toughness limit the application range of foam concrete. In this study, re-dispersible latex powder and polypropylene fiber were used to improve the mechanical properties of foam concrete. The effects of re-dispersible latex powder and polypropylene fiber on the compressive and tensile properties of foam concrete were studied. The results showed that compared with ordinary foam concrete, the combination of re-dispersible latex powder and polypropylene fiber increased the energy absorption capacity, ductility index and tension compression ratio of foam concrete by 13.4 %, 5024.6 % and 190.7 %, respectively. The bio-membrane formed by the hydration of re-dispersible latex powder improves the internal pore structure, which can cooperate with polypropylene fiber to optimize the crack growth behavior and ductility of foam concrete, thereby improving the compression and tensile properties of foam concrete.

Optimization of Mechanical Properties of Raw Agave Fibre-Reinforced Lightweight Foamed Concrete

The utilization of readily accessible natural fibres in lightweight foamed concrete (LWFC), which is already a widely used building material, can have a substantial positive impact on the environment. Therefore, the mechanical characteristics might be increased by using a correct mix proportion of fibre-reinforced LWFC. Innovative LWFC-agave fibre (AF) composites were created in this experiment. In order to get the best mechanical qualities, this investigation set out to establish the correct weight fraction of AF to be added to LWFC. Two LWFC densities of 750 and 1500 kg/m3 were produced with the addition of several weight fractions of AF, precisely 0.0%, 1.5%, 3.0%, 4.5%, 6.0%, and 7.5%, were used. To establish the mechanical characteristics of LWFCAF composites, flexural tests, tensile strength tests, axial compression tests, and ultrasonic pulse velocity tests were carried out. Test results revealed that the combination of LWFC together with a weight fraction of 4.5% of AF exhibited superior mechanical properties. Beyond 4.5% of AF’s weight fraction, the mechanical properties started to deteriorate. This study gives insight and crucial data on the mechanical characteristics of LWFC-AF composites therefore it will enable future researchers to explore other properties of LWFC reinforced with AF.

Impact of anionic surfactant-based foaming agents on the properties of lightweight foamed concrete

Due to its low density, high thermal insulation, and ability to contribute to energy saving, lightweight foamed concrete (LWFC) is a versatile material that finds use in a wide variety of contexts. The properties of foam are significantly influenced by the selection of surfactant and foam production parameters, which in turn impact the properties of LWFC. Therefore, the anionic foaming agent effect on the distinct properties of LWFC needs to be investigated to create a lightweight structure in modern days. This research aims to better understand the interactions between cement particles and anionic foaming agents, which produce stable and consistent aqueous foams because of their negative charge. Investigations were carried out on the effects of anionic foaming agents of LWFC features on the fresh state characteristics, mechanical behaviour, microstructure, and transport properties. In this investigation, four distinct types of anionic surfactants specifically sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS), alpha olefin sulfonate (AOS), sodium lauryl ether sulphate (SLES), and sodium alcohol ether sulphate (AES) were considered, with all mixes maintaining a consistent cement-to-sand ratio and identical amounts of foaming agents. The fresh state testing exhibits that AOS-based LWFC may be preferred when lower setting time and spreadability, as well as a higher density, are required. The AOS-based LWFC exhibits lower capillary sorption, water absorption, and gas permeability than SLES, SLS, and AES-based LWFC. At 28 days, about 91–96 % of the compressive, tensile, and flexural strength of AOS-based LWFC is obtained for SLS, SLES, and AES-based LWFC. In addition, at the same curing age, the results for modulus of elasticity were over 6 % higher in the AOS-based LWFC mixture than in the other mixes. The pore structural and microstructural behavior revealed that AOS and SLS foamed-based LWFC exhibit a considerable reduction of macropores, or long capillaries, with diameters less than 500 µm, which can be used in the lightweight structure in modern days. This research emphasizes the significance of selecting the appropriate foaming agents to optimize the mechanical and transport properties of LWFC, which provides substantial benefits for contemporary construction practices.

A Thermal Study on Foam-Based Eco-friendly Cinder Tiles

This study focusses on usage of fly ash and metakaolin as industrial waste to aerate lightweight foam concrete (LFGC) using hydrogen peroxide. By designing and optimising the components of metakaolin, hydrogen peroxide, and fly ash, physical properties such as mechanical strength, thermal characteristics, and heat resistance are assessed. Lightweight foam concrete has a dry density between 1400 and 1800 kg/m3, a bending strength between 0.7 and 1 MPa, and thermal conductivity between 0.1 and 0.7 W/mK, all of which indicate that it is more lightweight than normal concrete. By dumping solid waste on land, the environment suffers, and it leads to the release of toxic gases into the atmosphere and get polluted. As a byproduct, swapping out the cement with concrete would be a practical and cost-effective way to use the refuse. Alkaline solutions such as NaOH and Na2Sio3 are used to prepare geopolymer concrete. Samples of geopolymer concrete made with fly ash and metakaolin are cured in the oven for 24 hours. Geopolymer concrete is a form of material-based construction in which industrial raw materials supplied by businesses are incorporated into it. This lowers carbon emissions and makes the concrete more environmentally friendly. Using MATLAB, we predict which is the best value of bending strength, thermal conductivity, heat resistance, and dry density of various ash concrete. Effective input variables for geopolymer concrete include the amounts of fly ash, metakaolin, NaOH, and Na2SiO3, Fine aggregate, and the ratio of NaOH and Na2SiO3 and the output variables are bending strength, dry density, thermal conductivity, heat resistance.

Utilizing bio-based and industrial waste aggregates to improve mechanical properties and thermal insulation in lightweight foamed macro polypropylene fibre-reinforced concrete

This research intends to examine the potential of incorporating waste materials in place of coarse aggregates to augment the mechanical characteristics and thermal insulation of lightweight foamed concrete (LWFC), along with the inclusion of polypropylene (PP) fibres. The PP fibre exhibits excellent tensile strength and enhancement on thermal insulation properties of cementitious materials. In this study, eco-friendly bio-based oil palm shell (OPS) and robust solid polyurethane (SPU) aggregates derived from industrial waste were utilized as substitutes for conventional aggregates. Additionally, silica fume was partially incorporated as supplementary cementitious materials. The addition of PP fibre impacted the workability of the LWFC with the inverted slump value decreased by 1.7 %–17.5 %. The inclusion of PP fibre proportion increased from 0 % to 0.5 % revealed a positive result in mechanical properties and thermal insulation performance. The OPSSPU/0.5 showed the significantly increment of 40.4 % compressive strength, 102.9 % of splitting tensile strength, and 70.8 % flexural strength, respectively. The optimum result was obtained in the OPSSPU/0.5 mixture, which exhibited 3.74 MPa residual compressive strength. Furthermore, utilizing PP fibres brought about a significant reduction in thermal conductivity in the environmentally sustainable LWFC, leading to improvements ranging from 0.2 % to 16.3 % when compared to the control composition. Thus, these findings are essential for encouraging the adoption of such practices in the construction industry and contributing to the reduction of environmental impacts associated with sustainable concrete production.

Strength Properties of Lightweight Foamed Concrete with Steel Fiber

The advancement in lightweight cementitious composite strength enhancement has promoting the usage of lightweight material across modern construction industry. Likewise, Lightweight foamed concrete (LFC) was introduced as an alternative material in the construction industry due to its properties including good thermal and sound insulation, lighter in weight and cost-effectiveness. In corresponded to LFC strength issue which often found to be diminished due to its lower density and porous structures. Studies have shown that the incorporation of steel fiber into concrete can recover the diminished strength of lightweight foamed concrete. Hence, this research focusses on the strength properties of LFC incorporate with 30 kg/m3 of steel fiber. Three types of LFC were prepared in this study including a trial mix of LFC (LFC-TM), a control mix of LFC (LFC-CTR), and LFC with 30 kg/m3 steel fiber (LFC-30SF). The LFC-CTR and LFC-30SF were casted based on the obtained optimum water-to-cement ratio from the plotted performance index graph, which was 0.56 for both mixes. The fresh properties of LFC-CTR and LFC-30SF were determined based on the result obtained from fresh density, flow table and inverted slump tests. Besides, the strength properties studied for LFC-CTR and LFC-30SF were compressive strength, splitting tensile strength and flexural strength at 7, 28 and 56 days after curing. From the test results obtained, the compressive, splitting tensile and flexural strength of LFC was found to be improved by adding the steel fiber into the mix. As for the fresh properties of LFC, the stability was found to decreased after the steel fiber was added into the mix, while the flowability and consistency was observed with an improvement subject to fibre addition. In short, incorporating steel fiber can improve the strength properties of LFC, which driving their usability and encouraging wider adoption across modern industries.

Characterization and preparation of eco-friendly foamed concrete using a foaming agent: Optimizing the design by Taguchi analysis

Solid waste management has emerged as the primary global environmental challenge due to the constant production of increasing waste by-products and materials. Using waste materials makes concrete production economical and helps resolve disposal problems. The effects of lightweight foam concrete reinforced with corncob ash (CA) and basalt fibre (BF) on durability, thermal conductivity, and mechanical properties are investigated elaborately in this study. The foam concrete mix is prepared in three series with a foam (F) content of 25, 50, and 75 kg/m3 with and without the CA and BF reference mixes. The mix of corncob ash is chosen as a cement replacement in six different concentrations: 0%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, and 60%. In addition, compositions of 0.5%, 1.5%, and 3% basalt fibre length variation were incorporated into the weight of the cement. Split tensile, compressive, and flexural strengths are determined at 7, 14, and 28 days. The workability, porosity, durability, and thermal characteristics are also examined. This study analyses the confirmation experiment to verify the optimum mix proportions of lightweight foam concrete by applying Taguchi’s experimental design for concrete mixes incorporating by-products as a partial cement replacement. Adding BF improved the mechanical properties of compressive, tensile, and flexural strength, whereas adding CA decreased porosity and thermal conductivity. The 50% CA with 1.5% BF blended concrete with 50 kg/m3 F exhibits high strength compared to 25 and 75 kg/m3 at all ages. The split tensile strength of the F50CA50BF1.5 mix varies from 2.19 MPa to 2.73 MPa, and the compressive strength of 29.13 MPa is higher than that of 14.36 MPa, 18.63 MPa, and 0.88 MPa for the R 25, R 50, and R 75 kg/m3 mixes. The highest mechanical strength and improved durable properties are achieved by replacing 50% of CA and 1.5% of BF with F 50 by-products at all curing periods.

Symbiotic Operation Forest (SOF): A novel approach to supervised machine learning

Reliable AI methods for predicting and formulating relationships between input and output variables are particularly valuable when making data-driven decisions. However, conventional AI methods are primarily “black-box” techniques that lack interpretability. To address this issue, a novel, supervised machine learning model known as Symbiotic Operation Forest (SOF) is introduced. SOF improves the existing model using three strategies, including: (1) enlarging the geometric structure of the operation tree (OT) for better generalization, (2) using a bootstrap sampling technique to construct a diverse OT as a base learner, and (3) implementing a chaos-based algorithm using symbiotic organisms search 2.0 (SOS 2.0) to minimize the prediction error. Experiments were conducted on three datasets covering three different concrete types, including, respectively, recycled aggregate concrete (RAC), high-performance concrete (HPC), and lightweight foamed concrete (LFC). SOF was compared against several commonly used AI models using metrics such as RMSE, MAE, MAPE, R, and R2,with the results showing SOF to have both the best predictive performance and the capability to generate explicit formulas. The statistical results also confirmed the predictive performance of SOF to be significantly better than these AI models, with a p-value < 0.05.

Exploring the influence of calcinated eggshell powder on lightweight foamed concrete: A comprehensive study on freshness, mechanical strength, thermal characteristics and transport properties

This research aimed to explore the feasibility of using calcined eggshell powder (CESP) as a substitute for cement in the production of lightweight foamed concrete (LWFC), considering its high calcium content. Ten LWFC mixtures consisting of two densities of 600 kg/m3 and 1200 kg/m3 were produced and tested. Each density comprised mixtures with varying proportions of CESP, ranging from 0% to 20% in increments of 5%. The ES was calcined at 900 °C to convert the CaCO3 into CaO. The fresh, transport, mechanical, microstructural, and thermal properties were investigated. The findings revealed that the slump flow and setting times progressively decreased as the CESP proportion increased. The water absorption, sorptivity and intrinsic air permeability improved steadily as the CESP proportions were increased from 5% to 20%. Additionally, the compressive strength, flexural strength, splitting tensile strength, modulus of elasticity, and drying shrinkage went through an initial increase and then a decrease, and the optimal CESP replacement rate was found to be 15%. The 28-days compressive, flexural and splitting tensile strengths enhancements with 15% CESP replacement were 44.3%, 41.2% and 41.7% and 39.7%, 56.5% and 57.6% for 600 kg/m3 and 1200 kg/m3 densities respectively compared to control mix. Besides, a marginal rise in thermal conductivity and diffusivity was observed as the proportion of CESP increased. Based on the SEM and pore dispersion results, the incorporation of up to 15% CESP into both LWFC densities resulted in an improved microstructure and enhanced pore dispersion, leading to the formation of a greater amount of C–S–H compounds. The findings were substantiated by enhanced mechanical properties, transport characteristics and SEM results.

Numerical Analysis of Differential Settlement in Road Due to Widening Considering Different Reinforcement Techniques

Embankment and pavement widening of an existing road is a viable option to cope with increased traffic volume. One of the common challenges in road expansion is the occurrence of differential settlement between the old and the new portions. This article pertains to the field case study of the National Highway-120, where pavement distresses developed in the weak sections of the highway following the operation of traffic within a few months. Field monitoring and geotechnical tests, including the requisite in situ as well as laboratory tests, were conducted on soil specimens from the study area, followed by the performance of a numerical analysis using the two-dimensional finite element software Abaqus CAE 2021 to investigate the weak section of the road. Different techniques such as geogrid reinforcement, installation of cement–fly-ash–gravel (CFG) piles, and lightweight foamed concrete (LWFC) embankment fill were used to analyze the reduction in differential settlement between the old and the widened portions. Among the applied reinforcement techniques, the use of LWFC as embankment fill in the widened portion was determined to be most effective in minimizing the differential settlement in the weak section of the highway.