Detailed Study Of Bitumen Emulsion In Gravel Road

Abstract

Starting from the base, soil is one of nature’s most abundant construction
materials. Almost all type of construction is built with or upon the soil. The most
important part of a road pavement is subgrade soil and its strength. If strength of soil is
poor, then stabilization is normally needed. Subgrade is sometimes stabilized or replaced
with stronger soil material so as to improve the strength. Such stabilization is also
suitable when the available subgrade is made up of weak soil. Increase in sub grade
strength may lead to economy in the structural thicknesses of a pavement. Cement, fly
ash, lime, fibers etc. are very commonly used for soil stabilization.

The main objective of this experimental study is to improve the properties of the
gravel soil by adding bitumen emulsion. An attempt has been made to use emulsion for
improving the strength of gravel soil expressed in terms of CBR values which may
prove to be economical. In this study, the whole laboratory work revolves around the
basic properties of soil and its strength in terms of CBR. A little cement added to
provide better soil strength. It is observed that excellent soil strength results by using
cationic bitumen emulsion (CMS) with little quantity of cement used as filler. The
appropriate mixing conditions for gravelly soil with CMS Bitumen emulsion have been
first attempted. This is followed by deciding four particular material conditions to show
the variation in dry density and CBR value to achieve the best possible strength
properties of gravel soil.