What is soil stabilizationin construction?

Lime works on high plasticity clays: it reacts with the clay minerals, drops the plasticity index, and dries wet soil quickly, which is why it doubles as a wet weather rescue. Cement suits sandier, low plasticity soils where there is little clay to react with. The geotech engineer selects from lab testing, and sulfate content matters: lime treatment of sulfate bearing soils can cause expansive heave, so high sulfate sites need a different approach.

Usually yes on large areas, because it eliminates both the haul-off of the bad material and the purchase of import, the two costs that make over-excavation expensive. The math flips on small areas: the specialty equipment carries a mobilization cost that has to amortize over the square yardage, so a few hundred square yards of treatment can cost more than digging and replacing. Run both numbers before committing the bid.

The geotech report sets the depth. Pavement subgrade treatment is commonly specified in the 8 to 16 inch range, with 12 inches a frequent call, because that is what a single pass of mixing equipment can blend uniformly. Deeper improvement generally means multiple lifts of treatment or a different technique entirely, and the estimator should price added depth as added chemical tonnage, added mixing time, and slower production.