What is lime-stabilized base and its benefits?

What is lime-stabilized base and its benefits?

• A. Cement-stabilized soil base to improve drainage.
• B. Lime-stabilized base of soil to improve bearing capacity and reduce plasticity.
• C. Asphalt-treated base to improve skid resistance.
• D. Gravel base with lime to reduce moisture.

Answer: (B)

Lime stabilization treats the soil in a base layer by adding lime, which chemically reacts with clay minerals to form cementitious compounds. This changes the soil’s behavior: it becomes stiffer and stronger, and its plasticity drops. The most important practical outcomes are a higher bearing capacity for the base and a reduction in plasticity (and swelling/shrinkage tendencies), which leads to better load distribution and less movement with moisture changes. Those benefits directly address why a lime-stabilized base is used in pavement foundations. Other options describe different stabilization or treatments. Cement-stabilized bases are a different material and priority (often aimed at strength and drainage characteristics), asphalt-treated bases relate to surface friction rather than lime chemistry, and a lime–gravel mix doesn’t capture the primary, defined improvements lime stabilization provides in base properties.

Lime stabilization treats the soil in a base layer by adding lime, which chemically reacts with clay minerals to form cementitious compounds. This changes the soil’s behavior: it becomes stiffer and stronger, and its plasticity drops. The most important practical outcomes are a higher bearing capacity for the base and a reduction in plasticity (and swelling/shrinkage tendencies), which leads to better load distribution and less movement with moisture changes. Those benefits directly address why a lime-stabilized base is used in pavement foundations.

Other options describe different stabilization or treatments. Cement-stabilized bases are a different material and priority (often aimed at strength and drainage characteristics), asphalt-treated bases relate to surface friction rather than lime chemistry, and a lime–gravel mix doesn’t capture the primary, defined improvements lime stabilization provides in base properties.