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Fine-grained soils that expand when in contact with water can be a major issue in some geotechnical situations, but the soil can be stabilized through chemical means by hydrated lime incorporation. However, there is not yet any rational dosage methodology that combines the effects of both lime content and porosity of the treated soil specimen to predict its behavior regarding swelling. Thus, the present research intends to assess the one-dimensional swelling response of an expansive fine-grained soil stabilized with lime. For this purpose, compacted soil–lime blends were molded with three distinct amounts of lime (2%, 4%, and 6%), compacted to three different dry unit weights (14, 15, and 16 kN/m3) and tested after 3 h of curing. The results show that lime content, porosity, and their interaction are statistically significant in altering the swelling behavior of the compacted blends. Moreover, both can be combined through the adjusted porosity/lime index and related to the one-dimensional swelling. As a result, a single unique relationship could be established between the swelling and the proposed index with a coefficient of correlation (R2) of 96%. This approach was also successfully employed in other fine-grained soils treated with lime as validation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lime treatment is an attractive technique for soil improvement in the construction of rail tracks and pavement layers, in slope protection of earth dams, and as a support layer for shallow foundations. However, there are no dosage methodologies based on rational criteria as in the case of soil-cement technology, where the voids/cement ratio is shown to be a key parameter for the estimation of both strength and stiffness. The present study, therefore, was aimed at quantifying the influence of the amount of lime, porosity, and voids/lime ratio on the initial shear modulus (G0) and unconfined compressive strength (qu) of a lime-treated clayey sandy soil. From the results of unconfined compression tests and bender elements measurements, it was shown, for the soil-lime mixtures investigated, that the voids/lime ratio is an appropriate parameter to assess both initial stiffness and unconfined compressive strength. Also, a unique G0/qu versus voids/lime ratio relationship was established linking the soil-lime mixture initial stiffness and compressive strength. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]