Soil Stabilisation
Interest in motor sport has increased in recent years leading to more spectators flooding to Silverstone, home of the British Grand Prix, putting pressure on car parking facilities.
To improve the situation it was decided to construct an additional 55,000 m
2 of all-weather car parking.
Conventional construction would have required the excavation and removal of soil from the site as well as bringing in a large quantity of aggregate for the sub-base.
At Silverstone the environmental impacts of construction were minimised by stabilising the existing soil to give it sufficient strength to act as the sub-base for an asphalt surface.
Using the existing soil dramatically reduced both the material sent to tip and the need to import quarried aggregates.
The soil at Silverstone is a boulder clay containing sulfate, which can lead to expansion and heave. This makes it unsuitable for conventional stabilisation with lime (calcium oxide) or Portland cement.
Instead, the stabilisation was carried out using a combination of lime and ggbs because of its acknowledged resistance to sulfate expansion.
Further details about the use of ggbs in soil stabilisation can be found at
www.ukcsma.co.uk