Towards a climate neutral and resource efficient soil stabilization additive (New Soil-Bind)

Research Project, 2021 – 2023

The construction as well as repair and maintenance costs of afflicted transport infrastructure, built or to be built on problematic soils, is enormous and therefore enhancement of soil strength and stiffness properties, as well as mitigation of its volume change behavior is crucial for a viable transport infrastructure. One of the most known soil stabilization methods includes stabilization through chemical additives, such as blends of lime, cement, and fly ash, modifying the soil properties, resulting in a stronger foundation-supporting infrastructure. However, as cement production is associated with 8% of the total global anthropogenic CO2 emissions, a key to a sustainable built transport infrastructure is to minimize unnecessary application of it. Moreover, as the expected availability of the most known cement replacement materials such as fly ash or slag, is also limited in the near future, new alternative binders should be explored. This has recently brought a lot of attention to the potentials of abundant natural resources as well as industrial wastes to be utilized as cement replacement materials. Among suitable alternatives, low grade calcined clays, bio ashes, construction demolition waste and silica sand, produced in the process of recycling phosphorus from wastewater sludge, have shown to have potentials as cement replacement alternatives. However, a breakthrough towards development and promoted application of these materials as new soil stabilization alternatives is not yet dealt with.

Therefore, aiming to promote climate neutrality as well as recourse efficiency in transport sector an innovative/demonstrative research project, in cooperation with partners alongside the value chain for production, optimization, and application of new additives for the soil stabilization with the least cement content is proposed. A glimpse to what the past years’ pandemic has brought to us shows that it is crucial to act while there is still time and resources, otherwise it might come a time when all the time and resources are to be spent on things we never thought of, and we are left out with aims that cannot be fulfilled anymore.