A

Seminar report
on
“Soil stabilization using terrazyme for road construction”
Submitted in

partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree of

MASTER OF TECHNOLOGY
IN
(TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING)

Submitted by
RISHABH KATELA
(2018PCT5097)
Under the Guidance of
Dr. PAWAN KALLA
Department of Civil Engineering

MNIT

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

MALAVIYA NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY JAIPUR

December 2019

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 MALAVIYA NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY JAIPUR
JAIPUR – 302017 (RAJASTHAN), INDIA

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the seminar entitled “Soil stabilization using terrazyme for road
construction” being submitted by Rishabh katela (2018PCT5097) is a bonafide work
carried out by him under my supervision and guidance, and hence approved for submission to
the Department of Civil Engineering, Malaviya National Institute of Technology Jaipur
in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree of Master of Technology
(M.Tech.) in Transportation Engineering. This seminar report has not been submitted
anywhere else for award of any other degree.

Place: Jaipur Dr. Pawan kalla

Associate Professor
Date:9/12/2019 Department of Civil Engineering
MNIT Jaipur

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

With great delight, I acknowledge my indebted thanks to my guide and mentor,

Dr.Pawan Kalla who has always been a source of inspiration and encouragement for me.
His stimulated guidance and unwavering support always motivated me to reach out for, and
achieve higher levels of excellence. This seminar could not have attained its present form,
both in content and presentation without his active interest, direction, and help. I am grateful
to him for keeping trust in me in all circumstances. I thank him for being big-hearted with
any amateurish mistakes of mine.

I express my sincere gratitude to Prof.B.L.Swami, Dr.Arun Gaur and Dr. J.K. Jain for
their support and guidance throughout the course of study at MNIT Jaipur.

I highly acknowledge and duly appreciate the support extended by my seniors, colleagues-
friends, and juniors for their help & support in accomplishment of this work during my stay
at MNIT Jaipur.

RISHABH KATELA
(2018PCT5097)

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 Contents
CERTIFICATE .................................................................................................................................... 2

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .................................................................................................................... 3

INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................... 5

MODERN SOIL STABILIZATION TECHNIQUES ................................................................................ 6

STABLISATION OF BLACK COTTON SOIL…………………………………………………………………………….….6

TerraZyme ...................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

What is TerraZyme? ....................................................................................................................... 8

MECHANISM OF TERRAZYME……………………………………………………………………………………………….8

CONSTRUCTION METHODOLOGY……………………………………………………………………………………….12

CASE STUDIES - Aluva of Ernakulam district (10.1167˚N 76.350˚E) .......................................... 14

CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………………………………………………….……………..16

FUTURE SCOPE……………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………16

REFRENCES ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..17

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INTRODUCTION

A highway is a public road, especially a major road connecting two or more

destinations. Any interconnected set of highways can be variously referred to as a
"highway system", a "highway network", or a "highway transportation system”. The
history of highway engineering gives us an idea about the roads of ancient times.
Roads in Rome were constructed in a large scale and it radiated in many directions
helping them in military operations. Thus they are considered to be pioneers in road
construction.
The modern roads by and large follow Macadam's construction method, use of
bituminous concrete and cement concrete are the most important developments.
Various advanced and cost-effective construction technologies are used. Developments
of new equipments help in the faster construction of roads. Many easily and locally
available materials are tested in the laboratories and then implemented on roads for
making economical and durable pavements. The strength and shear characteristics of
the pavement are essential for the good quality of the road. It promotes for the social,
economic, cultural development of the country.

With the advancement of better roads and efficient control, more and more
investments were made in the road sector especially after the World wars. These were
large projects requiring large investment. For optimal utilization of funds, one should
know the travel pattern and travel behavior. This has led to the emergence of
transportation planning and demand management.
Why soil stabilization is Required?
Soil stabilization is the process of increasing the strength and durability of soil by
altering the physical properties of the soil. For any construction project it is highly
recommended to improve the strength of soil in order to increase the life of structure.
The growth of population has created for better and economical vehicular operations,
which require good highways. Sub-base is a main part of road pavement structure,
which act as a stress transmitting medium and spread the wheel load in such a manner
that it prevents shear and consolidated deformation. There is an urgent need for the
development of new technique which improves the geotechnical properties of the sub-

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 base soil. Expansive soil exhibit satisfactory strength and permeability characteristics
but can undergo property changes during construction, in which gradation being
considered as most sensitive. So an attempt is made to stabilize the soil with readily
available bio-enzyme, which will be highly beneficial for engineers.

MODERN SOIL STABILIZATION TECHNIQUES

There are three broad types of soil stabilization: biological, physical and chemical.The
stabilization of naturally-occurring or native soil has been performed by millennia. The
Mesopotamians and Romans separately discovered that it was possible to improve the
ability of pathways to carry traffic by mixing the weak soils with a stabilizing agent like
pulverized lime stone or calcium. This was the first chemical stabilization of weak soils
to improve their load-carrying ability. There are many ways in which soil stabilization
can be done like use of surfactants, biopolymers, synthetic polymers, co- polymer based
products, cross-linking styrene acrylic polymers, tree resins, ionic stabilizers, fiber
reinforcement, calcium chloride, calcite, sodium chloride, magnesium chloride etc.
Successful modern soil stabilization techniques are necessary to assure adequate
subgrade stability, especially for weaker and wetter soils. It is widely recognized that
selection between cementitious stabilizing agents cement and lime is based on the
Plasticity Index (P I) of the primary soil type being improved.

 Stabilisation with cement.

 Stabilisation with bitumen.
 Flyash in soil stabilization.
 Stabilisation with Enzyme.

STABILIZATION OF BLACK COTTON SOIL

Modification of black cotton soils by chemical admixtures is a common method for

stabilizing the swell-shrink tendency of expansive soils. Advantages of chemical
stabilization are that they reduce the swell-shrink tendency of the expansive soils and also
render the soils less plastic. Among the chemical stabilization methods for expansive soils,
lime stabilization is most widely adopted method for improving the swell-shrink

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characteristics of expansive soils. Lime stabilization of clays in field is achieved by shallow
mixing of lime and soil or by deep stabilization technique. Shallow stabilization involves
scarifying the soil to the required depth and lime in powder or slurry form is spread and
mixed with the soil using a rotovator. The use of lime as deep stabilizer has been mainly
restricted to improve the engineering behaviour of soft clays Deep stabilization using lime
can be divided in three main groups: lime columns, lime piles and lime slurry injection.
Lime columns refer to creation of deep vertical columns of lime stabilized material. Lime
piles are usually holes in the ground filled with lime. Lime slurry pressure injection, as the
name suggests, involves the introduction of lime slurry into the ground under pressure.
Literature review brings out that lime stabilization of expansive clays in field is mainly
performed by mixing of lime and soil up to shallow depths. The use of lime as deep
stabilizer has been mainly restricted to improve the engineering behaviour of soft clays. Use
of lime in deep stabilization of expansive soils however has not been given due attention.
There exists a definite need to examine methods for deep stabilization of expansive soils to
prevent the deeper soil layers from causing distress to the structures in response to the
seasonal climatic variations. In addition, there exists a need for in-situ soil stabilization using
lime in case of distressed structures founded on expansive soil deposits. The physical mixing
of lime and soil in shallow stabilization method ensures efficient contact between lime and
clay particles of the soil. It however has limitation in terms of application as it is only suited
for stabilization of expansive soils to relatively shallow depths. Studies available have not
compared the relative efficiency of the lime pile technique and lime-soil mixing method in
altering the physico-chemical, index and engineering properties of expansive black cotton

Fig.:1- Mixing of soil-cement for sub-grade stabilization

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TERRAZYME

What is TerraZyme?
TerraZyme, manufacture by Nature Plus Inc- U.S is an excellent replacement for WBM and
Solling. TerraZyme is al iquid extract from sugar molasses that improves the engineering
qualities of the soil like CBR values and density and decreases the OMC, plasticity index of
soil.

The main feature of TerraZyme is the remarkable cost saving aspect. TerraZyme saves cost
from up to 20% in comparison to the conventional system of road construction. Maintenance
cost is drastically reduced up to 75%.

Properties of TerraZyme
Property Value

Specific gravity 1.05

pH value 3.50

Appearance Dark brown

Total dissolved salts 19.7ppm

Hazardous content None

Boiling point 212˚F

Evaporation rate Same as water

Solubility in water Complete

Reactivity data Stable

MECHANISM OF TERRAZYME
Soil (clay) particle is surrounded by a negatively charged layer making the particle prone to
combine with positive charge in order to neutralize. It is found that the absorbed water layer

on soil contains sufficient positive metals like Na, K, Al, Mg etc becoming the reason of the
bond between the negative clay particles and water molecules. Thus a significant water layer
is created around the soil particles. In order to attain permanent compaction it is necessary to

8
decrease or eliminate this water layer. This is exactly what terrazyme does . Terrazyme
reduces the electric charge in water molecule, thus creating enough pressure on the positive
metal ions to release in free water. This breaks the electrostatic potential barrier thereby
reducing the absorbed water layer. Thus the soil particles come closer and attain greater
compaction with lower compactive effort.

EFFECT OF TERRAZYME

Effect of Terrazyme is different for different types of soils and varying dosages. Some
general changes on several properties of soil after the addition of diluted Terrazyme are listed
below.

 CBR

CBR is California Bearing Ratio, defined as the ratio of force per unit area required to
penetrate a soil mass with standard circular piston to that requires for the corresponding
penetration of standard material. This test is usually needed to determine the sub-grade
strength of the soil in pavements.

With the addition of terrazyme a significant increase in the values of both soaked and
unsoaked CBR samples is seen. This is because of the increased compaction which creates a
stronger bond between the soil particles, helping them to resist penetration more appreciably.
Also with the increase in curing period of samples with terrazyme it is seen that the CBR
value increases, indicating more strength provided by the soil with time [6].

 UCS

It stands for unconfined compressive strength.UCS is the maximum axial compressive stress
a right.It stands for unconfined compressive strength. UCS is

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the maximum axial compressive stress a right cylindrical sample of soil or any other material
can withstand under unconfined (confining stress is zero) conditions. UCS test basically gives
the strength of the soil so to determine the effect of terrazyme it is necessary to know the
changes on UCS. After performing various tests on different types of soils it is seen that with
the addition of terrazyme there is an increase in the unconfined compressive strength of soil
to a great extent. In some cases UCS has increased as much as 200% making the enzyme an
ideal solution for soil stabilization .

 Consistency limits

The water content at which the soil changes its state is known as consistency limits. The
water content at which the soil changes its state from liquid to plastic is known as liquid limit,
and when it changes its state from plastic to semisolid it is known as plastic limit.

It is seen that with the addition of TerraZyme both the liquid and plastic limits decreases
signifying the denseness of the soil. As the soil particles come closer after enzyme action, the
soil changes its state at lower water content .

 Compaction

The densification of soil with the help of mechanical force is known as compaction. For
compaction Standard Proctor Test is performed in laboratories. In this test optimal moisture
content at maximum dry density for the given soil is determined.

It is seen that after the addition of terrazyme the OMC decreases and maximum dry density
increases for the given soil. It indicates that the voids between the soil particles have
decreases and the soil has achieved greater compaction at minimal compactive effort [9].

 Permeability

Permeability is the property of soil to allow easy flow of water through the interconnected
voids of soil.

It is seen that the permeability of terrazyme treated soil decreases noticeably. It is due to the
decrease in the voids after enzyme action thereby not letting the water to flow easily through
soil.

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  Density

Density of soil is defined as the amount of mass per unit volume of soil. As the main
objective of terrazyme is to reduce the voids, it is obvious that density of soil will increase
after enzyme action. As the density increases, compaction increases thereby increasing the
strength of soil.

ADVANTAGES

Eco Friendly- terrazyme is natural and organic material. As it is non-toxic, it does not
cause any harm to humans, animals or vegetation. Terrazyme is also biodegradable,
thus it easily decomposes with the soil. There is no need for safety precautions to be
taken while the application of terrazyme.

Cost effective- Even though it is expensive product, it is economical due to its

optimum results and permanent application. There is no need to treat the soil again after
terrazyme action, thus making the project highly cost efficient. Also very little amount
of terrazyme is required to achieve required results. Moreover, as the base and subgrade
layers in case of pavement are eliminated, total cost of the project reduces considerably.

Easy handling- as mentioned above it is non- toxic in nature and does not cause any
harm to human, thus it can be easily used without the need of gloves and masks.

Durability- as the effect of terrazyme is permanent; it stabilizes the soil for longer
period. It is also seen that with time the effect of terrazyme in increasing the strength of
soil escalates. It makes the soil water proof and the

strength of soil does not decrease even after saturation of soil.

Low maintenance cost- as terrazyme is weather resistant it provides longer durability

of soil and thus reduces the need of frequent maintenance.

DISADVANTAGES

Availability of terrazyme- Terrazyme is not easily available in India and has to be

ordered from the specified agency. As the transportation of terrazyme takes time, it can
delay the project if not ordered in advance.

Correct application- As a very small amount of enzyme is needed for application, it is

important to pour the diluted terrazyme evenly throughout the soil to get best results.

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 Type of soil- Since terrazyme reacts only with the clay particles it is necessary for the
soil to have higher clay content to get required results.

Benifits of using TerraZyme

 Cuts construction cost up to 20%.

 Higher CBR values/ higher road strength: TerraZyme base structures have amuch
higher CBR value.
 Lowers cost of maintenance by 30-50%.
 Save construction time by 50%.
 The Life cycle of TerraZyme treated roads increase by 200-300%.
 Pavement thickness is reduced by 30-50%, being semi-rigid in nature.
 Environmental friendly and bio-degradable product.

CONSTRUCTION METHODOLOGY
The concept of bio- enzymatic soil stabilisation is to improve the engineering characteristics
of local soils by uniformly introducing the quality of water and catalytic organic ions into a
pre-selected soil such that they will promote efficient compaction and catalyse improvements
in the clay structure. It is clearly mentioned in the literature provided by the producer NPI
that successful stabilisation of soil depends on there criteria.

- Uniform distribution of the liquid formula over the area selected for treatment.

- Uniform mixing of the formula throughout the depth of soil.

- Compaction of a the uniformly treated soil at OMC.

Application Procedure:

PLOUGHING

The existing murrum road was watered and overnight. Thereafter the road was ripped
using a cultivator to the required depth. This operation requires minimum of 4 passes.

PULVERISING OF SOIL

The soil is pulverized using the rotary plough. The pulverisation helps in getting
maximum surface area of soil particles in contact with TerraZyme. This operation
requires minimumof 2 passes.

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ADDITION OF ENZYME

After establishing the amount of water needed to be added to the soil to reach OMC ,the
engineer can dilute the quantity of enzyme as indicated.

MIXING OF ENZYME
After the spraying of water is complete the enginer can start mixing the enzyme through
soil with the help of mixing implements.

COMPACTION
After mixing is complete the start the compaction of soil to achive the MDD. The mixing
of water can be done to achive the OMC. No additional TerraZyme must be added.

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CASE STUDIES - Aluva of Ernakulam district (10.1167˚N 76.350˚E)
Soil is collected from Aduvaserry, Aluva of Ernakulam district (10.1167˚N 76.350˚E).This
type of soil is widely available in region of Aluva and greatly used for road construction.
Even though this soil has a tendency to achieve strength with time, literature studies showed
that these soil could exhibit higher strength characteristic upon stabilization.

TerraZyme is a brown clear liquid which is organic in nature and is formulated

using fruit and vegetable extract. The effect of terrazyme is due to the enzymatic
reaction on the soil taking place between clay and organic cat-ion and forming a
protective coating around clay particles and making clay particle water repellent. Since
cationic interexchange take place, it reduces the thickening of absorbed layer . It helps
in reducing the void in the soil and thereby achieving maximum compaction. It
improves the load bearing capacity of soil as well as reduce the pavement thickness
and maintenance cost .The TerraZyme is obtained from Avijeet agencies, Chennai.
The basic properties of TerraZyme as from manufacture’s information is listed below
in table no.1
Results
A. Physical Properties

The preliminary test was conducted on the sample to determine its engineering
properties. The various properties such as determination of its liquid limit, plastic limit,
specific gravity and dry density, particle size distribution were determined. The liquid limit
was determined using Casagrande’s apparatus. Plastic limit was found by following the
procedure enlisted in IS: 2720 (Part5) – 1985. Sieve analysis was conducted to know the
gradation of the particle by following the procedure enlisted inIS: 2720 (Part 4). Dry sieve
analysis was conducted to know the fraction of gravel and sand. Wet sieve analysis was
done to know the clay and silt content. The standard proctor test was conducted to
determine the optimum moisture content(OMC) and maximum dry density(MDD). Specific
gravity of the sample was found using pyconometer test and its value marked presence of
organic matter. The unconfined compressive strength of soil was found using UCC
test.California bearing ratio test was done to determine the mechanical strength of soil sub
grade by following the procedure enlisted inIS: 2720 (Part 16)-1987. The shear parameters

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of the soil were found using direct shear test. The test results are tabulated and shown in
table 2.

Table 2. Physical Properties of laterite soil

S.no. Properties Test results

1. Natural water content(%) 16.39%

2. Specific gravity 2.56%

3. Liquid limit(%) 38%

4. Plastic limit(%) 33%

5. Plasticity index(%) 5%

6. Percentage of gravel(%) 0

7. Percentage of sand(%) 5%9

8. Percentage of Silt(%) 29%

9. Percentage of clay(%) 21%

10. OMC(%) 16%

11. MDD(g/cc) 1.17

12. Cohesion(KN/m2) 10

13. CBR value(%) 2.141

14. Angle of friction(degree) 46.39

15. UCC(KN/m2) 20

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 CONCLUSION

Based on the test conducted following conclusions have been drawn:

 There is an increase in UCC value by 51.3% when 0 thday untreated and 0th day treated
was compared.

 The UCC sample at 28 th day curing for treated soil showed an increase of 281.5% when

compared to 0th day untreated sample.

 The UCC sample at 28th day treated and 28 th day untreated showed an increase of
166.3%.
 As Terrazyme was added to soil,the OMC decreased and MDD value increased.
 There was a decrease of 14.8% in OMC value and an increase by 61.59% in MDD
value after 28 days of curing

 The CBR value was increased by 11.16% from 0 th day untreated to 0th day treated.
 There was increase in CBR value as days of curing were increased. 139.32% increase

was observed at 28 th day curing for treated soil when compared to the 0 th day
untreated.

FUTURE SCOPE IN INDIA

There is a very good opportunity in India for terrazyme due to its advantageous
results. It is a revolutionary technique and can be easily opted as a prime method for
soil stabilization. Due to its cost effectiveness and higher strength especially in the
case of highways, it is being currently used in India in Maharashtra, Kerala and
Karnataka. But as for different types of soil different dosages are required, there is a
need for research to be done in this field.

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 REFERENCES

1. https://www.lenntech.com/terrazyme

2. http://terrazyme.biz/uploaded/new/TerraZyme%20Report%20Karnataka.pdf

3. Anjali Gupta .et.al. Int. Journal of Engineering Research and Application ISSN :
2248-9622, Vol. 7, Issue 4, ( Part -6) April 2017, pp.54-57

4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_stabilization

5. Durability of enzyme stabilized expansive soil in road pavements subjected to

moisture degradation

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