Published Paper Details:

In developing countries like India the biggest handicap is limited finances available to build road by the conventional methods to provide a complete network of road system. Therefore there is a need to resort to adopt suitable cost effective road construction method, followed by a process of stage development of the roads, to meet the growing needs of the road traffic. The economy in construction cost can be achieved by selecting local materials including local soils for the construction of the lower layers of the pavement such as the sub-base course or sub-grade by improving their geotechnical properties. If local soil is not adequate for supporting wheel loads, the properties are improved by soil stabilization techniques. The abundantly available lateritic soil in coastal belt of South Canara does not satisfy the requirements (Liquid Limit ?25% and Plasticity Index ?6 %) to be used as a construction material. Thus the soil stabilized road construction involves the effective utilization of local soils along with suitable stabilizing agents. Use of Guar gum as stabilizing agent is recently developed technique in the area of soil stabilization. Guar gum can be used as effective thickeners and stabilizers. When Guar gum is mixed with the soil and compacted, it reduces the voids between soil particles to get the maximum compaction and increases the density of soil. The laboratory studies using Guar gum are reported in this project. Lateritic soil is treated with three dosage of Guar gum in ml per m3 of soil. The effect of Guar gum as stabilizer on geotechnical properties such as Unconfined Compressive Strength (UCC), California Bearing Ratio (CBR) and Compaction were investigated by conducting laboratory tests as per relevant codes. Test result indicated that there is considerable improvement in the geotechnical properties of soil..