Subgrade Performance and Treatment of Silty Clay with Low Liquid Limit in Widening

Widening, different from new construction, was easier to trigger subgrade defects such as differential settlement. Aimed at the performance of silty clay with low liquid limit, this study conducted a series of experiments to research the modulus and shearing strength in diverse working conditions. The experimental results revealed that this kind of soil has low modulus and shearing strength as well. In addition, this paper analyzed the construction safety in widening by using finite elements calculation and introduced a series of construction choices. Meanwhile, some treatments were adopted, under which the performance of widening subgrade during operational period was analyzed. Thus, a comprehensive treatment of this kind of soil for widening was suggested.