Stabilized marine and desert sands with deep mixing of cement and sodium bentonite

Road construction is becoming increasingly important in marine and desert areas due to population growth and economic development. However, the load carrying capacity of pavement is of gear concern to design and geotechnical engineers because of the poor engineering properties of the soils in these areas. Therefore, stabilization of the soils is regarded as an important issue. Besides, due to the fuels combustion and carbonate decomposition, cement industry generates around 5% of global CO2 emission. Thus, using bentonite as a natural pozzolan in soil stabilization is more eco-friendly than using cement. The aim of this research is to experimentally study of the stabilized marine and desert sands using deep mixing method by ordinary Portland cement and sodium bentonite. Different partial percentages of cement along with different weight percentages of sodium bentonite were added to the sands. Unconfined compression test (UCS), Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX), and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) were conducted on the specimens. Moreover, a mathematical model was developed for predicting the strength of the treated soils.