Marble powder to stabilise clayey soils in sub-bases for road construction

Marble, used extensively as construction materials, yields huge amount of marble powder waste from natural marble stone processing. Therefore, it is essential to utilise marble powder waste in order to eliminate its negative effect on environment and to obtain economic benefit from it. There are almost no studies in the literature concerning the use of marble waste in the stabilisation of clayey soil under freeze–thaw effects. In this study, a pioneer attempt is made to evaluate the effectiveness of using marble powder in the stabilisation of clayey soil in a road construction under freeze–thaw effects. Natural clay is mixed with marble powder at different percentages; then, strength in terms of the results of unconfined compressive tests and durability in terms of mass loss after freeze–thaw cycles are investigated. As the marble powder content in this study reaches 10% in the clayey soil, the unconfined compressive strength of specimens rises to a peak point; meanwhile, plasticity of mixtures decreases. Mass loss as criteria for durability behaviour in the marble powder-stabilised soils at the end of freeze–thaw cycles is almost 5%. Test results indicate that marble powder could be used as a stabilisation material for clayey-type soils in sub-bases in highway construction under freeze–thaw effect.