Suitability of desert sand cement mixes for base courses in highway pavements

Soil-cement stabilization has been used for many years because of the significant improvement in soil properties that may be achieved as a result of cement treatment. The improvement in engineering properties of cement-treated soils is believed to be due mainly to the hardening of cement in the presence of moisture and extension of curing period. Different cement contents and curing period render different reactions for cement-treated soils. The paper presents the laboratory study carried out to investigate the possibility of improving the engineering properties of desert sands in Oman using cement. The properties of the stabilized sand such as compaction characteristics, shear strength parameters, unconfined compressive strength, durability and permeability were evaluated and their variations with the content of cement and curing time of the stabilizing agent are quantified.