International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056 Volume: 06 Issue: 04 | Apr 2019 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072 © 2019, IRJET | Impact Factor value: 7.211 | ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal | Page 1704 EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF CONCRETE WITH EXCAVATED SOIL AS A FINE AGGREGATE B. Priyanka 1 , Dr. B. Venkatesan 2 1 PG Student, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Anna University Regional Campus, Tirunelveli, Tamilnadu, India 2 Assistant professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Anna University Regional Campus, Tirunelveli, Tamilnadu, India --------------------------------------------------------------------------***---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Abstract ˗ Sand plays the important role in the production of concrete. In recent years, the ban on river sand highly impacted the construction industry. Increasing demand for sand has led to excessive mining on river sand; it develops the severe ecological imbalance. Due to the sand crisis, it is a need to find some substitute to natural river sand. In this experimental study, the fine aggregate in concrete will be fully replaced by the excavated soil. Initially, Sieve analysis was carried out for excavated soil and river sand to know the grain size distribution of materials. The mix proportion of 1:1.3:2.58 was adopted for the concrete using excavated soil. Standard test specimens were cast separately for conventional concrete and excavated soil using concrete. The compressive strength test, flexural strength test and split tensile strength test was conducted for the specimens as per IS 516(1959), IS 5816(1999) to evaluate mechanical strength properties of concrete. Comparison was made between the results of conventional concrete and excavated soil concrete. Finally, the excavated soil is found suitable for concrete. Key words: Concrete, Fine aggregate, Excavated soil, Testing, Mechanical properties 1. INTRODUCTION Concrete is the most commonly used construction material in construction industry. Concrete is used for many applications such as superstructures, sub structures, waste water and water treatment facilities, parking structures, floor construction and exterior surface. Fine aggregate is the basic component for making concrete. Mining of river sand causing many problems deepening of the river courses, loosing water retaining sand strata, disturbs the aquatic life, lowering the underground water table etc. Nowadays good sand is not readily available. It is transported from long distance due to the scarcity of river sand and no guarantee for its consistent supply. So it is a time to find some substitute to natural river sand. The alternatives for river sand are granite powder, iron powder, copper slag, wood waste, fly ash, waste foundry sand, brick waste, quarry waste, crushed concrete waste etc. The idea of the investigation is to use the excavated soil available at a construction site and unused soil as a fine aggregate in concrete because this will conserve the natural resources and protect the ecological imbalance on environment. The excavated soil is taken from the Anna University campus, Tirunelveli, Tamilnadu. Concrete of 25 Mpa with mix proportion of 1:1.3:2.58 and water cement ratio of 0.4(as per IS 456: 2000) was adopted for the excavated soil concrete. Mix design was evaluated as per IS 10262:2009. Cubes, cylinders and beams were cast for conventional concrete and excavated soil concrete. The specimens were tested after 28 days of water curing to evaluate the strength of the concrete. The compression strength test, flexural strength test and split tensile strength test was conducted for the concrete specimens. The main objective of the study is to investigate the mechanical properties of excavated soil concrete. 2. EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAMME The investigation involves with following works. It shows how the investigation was conducted and how the strength of concrete was evaluated. 2.1 Materials The materials cement, river sand, coarse aggregate and excavated soil was used in this investigation. The ordinary Portland cement of grade 43 and crushed stone aggregates of 20 mm size were used. The specific gravity of sand and excavated soil is 2.68 and 2.52. The fineness modulus of sand and excavated soil is 2.98 and 3.434. Potable fresh water is used for making concrete.