Strength and Thermal Properties of Plain and Reinforced Soil-Cement

The prospects of using steel bar or mesh reinforcement in soil-cement mixture were investigated. A silty clay soil was used. The strength properties such as unconfined compressive, flexural, and bond strength of soil-cement were obtained for different cement contents and curing ages. The linear coefficient of thermal expansion, thermal conductivity, specific heat and thermal diffusivity of soil-cement and of concrete were obtained. A comparison of reinforced soil-cement and concrete pavement was made. It was found that using reinforcement in soil-cement will improve the flexural strength of the mixture and allows reduction in the thickness of soil-cement layers. Reinforced soil-cement have better thermal properties than concrete. There seems to be a possibility of eliminating the joints used in rigid pavements by using reinforced soil-cement.