Upcycling Potential of Industrial Waste in Soil Stabilization: Use of Kiln Dust and Fly Ash to Improve Weak Pavement Subgrades Encountered in Michigan, USA

Nishantha Bandara, Hiroshan Hettiarachchi, Elin Jensen and Tarik H. Binoy
Additional contact information
Nishantha Bandara: Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering, Lawrence Technological University, Southfield, MI 48075, USA
Hiroshan Hettiarachchi: (Formerly at) Waste Management Unit, United Nations University (UNU-FLORES), 01 067 Dresden, Germany
Elin Jensen: Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering, Lawrence Technological University, Southfield, MI 48075, USA
Tarik H. Binoy: Arcadis, Seattle, WA 98101, USA

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 17, 1-13

Abstract: The State of Michigan in the United States often encounters weak soil subgrades during its road construction and maintenance activities. Undercutting has been the usual solution, while a very few attempts of in-situ soil stabilization with cement or lime have been made. Compared to the large volume of weak soils that require improvement and the cost incurred on an annual basis, some locally available industrial byproducts present the potential to become effective soil subgrade stabilizers and a better solution from the sustainability perspective as well. The candidate industrial byproducts are Cement Kiln Dust (CKD), Lime Kiln Dust (LKD), and Fly Ash (FA), out of which only a fraction is currently used for any other secondary purposes while the rest is disposed of in Michigan landfills. This manuscript describes a laboratory investigation conducted on above industrial byproducts and/or their combinations to assess their suitability to be used as soil subgrade stabilizers in three selected weak soil types often found in Michigan. Results reveal that CKD or a combination of FA/LKD can be recommended for the long-term soil subgrade stabilization of all three soil types tested, while FA and LKD can be used in some soil types as a short-term soil stabilizer (for construction facilitation). A brief discussion is also presented at the end on the potential positive impact that can be made by the upcycling of CKD/LKD/FA on sustainability.

Keywords: pavement subgrades; soil stabilization; industrial byproducts; industrial waste; Cement Kiln Dust (CKD); Lime Kiln Dust (LKD); Fly Ash (FA); sustainability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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