Behaviour of Dune Sand and its Stabilization Techniques

Abstract

Thar Desert of Rajasthan, a state of India, covering approximately five Laces sq km area, consists of desert soils, which are windblown deposits of fine sand called sand dunes. The sand dunes have an average height of about fourteen to fifteen meter. They are formed under highly arid conditions. Dune sand is uniformly graded non-plastic fine sand. It causes many geotechnical and structural problems. They are considered inferior foundation material due to their low supporting power and less stability. The study presents the characteristics of dune sand and problems related to these soils, including the methods to improve its geotechnical properties. Issues related with these soils are, soil stabilisation for highways and airfields, minimizing foundation settlement under loads and reducing its permeability to make them suitable for storage and transport of water through canal systems. The various methods to improve the Thar Desert soils are mixing guar gum and bentonite for reducing permeability, introduction of lime, cement and randomly distributed fibres in the dune sand to improve the desirable geotechnical properties.