Investigation into the Use of Cement Stabilized Sand in Road Pavement Construction in Bangladesh

In recent times as good quality materials have become rarer, use of out-of-specification materials in structural parts of road pavement construction have been investigated. This is particularly attractive in developing countries where good quality materials may be prohibitively expensive. This paper describes an investigation into the use of cement stabilized fine to medium sand in the construction of roads undertaken entirely in Bangladesh. The laboratory results indicated that the unconfined compressive strength and constructibility of sand-cement mixes were acceptable for road pavement layers. The sand-cement material with 8 to 10% cement proved to be adequate for subbase layers for heavily trafficked roads. A pilot field trial showed the constructability of a pavement layer using fine to medium sand and 10% cement mix. The un-surfaced trial road only experienced a few minor cracks after six months of construction.