IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2025i19p8825-d1763398.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Strength Development and Durability of Cement-Stabilized Tropical Clay–Quarry Dust Mixtures for Pavement Construction

Author

Listed:
  • Obinna Uzodimma Ubani

    (Department of Civil Engineering, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka 420245, Nigeria
    Department of Civil Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK)

  • Esdras Ngezahayo

    (Department of Civil Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK)

  • Charles Malachy O. Nwaiwu

    (Department of Civil Engineering, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka 420245, Nigeria)

  • Chidozie Maduabuchukwu Nwakaire

    (Department of Civil Engineering, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka 420245, Nigeria)

Abstract

Road and pavement construction require huge volumes of borrowed soils in addition to the foundation soils. Unfortunately, not all soils are suitable for construction purposes. Soil stabilization is a fundamental technique used to enhance the engineering properties of weak ground/soil to meet the demands of large infrastructure projects, such as roads. It is in this regard that this study investigates the strength development, durability, and effectiveness of cement and quarry dust as stabilizers to enhance the geotechnical properties of a weak tropical clay soil. Cement was added in the range of 0% to 10% while quarry dust was used to partially replace soil in the range of 0% to 50%. The results show significant improvements in the Atterberg limits and strength properties of the tropical clay. The liquid limit reduced from 43.2% to 25.1% while the plasticity index reduced from 17.6% to 10.2% at 50% quarry dust and 10% cement content. Similarly, the maximum dry unit weight increased from 17.4 kN/m 3 to 21.3 kN/m 3 while the optimum moisture content decreased from 17.1% to 12.9%. The maximum soaked CBR value was 172%, representing a 1497% enhancement over untreated soil. Also, the maximum unconfined compressive strength (UCS) reached 2566 kN/m 2 at 28 days of curing, representing a 1793.73% increase when compared to the untreated soil. Cement content was found to be the predominant factor influencing strength development. The study shows that cement–quarry dust blends compacted at high energy can be adopted in sustainable road construction.

Suggested Citation

  • Obinna Uzodimma Ubani & Esdras Ngezahayo & Charles Malachy O. Nwaiwu & Chidozie Maduabuchukwu Nwakaire, 2025. "Strength Development and Durability of Cement-Stabilized Tropical Clay–Quarry Dust Mixtures for Pavement Construction," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(19), pages 1-25, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:19:p:8825-:d:1763398
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/19/8825/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/19/8825/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ada Farai Shaba & Esdras Ngezahayo & Goodson Masheka & Kajila Samuel Sakuhuka, 2025. "Evaluating the Use of Rice Husk Ash for Soil Stabilisation to Enhance Sustainable Rural Transport Systems in Low-Income Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(15), pages 1-16, August.
    2. Norshakila Abdul Wahab & Mohammad Jawed Roshan & Ahmad Safuan A. Rashid & Muhammad Azril Hezmi & Siti Norafida Jusoh & Nik Daud Nik Norsyahariati & Sakina Tamassoki, 2021. "Strength and Durability of Cement-Treated Lateritic Soil," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-23, June.
    3. Penghui Wen & Chaohui Wang & Liang Song & Liangliang Niu & Haoyu Chen, 2021. "Durability and Sustainability of Cement-Stabilized Materials Based on Utilization of Waste Materials: A Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-27, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Enmao Quan & Hongke Xu & Zhongyang Sun, 2022. "Composition Optimization and Damping Performance Evaluation of Porous Asphalt Mixture Containing Recycled Crumb Rubber," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-20, February.
    2. Songyuan Tan & Chaohui Wang & Qi Zheng & Feng Chen & Yunjie Huang, 2022. "Durability Performance of PVA Fiber Cement-Stabilized Macadam," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-12, December.
    3. Sakina Tamassoki & Nik Norsyahariati Nik Daud & Fauzan Mohd Jakarni & Faradiella Mohd. Kusin & Ahmad Safuan A. Rashid & Mohammad Jawed Roshan, 2022. "Compressive and Shear Strengths of Coir Fibre Reinforced Activated Carbon Stabilised Lateritic Soil," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-18, July.
    4. Xiaoya Bian & Haodong Yang & Jiale Chen & Hui Liu & Xuyong Chen, 2022. "Experimental Study on the Strength and Stress–Strain Properties of Waste Concrete Fine Aggregate and Cement-Solidified Sludge," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-16, September.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:19:p:8825-:d:1763398. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.