Improvement of a Sabkha Soil Employing Waste Marble Powder

Sabkha soils are generally characterized by low shear strength and high compressibility. The water dissolves the salts which are the primary cementing agents. Therefore, stabilization methods that provide sustainable cementing substances utilizing Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) and Waste Marble Powder (WMP) by-product for improving the properties of sabkha soils using deep soil mixing techniques are employed. A laboratory-scaled deep soil mixing procedure was developed to treat the sabkha soil. A binder consisting of waste marble powder and cement was employed to treat the soil. The objective of this study is to select the most efficient binder mix design in terms of optimum marble powder/cement ratio compared to cement only binder. Unconfined compressive strength and ultrasonic velocity pulse tests were conducted on the treated soil. For explanation of the treatment efficacy, microstructure analysis of treated samples was examined. The findings indicate that the cost-effective and environmentally friendly binder mix consisted of 70% cement and 30% waste marble powder with water/binder ratio 1.3. This particular mix contributed a significant improvement soil strength and facilitated the integration of columns.