INVESTIGATING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF UNIQUE BITUMEN EMULSION FORMULATED BY MEANS OF WASTE MATERIALS TO STABILIZE THE EXPANSIVE SOIL

Abstract

Expansive soils are considered a special type of clay soils, as they show significant swelling and shrinkage deformations with changes in the content of soil moisture. The change in the volume of the expansive soil due to the moisture content leads to serious damages to concrete structures. It is documented that about 50% of Punjab province area is covered by the expansive soils. However, stabilizing expansive soil by means of bitumen emulsion is one of the wellknown effective approaches. On the other hand, the use of waste materials i.e. waste engine oil and scrap tires is considered as one of the lofty goals towards environmental sustainability. Globally, more than 1 billion scrap tires are generated. In addition, the annual production of waste engine oil is 24 million tons worldwide. Therefore, this project is aimed to develop a unique bituminous emulsion through modifying base bitumen with waste engine oil and crumb rubber (scrap tries). Thus, this project will provide unique and affordable solutions to overcoming the issues of expansive soil and contributing to environmental sustainability. The stabilization of the soil by using the bitumen emulsion having 80% engine oil was find more suitable for the stabilization of the soil for the road or pavement and the bitumen emulsion having 70% engine oil and 6% crumb were find more suitable for the stabilization of for the foundation of the building and other structures. The stabilized soil was evaluated in terms of California load-bearing capacity and Shear strength.