Effects of Sodium Chloride in Soil Stabilization: Improving the Behavior of Clay Deposits in Northern Cartagena, Colombia

Jair Arrieta Baldovino (), Jesús David Torres Parra and Yamid E. Nuñez de la Rosa ()
Additional contact information
Jair Arrieta Baldovino: GIGA Geotechnical Research Group, Civil Engineering Program, Universidad de Cartagena, Cartagena de Indias 130015, Colombia
Jesús David Torres Parra: GIGA Geotechnical Research Group, Civil Engineering Program, Universidad de Cartagena, Cartagena de Indias 130015, Colombia
Yamid E. Nuñez de la Rosa: Faculty of Engineering and Basic Sciences, Fundación Universitaria Los Libertadores, Bogota 110231, Colombia

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 19, 1-24

Abstract: This research evaluates the stabilization of a clay collected from the northern expansion zone of Cartagena de Indias, Colombia. Laboratory analyses, including particle size distribution, Atterberg limits, compaction, specific gravity, and XRF/XRD, classified the soil as a highly plastic clay (CH) with moderate dispersivity, as confirmed by pinhole and crumb tests. The soil was treated with 3–9% lime, with and without the addition of NaCl (0% and 2%), and tested for unconfined compressive strength ( q u ), small-strain stiffness (G o ), and microstructural properties under curing periods of 14 and 28 days at two compaction densities. Results showed that lime significantly improved mechanical behavior, while the inclusion of NaCl further enhanced q u (up to 185%) and G o (up to 3-fold), particularly at higher lime contents and curing times. Regression models demonstrated that both q u and G o follow power-type relationships with the porosity-to-lime index, with consistent exponents (−4.75 and −5.23, respectively) and high coefficients of determination ( R 2 > 0.79). Normalization of the data yielded master curves with R 2 values above 0.90, confirming the robustness of the porosity-to-lime framework as a predictive tool. The G o / q u ratio obtained (3737.4) falls within the range reported for cemented geomaterials, reinforcing its relevance for comparative analysis. SEM observations revealed the transition from a porous, weakly aggregated structure to a dense matrix filled with C–S–H and C–A–H gels, corroborating the macro–micro correlation. Overall, the combined use of lime and NaCl effectively converts dispersive clays into non-dispersive, mechanically improved geomaterials, providing a practical and sustainable approach for stabilizing problematic coastal soils in tropical environments.

Keywords: lime stabilization; sodium chloride catalysis; moderate dispersive clay (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/19/8715/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/19/8715/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:19:p:8715-:d:1760127

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().