ISSN: 1945-7545
CODEN: GTJODJ
Page Count: 7

Techniques for Estimating the Longevity of Lime-Treated Expansive Clays

McCallister, LD
Assistant professor, Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, United States Military Academy, West Point, NY

Petry, TM
Professor, The University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX

Abstract

Two techniques are presented that investigate the possibility of estimating the longevity of lime-treated expansive clays subjected to leaching. The techniques are based on analyzing calcium concentrations and pH changes within accelerated leached laboratory specimens and their leachates during the leaching process. The accelerated leach times required to produce specific calcium concentrations and pH in the laboratory are converted to actual field leaching (or percolation) times by using developed time scale factors.

The techniques are tested for validity by correlating estimated calcium concentrations and pH values of field lime-treated clays to the actual results of field lime-treated clay layers of various known ages. The correlations showed that pH estimations were within an average of 13% of measured values, while estimated calcium concentrations remaining in the soil-lime layers were within an average of 18% of measured values.

Keywords:
leaching, lime, clays, leach testing, estimation, lime treatment, longevity, calcium concentration, pH, expansive clay, time scale

Paper ID: GTJ10018J
DOI: 10.1520/GTJ10018J
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