Road constructions
The use of lime to stabilize soils was already known to the Romans, Tibetans and Chinese. Micronized calcium oxide is used to:
- Improve existing soils to build temporary transport roads and construction areas;
- Stabilize simple forestal and agricultural roads;
- Stabilize road foundations for high performance roads;
- Build airport runways, parking lots and railway tracks.
- Adding hydrated lime as mineral filling powder in the hot asphalt mixes used for the construction of roads, airports and other areas subject to traffic increases the stability and elastic resistance of the asphalted road surface, even by 50% and, at the same time, it improves drainage. Moreover, the binding qualities of binding agents with inert materials are improved, as well as the mixability of the compound.
- The reclamation of contaminated soils constitutes an environmental problem at global level. Also in this sphere, the soil stabilization through lime – but with the intent to reduce the potential hazard by converting the contaminants and through the chemical-physical transformation of the soil – is a process in which the use of micronized quicklime is extremely effective.
The construction of roads, railways, airports and channels requires every year the availability of many millions of cubic metres of inert materials, and it is renowned that these materials are hard to find and bear high costs. Lime offers the possibility to recover, for this use, various types of soils which are usually deemed unsuitable.
Slimy-clayey soils, sands and gravels with significant clayey components, as well as pozzolanic sands altered with extremely fine substances, by mixing a lime percentage become excellent materials for foundations, rises and road superstructures.
The application of micronized calcium oxide in clayey soils aims at improving the mechanical properties of the soil, such as for example humidity, classification, plasticity, bulk density, mechanical resistance and resistance to frost.
