Strength behaviour of lime-treated soils in the presence of sulphate

Lime has been used extensively to improve the shear strength of fine-graine d soils. It has been recently reported that the presence of sulphate causes abnormal volume changes in lime-stabilized soil. The paper presents the st rength behaviour of lime-treated montmorillonitic natural black cotton soil in the presence of varying sulphate contents after curing for periods of u p to 365 days. Alteration of soil-lime reactions in the presence of sulphat e affects the strength development by cementation. Consequently, the stress -strain behaviour effective stress paths of soil cured with sulphate are si milar to those of normally consolidated soil rather than cemented soils. Th e reduction in shear strength due to a reduction in effective cohesion inte rcept occurs for lime-treated soil cured with sulphate for long periods.