The use of fine portions from construction and
demolition waste for expansive soil
stabilization: A review
Mgboawaji Claude UJILE
a*
, Samuel Jonah ABBEY
b
a
Civil Engineering, Faculty of Environment and Technology, University of the West of England, Bristol BS16 1QY, UK
b
Geotechnical Engineering, Faculty of Environment and Technology, University of the West of England, Bristol BS16 1QY, UK
*
Corresponding author. E-mails: Mgboawaji2.Ujile@live.uwe.ac.uk; ujilemgboawaji@gmail.com
© The Author(s) 2022. This article is published with open access at link.springer.com and journal.hep.com.cn
ABSTRACT Construction and demolition waste (CDW) are the largest waste products in the world today and
competes as a viable recycled additive material in place of natural aggregates. Due to the increase in compressive
strength of different mix proportions of CDW, it is also considered for reuse in concrete and subbase construction. This
study shows the effect of CDW in expansive soil stabilization. The chemical and mechanical properties of these materials
have shown that they are capable of developing compressive strength properties for replacement of cement with
significant reduction in carbon emission. The inherent compositional properties of recycled CDW compared in this
review suggests that CDW have good filler properties in highly expansive soils. Mixtures of crushed brick and recycled
aggregates characterised based on chemical properties of different replacement ratios suggests that CDW of good-quality
aggregates reduces swell potential of expansive soils and increased mechanical strength in pavement construction.
KEYWORDS mixed fine portions, construction and demolition waste, expansive soil, soil stabilization
1 Introduction
Massive urbanisation has boosted up infinite construction
activities especially in developed countries and has
consistently increased economic and environmental
impacts on urban sustainability and environmental safety.
One of the many issues encountered in the environment
from mass urbanisation is increased landfills caused by
materials from building refurbishments. Reducing land-
fills reduces carbon emissions to the environment and
also encourages innovation and sustainability of the
environment. Sustainability is achieved by recycling
construction and demolition waste (CDW) materials for
alternative concrete production and expansive soil
stabilization, by enabling materials to have sufficient
inherent mechanical properties to make up for minera-
logical and chemical compositions that makes soils and
concrete works achieve mechanical strength for sustena-
nce of structures.
Expansive soils are categorized as soils that require re-
engineering as a result of deformation caused by swelling
and shrinkage. Some categories of expansive soils can be
highly plastic and cause premature pavement failures
during and after saturation, causing low soil bearing
capacity before and after saturation [1]. During moisture
variation of a saturated soil the shrinking and swelling of
the soil leads to reduction in density and strength of its
over laying structures. These phenomena cause shearing
and deflections within the soil for the overlying layers of
pavements and structures; and accelerates deterioration of
structural quality capable of maintaining mechanical
strength. The effect of deterioration develops from cracks
on surfaces and low soil bearing capacity which causes
high cost of construction remediation.
In order to remedy the above mentioned common
expansive soil defects, several techniques have been used
to achieve mechanical strength. For instance, cement in
manageable proportions with other cementitious materials
such as ground granulated furnace blast slag (GGBS),
lime, fly ash, silica fume and other cementitious Article history: Received Oct 16, 2021; Accepted Mar 3, 2022
Front. Struct. Civ. Eng.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11709-022-0835-z
INVITED REVIEW