Assessment of in Situ Structural Properties of Lime-Stabilized Clay Subgrades

Abstract

Lime-stabilized clay subgrades are used almost routinely in Texas to facilitate construction and to provide a foundation for aggregate base courses and hot mix surfaces. Research sponsored by the Texas Department of Transportation demonstrates that the in situ moduli and strength improvements afforded by lime stabilization of these layers are often significant and deserve structural consideration. A study of the range of modulus values determined from falling weight deflec-tometer deflection data and supported by in situ dynamic cone penetrometer data for 40 pavement subgrades indicates that the lime-stabilized subgrades provide a level of stiffness and strength that is similar to that of an unbounded aggregate base. This substantiates previous literature suggesting that properly designed and constructed lime-stabilized subgrades should be assigned AASHTO structural coefficients in the same range as unbound aggregate bases, that is, between 0.10 and 0.14.

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