A series of Uniaxial and Triaxial compression laboratory tests were performed on a new light geotechnical material called Stabilized Light Soil (SLS). The new material SLS is fabricated by mixing sand and Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) beads with water and cement addi ti ve as stabilizer. Drained triaxial compression tests were carried out on specimens fabricated under different conditions as (a) unit weight, (b) percentage of cement additive and (c) confining pressures. Strength and deformation properties has been investigated in detail and a failure criterion has been proposed. An example of application of SLS in the field is also described.
Expanded Polystyrene blocks as a light weight construction fill was used in a road construction project in Norway in 1965. The main objective of using such a light weight construction material is mainly to reduce (a) the settlement of underlaid soft subsoil, (b) the earth pressure acting in the retaining wall and (c) driving load in slope stability problems. So far different kinds of light material such as EPS blocks, air-entered mortar, slag, hollow pipes has been used in the field. However these methods are quite costly and the treatment of the left spoil soil is always a great problem. As has been pointed out by Shimazu (1989), it will be reasonable economically to fabricate lightweight material using the insitu spoil soil. Here this new light material is called STABILIZED LIGHT SOIL (SLS). This new material has recently been used as a backfill material in some fields. The great aim of this new material is the reuse of the EPS products and the residual soil. One of the main feature of this material is that the unit weight and the strength can be controlled adequately to a certain range by changing the mixing ratio of different additives.
