Sustainable Stabilization of Expansive Black Cotton Soils Utilizing Industrial, Agricultural, and Municipal Solid Wastes A Comprehensive Review
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31033/IJEMR/16.2.2026.1898Keywords:
Black Cotton Soil, Soil Stabilization, Waste Glass Powder, WasteAbstract
The stabilization of highly expansive Black Cotton Soil (BCS) presents a significant challenge in geotechnical engineering, primarily due to montmorillonite, a clay mineral that causes considerable volumetric instability with changes in moisture levels. This review examines recent literature on stabilization methods using industrial by-products, agricultural residues, polymeric reinforcements, and municipal solid wastes. Conventional chemical stabilizers such as Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) and lime are increasingly viewed as environmentally harmful, costly, and unsustainable for large-scale infrastructure projects. This paper explores sustainable alternatives, including Waste Glass Powder (WGP), Construction and Demolition (C&D) waste, Sugarcane Bagasse Ash (SBA), Rice Husk Ash (RHA), Municipal Solid Waste Incineration (MSWI) ash, Eggshell Powder (ESP), industrial slags, and polymeric reinforcements like Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) and glass fibers. By compiling experimental data, microstructural analyses, and predictive modeling techniques (such as Artificial Neural Networks and Multiple Linear Regression), this review identifies both consistencies and contradictions in material behaviors, especially in compaction characteristics, optimum moisture requirements, and shear strength. The results show that hybrid stabilization, combining pozzolanic wastes for chemical strength with fibrous/polymeric wastes for tensile flexibility, improves the California Bearing Ratio (CBR) and Unconfined Compressive Strength (UCS). The review identifies existing research gaps, particularly the absence of dynamic cyclic loading data and thorough life-cycle energy assessments, and suggests future pathways to incorporate these eco-friendly subgrade treatments into standardized construction methodologies.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Udayram D Patil, Vilas T Patil, Manojkumar B. Bashire, Bhushan K. Datar, Darsh M. Sangale, Dnyaneshwar B. Shinde, Radhesham N. Tonge
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