Clay soils

Of all soil types clay soils have the highest proportion of clay particles, at least 30% of
the textural make-up. They are described as heavy soils and in detail are composed
of clay, silty clay and sandy clay textures. It is the clay material which is mainly
responsible for their specific characteristics. Clay particles can group together
(flocculate) into small clusters or become scattered (deflocculated). They usually have a
high cation exchange capacity, and can combine through bonding with various chemical
elements such as calcium, sodium, potassium and magnesium (base exchange); in this
way plant nutrients can be held and clay soils generally maintain higher nutrient content
indices.
Grouping or flocculation of the clay particles is very important in helping to make clay
soils easier to work. Those particles combined with calcium (added as lime) will
flocculate easily, whereas those combined with sodium if present will not. The bonding
properties of clay are very beneficial to soil structure when the groups of particles are
small (like crumbs). Deflocculation can occur when clay soils are flooded with sea water
or worked when wet. If the latter occurs they become puddled and if the weather then
becomes dry the clay dries into hard lumps that resemble clods. Frost action, and
alternating periods of wetting and drying, will help to restore large lumps or clods to
more of a crumb-like condition.
Many clay particles have the capacity to expand and contract leading to swell and
shrink characteristics. When natural soil cracks occur as a result of shrinkage some air
can be drawn in. These cracks remain when soil clods are wetted again and so lines of
weakness are formed which eventually help to break the clods down. In prolonged dry
weather these cracks may become very wide and deep which later may be very
beneficial for drainage, but can sometimes also provide preferential loss pathways for
nutrients or contaminants dissolved in water or when applied in slurry (Anon, 2023).

Anon. (2023). Clay soil. Clay Soil - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics.

Clay soils have over 25 percent clay. Also known as heavy soils, these are potentially
fertile as they hold nutrients bound to the clay minerals in the soil. But they also hold a
high proportion of water due to the capillary attraction of the tiny spaces between the
numerous clay particles. They drain slowly and take longer to warm up in spring than
sandy soils. Clay soils are easily compacted when trodden on while wet and they bake
hard in summer, often cracking noticeably. These soils often test the gardener to the
limits, but when managed properly with cultivation and plant choice, can be very
rewarding to work with (RHS, 2023).
- RHS. (2023). Soil types / RHS. / RHS. [Link]
types

Soil stabilization
Soil Stabilization is the biological, chemical or mechanical modification of
soil engineering properties. In civil engineering, soil stabilization is a technique to refine
and improve the engineering properties of soils. These properties include mechanical
strength, permeability, compressibility, durability and plasticity. Physical or mechanical
improvement is common but some schools of thought prefer to use the term
‘stabilization’ in reference to chemical improvements in the soil properties by adding
chemical admixtures. For any construction project, whether it’s a building, a road or an
airfield, the base soil acts as the foundation. Additionally, soil is one of the crucial
construction raw materials. As such, the soil should possess properties that create a
strong foundation (Adams, 2021).
Adams, T. (2021, July 12). What is soil stabilization? what are the methods and benefits of soil
stabilization?. GRT. [Link]

Stabilized soils provide a strong working platform, the foundation for all other parts of
projects. After stabilization techniques, weak soils can be transformed by the formation
of permanent pozzolanic reactions. Meaning that soils are not liable to leaching and
have drastically reduced permeability resulting in reduced shrink/swell potential and
increased freeze thaw resistance. In addition, soils that have been stabilized have also
under gone some modification. In other words, the soil has physically changed making
compaction easier and reducing plasticity. Easier compaction makes achieving
maximum dry density easier. Plasticity index is an important geotechnical measure that
involves the critical water contents of soils. Any time plasticity in soils is reduced, the
soils are more friable and workable (Anon, 2020).

- Mintek. (2023, July 21). The importance of Soil Stabilization. Mintek Resources.
[Link]
Shredded Rubber Tires
Shredded rubber tyres used in this study was collected from a factory near ayyappa
gudi Centre at Nellore. Shredded rubber tyre refers to the process of cutting or
shredding used or unwanted rubber tyres into small pieces or chips. Shredded rubber is
a term usually applied to recycled rubber from automotive and truck scrap tires. There
are two major technologies for producing shredded rubber - ambient mechanical
grinding and cryogenic grinding. Of the two processes, cryogenic process is more
expensive but it produces smoother and smaller crumbs. Shredded rubber is a term
usually applied to recycled rubber from automotive and truck scrap Tires. During the
recycling process steel and fluff is removed leaving tire rubber with a granular
Consistency. Continued processing with a granulator and or cracker mill, possibly with
the aid of Mechanical means, reduces the size of the particles Further. Now a day's
Shredded rubber is often used as an additive in bituminous concrete mixes (Putera,
2021)
- Putera, A. D., Indonesia, C., Nurhasan, A. A., Thakur, A. E., India, C., Rahmadani, A. A.,
Kumari, A. P., & Sehgal, A. V. (2021). IJFMR. [Link]