Page 60 - ICJ Jan 2023

TECHNICAL PAPER COLLECTOR’S EDITION

Influence of soil composition on the

strength and durability of soil-cement blocks

B. V. Venkatarama Reddy and K. S. Jagadish

This paper deals with an experimental study on the influence of soil composition on
the strength and durability characteristics of soil-cement blocks. A brief summary
of earlier studies on soil-cement has been presented. Effect of soil grading/
composition on the strength of soil-cement blocks has been discussed in detail.
Durability characteristics of soil-cement have been examined through tests such
as alternate wetting and drying and expansion due to saturation. It has been found
that sandy soils are best suited for cement stabilisation showing better strength
and durability characteristics. The paper concludes with recommendations
indicating the limits for soil grading and expansion due to saturation.
S oil-cement blocks are used for load bearing masonry construction in India and

elsewhere. These blocks are produced by pressing a moist soil-cement mixture in machine. Both
mechanised and manually operated machines are commercially available in the world market.
The nature of soil, the type and quantity of cement and the block density, influence the strength
and performance characteristics of soil-cement blocks. There are a number of investigations
dealing with some of these aspects of soil-cement blocks. The present investigation is aimed at
understanding the influence of soil composition on the strength and durability characteristic of
soil-cement blocks. It is hoped that this understanding may help in arriving at criteria for selecting
soils suitable for soil-cement block production.

EARLIER STUDIES ON SOIL-CEMENT CONSTRUCTION

Soil-cement has been extensively used for the construction of roads and pavements, in the West
and Australia during thirties (Chaston 1952, Lambe 1962). Soil-cement has also been explored
for the construction of foundations and floorings of buildings, drains and linings of canals, in
India and elsewhere (Mehra and Chadda 1955, Chadda 1956, De 1964, Joshi and Shukla 1970, and
Robertson and Blight 1978).

Soil-cement has been used as a building material in India and several other countries. The earliest
Indian example of soil-cement buildings, is in the construction of 4000 houses in Haryana state
(Verma and Mehra 1950). Mehra and Uppal (1949-1950) conducted number of experiments to

The Indian Concrete Journal | November 2018 61