Compressibility of broken rock-fine grain soil mixture

Due to the enormous amount of fills required, broken rock-fine grain soil mixtures have been increasingly used in the construction of high-fill foundations for airports, railways and highways in the mountain areas of western China. However, the compressibility behavior of those broken rock-fine grain soil mixtures remains unknown, which impose great uncertainties for the performance of those high-fill foundations. In this research, the mixture of broken limestone and a fine grain soil, Douposi soil, is studied. Large oedometer tests have been performed on specimens with different soil content. This research reveals the significant influence of fine grains on the compressibility of the mixture, including immediate settlement, creep, as well as wetting deformation.