How To Make A Track From Soil And Cement Using A Forgotten Technology

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

It is used, crossed and the path is beaten …

In Soviet times, when plots in gardening and partnerships were rarely more than 6 acres, few of their owners paid attention to the arrangement of garden paths. It's another matter now …

Those who have gotten rich by hook or by crook (mostly young people) try to show others their material viability, and therefore build multi-storey mansions and cottages with different architectural bells and whistles and excesses. This also applies to garden paths. Basically, the "new" Russians use paving slabs, granite paving stones and reinforced concrete with a decorative printed layer for garden paths: with an imitation of a transverse or longitudinal cut of a tree, raw stone, and so on …

However, most of our summer residents are still very, very far from them both in terms of income and the level of comfort of suburban housing. Therefore, I suggest that ordinary gardeners return to their present reality and live within their means. Therefore, I advise you to forget about the paving slabs and use the now thoroughly forgotten inexpensive method of building garden paths from soil cement.

Track coverage scheme

1. Asphalt concrete.

2. Soil cement.

3. Surrounding ground.

As the name implies, this material consists of soil and cement (see coverage diagram). And if in the usual for us concrete mixture of cement contains up to 25%, then in soil cement it is only 10-12%. And since the main component of such a mixture is soil, which does not need to be bought, the cost of soil cement is several times cheaper than that of cement concrete.

Of course, soil cement is not so strong, its strength does not even reach half the strength of cement concrete. However, in most cases this is sufficient for garden paths and driveways for cars. And one more thing: in appearance, soil cement is not much different from ordinary soil, therefore such a coating does not spoil the appearance of the site.

One should not think that soil cement is a building material of the second grade, and therefore is used only on insignificant objects. Abroad, it is widely used on highways and airfields, for lining canals and dams, in all building structures where sufficient strength and durability must be combined with low cost.

Until now, soil cement is practically not used in our country house construction. Maybe because few people are familiar with this material and its properties, or maybe this is due to the difficulties associated with its manufacture. After all, the quality of soil cement directly depends on the careful observance of the numerous rules for the preparation and compaction of mixtures and especially the care of the hardening material. And yet, if you are not afraid of physical labor, you do a lot in the household with your own hands, besides, you will be responsible, attentive and patient, then there is every reason to hope that the soil cement will fully meet your expectations and save the family wallet from unnecessary expenses.

Ground-cement coatings in yards, in backyards and summer cottages, garden paths and other objects, must have a coating thickness of at least 10 centimeters. If the coating is intended for the passage of a car, its thickness should be increased to 13-15 centimeters. A layer of soil cement intended for parking a passenger car in a garage or in the open air must have a thickness of at least 16 centimeters. If the passage of single trucks or tractors is possible on the soil-cement coating, its thickness is raised to 20 centimeters. You can cover the soil cement with a thin layer (2-4 cm) of asphalt concrete mixture. In this option, asphalt concrete will play the role of a protective layer, and soil cement - the main bearing layer of the coating.

The main component of soil cement in terms of volume and weight is soil. As a rule, the soil for the coating is always on the site. Although the option of importing it from the outside is not excluded. Only the upper layers of plant soil containing organic (humus) impurities and some types of saline soils are unsuitable for cement treatment.

But it is preferable to use sandy and gravelly soils of the so-called optimal grain size composition in soil-cement coatings, that is, with a sufficient content of particles of all sizes - from the smallest to the largest. One-dimensional sands and sandy loams for their bonding require an increased consumption of cement. It is very difficult to mix clay and loamy soils by hand evenly with cement, achieving a uniform consistency.

Soils should not contain stones larger than 40 mm, as well as plant residues and other foreign matter. To obtain soil cement, it is permissible to use all varieties of Portland cement from grade 300 and above. Since Portland cement of grade 400 is the most popular in construction, we will build all calculations on it.

Remember that determining the optimal amount of cement in the soil-cement mixture is the key to the success of the entire event. Therefore, before proceeding directly to the construction of the tracks, carefully read the table of the cement content in the soil cement, depending on the type of soil (see table 1).

Soils	The content of cement in the soil-cement mixture
	% (by mass)	kg (in m³ of cement mixture)
Gravel, crushed stone, gravel, large and medium-sized soils	6-8	130-180
Gravel, coarse, medium and fine sands, one-dimensional, silty sands	8-10	140-200
Sandy loam and light loam	10-12	200-240
Heavy loams, sandy and silty clays	13-15	240-280

It should be noted that with a low cement content, the coating will not be sufficiently strong and frost-resistant. With a high cement consumption, the material becomes brittle, its surface cracks. Nevertheless, a certain excess of cement in the amount of 1-2% is preferable to its lack. If there is any doubt about the quality of the soil used and the rational dosage of cement, then the entire cycle of work on the coating device must be performed first on a small trial area.

Work on the construction of soil-cement tracks consists of the following technological operations: soil preparation, cement distribution, mixing the mixture, compacting the mixture, wet care of the coating …

Soil preparation consists in crushing large lumps of clay and removing stones larger than 40 mm. The soil, which is waterlogged in rainy weather, must be dried. If possible, use a harrow to crush the soil. All work takes place at an air temperature of at least + 10 ° С during the day and at least + 5 ° С at night. At subzero temperatures, cement practically does not harden.

When distributing the cement over the area, it can be dosed in a bucket or other container of a known volume, or poured directly from 50 kg paper bags. The cement is spread with a rake. Immediately after scattering each bag or bucket, the cement is lightly sprinkled with soil so that dusting and weathering does not occur.

Stirring the mixture. If it is not possible to use a light tillage machine or some other small-scale mechanization unit to mix soil with cement, then you will have to mix with a shovel and a trowel. Stirring continues until the mixture is uniform in color.

After mixing the soil with the cement, check if there is enough water in the mixture. For this, a sample of the mixture is compressed in a fist. If the sample obtained in this way retains its shape, does not crack, and only light traces of soil remain on the palm, the moisture of the mixture is optimal. If the palm is wet and dirty, then there is an excess of water in the mixture, which inevitably leads to a decrease in the strength of the soil cement. With a lack of moisture, the soil-cement mixture is difficult to compact.

Water should be added carefully, in portions, spreading it as evenly as possible over the surface of the flooring, for example using a garden hose or spray. In cases of doubt, some excess water is preferable. It is very useful to mix the soil with cement and water in a mini-mixer or in a centrifuge. This mechanical stirring usually produces a better mix than manual stirring.

Compaction of the soil. Before compaction, the surface of the mixture is leveled with a rake. If it is not possible to process the coating with a vibrator-compactor or to roll it mechanically, then the soil cement will have to be compacted with manual rammers. The most optimal area of the rammer base is 20x20 cm. This is a very laborious, hard, but extremely necessary work, since the strength of the coating material increases in proportion to the square of the density. During the day, one worker can compact no more than 10 square meters of pavement with high quality. Moreover, the entire layer of soil cement laid on the site should be compacted on the same day. If the coverage area is much larger than 10 square meters, it is divided into separate sections or sections, and work should be done especially carefully in the seams between them, since this is the weakest link of the soil-cement track.

The compaction is completed when the rammer leaves no visible marks on the coating surface. Before the end of the work, loose particles not associated with the bulk of the material are removed with a rake, for the last time they pass over the entire area with a rammer and slightly moisten the surface.

Wet care. Like cement concrete, soil cement for strength gain requires wet maintenance for 7-8 days or more. The purpose of wet maintenance is to prevent evaporation from the material of the water required for the cement to harden. In general, the hardening of cement, or rather concrete, continues for many months and even years. But it is especially important to preserve water in the material in the first hours and days after installation. The surface of the coating, which has dried immediately after installation, cracks and flakes.

At the end of the seal, it is recommended to cover the coating with plastic wrap, roofing felt, glassine and other waterproof materials. Burlap or other cloth is acceptable, but it should be dampened periodically.

In addition to being used in road surfaces, soil cement is successfully used, for example, for the manufacture of building blocks, foundations for floors in residential premises, in fencing and retaining walls. However, it is best to master the technology of this strong, durable material when arranging garden paths.

Because you can experiment with them … If you failed to achieve the desired result the first time, then, following the popular wisdom: "Work and work will grind everything", the experience can be repeated. And in the end, victory will be for a hardworking and persistent person, for those who set a goal for themselves and always achieve it.

Alexander Nosov