Cement Modified Backfills for MSE Walls

The generally accepted strength mechanisms of reinforced soil are found to suit even to reinforced soil-cement. As in the case of reinforced traditional soils, the reinforced soil-cement samples have shown gradual yielding indicating more of a ductile failure as against the brittle failure of unreinforced soil-cement samples. The provision of fabric reinforcement could impart an additional cohesion component of about 70% and 40% for plain and cement modified marginal soil samples respectively. The angle of internal friction is increased by 30 to 150 for fabric reinforced plain and cement modified marginal soil samples. The 3% cement modified marginal soil could retain its shear strength and pull-out resistance even after full inundation as it has become non-plastic without loosing its flexible nature. The load carrying capacity of MSE walls built using 3% cement modified marginal backfill is increased by 2-3 folds despite full inundation of the walls. The built-in soil cement facing could withstand during load tests, with very nominal facing deformations. Hence, the locally available marginal soils can be made amenable to reinforced soil construction by modifying them using cement.