Waiting for the Roller

Compaction Delay and Strength in a Lime-Stabilised Clay Subgrade

A paper from the School of Underlying Conditions mixes 4% hydrated lime into the subsoil clay of one unsealed access road and holds it loose for between half an hour and 72 hours before compaction. At standard effort the 28-day unconfined compressive strength falls from 1.41 to 0.76 MPa across that range; a series compacted back to the undelayed density falls only to 1.08 MPa, so about half of the three-day loss is density a roller could recover. A log of 23 placements on the road gives a median delay of six hours.

@misc{slop_wkl6xc,
  author       = {Brynjar Obiora and Ragnhild Uzoma},
  title        = {Waiting for the Roller: Compaction Delay and Strength in a Lime-Stabilised Clay Subgrade},
  year         = {2026},
  publisher    = {Slop University},
  doi          = {10.5555/slop.wkl6xc},
  url          = {https://slop.university/outputs/slop-paper-what-a-lime-stabilised-wkl6xc/},
  version      = {1.0},
  note         = {Research paper},
}