Journal of Civil Engineering and Architecture 13 (2019) 793-804 doi: 10.17265/1934-7359/2019.12.006 Geotechnical Characterization of Silty Clay Reinforced with Jute Cloth as Waster Product Mohamed Nabil El Siragy Soil Mechanics & Foundation, Structural Eng. Dept., 6 October University, Giza 12511, Egypt Abstract: Soil reinforcement is a recent and special field of soil improvement. It covers a range of techniques, which consists of placing inclusions in soil. The most conferences devoted partly or totally the behavior of foundation on reinforced subgrade without regarding the basic characteristics of the reinforced soil. So, the paper presents an experimental investigation into the mechanical and compressibility properties of the reinforced silty clay samples by jute cloth at intermediate depth. The effects of the reinforcement on shear stress and shear failure were studied; also, the presence of the reinforcement on behavior of consolidation process was distinctly described. The laboratory tests were supported by the finite element analysis to identify only the consolidation process and explained the effect of the reinforcement on the effective vertical stress and pore water pressure. The results indicated that the presence of such reinforcement has a considerable effect in increasing the shear strength of the reinforced samples and decreasing the compressibility especially decreasing the soil movement also, relieving both the effective and pore water pressure. Key words: Soil reinforcement, jute cloth, shear stress, shear parameters, compressibility, silty clay and settlement. 1. Introduction Civil engineers around the world are in search of new alternative materials which are required both for cost effective solutions for ground improvement and for conservation of scarce natural resources. The various methods of ground improvement currently in use include lime columns, stone columns, use of chemical stabilizers and various kinds of inclusions like metal strips, mats, fibers, geosynthetics, etc. The cost of these virgin materials as well as the processes involved is usually high and as such they are yet to be commonly used in developing foundation performances. On the other hand good quality conventional natural resources like sand, gravel, aggregates etc. are fast depleting with the increase in construction activities in the country and there is a ban on new quarries, due to environmental concerns. As such there is a growing need of a material which can partially replace the soil and provide improved properties. The techniques of soil reinforcement were Corresponding author: Mohamed Nabil El Siragy, assistant professor, research fields: soil mechanics and foundation. done by including new materials into the soil in various forms. Applications of reinforcement in civil engineering have been successfully developed and offer benefits in terms of economics, durability and performance. It plays an important role in geotechnical engineering works, especially highway and railroad, reinforced soil, stabilization of soil or rock slopes, drainage control, embankment, dames, and tunnel. The use of soil reinforcement materials is an effective means of stabilizing poor soils whereas they are used worldwide in many areas of civil engineering works. Much work has been carried out during the past decades on the behavior of the reinforced earth retaining wall, e.g. Ref. [1]. The application of soil reinforcement for improving the bearing capacity and the load settlement response of the foundations, the base for pavements and embankments on soft soil were studied. Binquet and Lee [2] proved that the presence of tensile reinforcing strips under footing increases and improves the bearing capacity of supporting soil and decreases the stress over weak layer. Abdrabbo [3, 4], Giroud and Noiray [5], D DAVID PUBLISHING