Enhancing the Bearing Capacity of Black Cotton Soil Using Landfill Waste and Natural Geotextiles
Black cotton soil, characterized by significant swelling and shrinking behavior, presents challenges for stable foundation construction. This research proposes using landfill waste and natural geotextiles to enhance the soil's bearing capacity, stability, and overall properties. This method offers environmental and economic benefits by recycling waste materials and utilizing biodegradable geotextiles. Integrating landfill waste and natural geotextiles with black cotton soil improves soil texture and load-bearing capacity while reducing environmental impact and costs. Natural geotextiles such as jute, coir, and sisal provide additional tensile strength, stability, and moisture regulation. The selection of geotextiles depends on soil conditions and can be strategically placed between soil layers, around soil columns, or integrated into the landfill waste-soil mixture. Initial laboratory experiments will analyze the index properties of black cotton soil and landfill waste. Based on these analyses, the optimal placement of geotextiles within the soil layers or integrated into the soil-waste mixture will be determined. Proctor compaction tests will then be conducted on various combinations of landfill waste, black cotton soil, and geotextiles to identify the optimal mix proportions. Unconfined Compressive Strength (UCS) and swelling pressure tests will be performed on the optimized proportions to assess the increase in strength and reduction in swelling pressure. Further, plate load tests will be conducted to determine the bearing capacity of the treated soil. Finally, a comprehensive analysis will compare improvements in bearing capacity, tensile strength, and swelling reduction between treated and untreated soil.
