Pallanza, Andrew, To, Peter, and Matheson, Michael (2023) Lime stabilised road batters: A laboratory simulation of site flood conditions using a customised erosion apparatus and sample digitisation. Transportation Geotechnics, 40. 100975.

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Abstract

The structural benefits of lime stabilisation on clayey soil are widely appreciated. However, its potential in surface erosion contexts, particularly for road batters, has had less consideration. Compared to conventional concrete or vegetative batter protection, lime stabilisation could be a cost-efficient option in Western Queensland; where large road distances experience severe and variable flooding, funding is limited, vegetation is seasonal, and clayey soils are prevalent. The present study assesses the feasibility of trialling 6.7 km of lime stabilised road batters in the Flinders Highway in Western Queensland. Soils sampled from the site were treated with varying percentages of Quicklime and tested in a customised erosion apparatus, labelled the Surface Erosion Apparatus (SEA). With the aid of an ANSYS model, the SEA was designed to simulate shear stress acting along the batter during the 1 % Annual Exceedance Probability (AEP) flood at the project location (as estimated with a TULOW model). The SEA preserves the eroded surface, which facilitated a time-lapse observation of erosion and a post-erosion sample digitisation method to plot the Erosion Function. All levels of lime stabilisation recorded approximately ten times less erosion than untreated samples under 1 % AEP conditions, with an estimated Erosion Category of Low or Very Low Erodibility. Conclusive trends from the laboratory simulation suggested that lime stabilised road batters would be suitable for the trial project.

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