DIRTY CEMENT.

LBrown59 · Dec 25, 2004

Several years ago I heard about using dirt to mix concrete for driveways sidewalks etc.
Forget the mix ratios, etc., and the steps and procedures for doing it.
Anyone here herd of this or know anything about it?

Henro · Dec 25, 2004

I can't help much, but I remember reading about a construction technique for buildings called "rammed earth" or something like that.

A mix of cement and earth is used...

Never heard of doing that for a driveway, but I have in the past done some mixing of cement and dirt to repair my pond "dike" and it set quick and worked well...

johnday · Dec 25, 2004

LB; I think your talking about what's called soilcement. Mother earth News ran an article about it a few years ago. A friend of mine used it for a floor in his polebarn upnorth, he likes it, but I've never seen it. Did you try a search on the internet? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

em14 · Dec 25, 2004

That is soil cement or soil concrete. Dump and spread on the "clean" ground and mix with the soil well either water it or wait for rain. A tiller would do a nice job mixing it. I may have some notes on the mix but I won't be able to look until some time tomorrow. I've done a little but I cannot remember the ratio's. It was done in Combat zones a lot.
Leo

Egon · Dec 25, 2004

There may be information on this site. Covers a broad base of cement/concrete so a little digging may be required.

My son insisted I spend some time on this site after I said
" about this much cement and that much gravel"

http://www.cement.ca/cement.nsf

Egon /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Soundguy · Dec 25, 2004

Soil cement.. good stabilizer.. or in some case.. roadway segments, or even retaining headwalls.

I'd have to look in my manual at work to get mix ratios. Obviously using it as stabilizer will be a leaner mix than using it as a finished surface.

We finished a job in Palatka florida a few months ago, and the ground there is so wet that we used soil cement for stabilization. Water sets in their ditches year round..

Soundguy

Bob_Skurka · Dec 25, 2004

Here is a link to a soil cement article in Mother Earth News:

Soil Cement building

The article includes mix ratios.

Egon · Dec 26, 2004

Lots of hits by typing in soil cement.

Seems the % of cement to soil varies according to the type of soil and the desrided end product. On the site below it appears range from 3% to 8% or more dry weight.

Link

Egon

MikePA: Cleaned up long URL. Simply insert a descriptive word or two between the {url=http://whatever}<font color="red">Enter words here</font>{/url} instead of the entire URL. Replace parentheses with brackets.

edgaines · Dec 26, 2004

Here's something I have been exploring lately, it might do what you're thinking about
www.polypavement.com

Bob_Skurka · Dec 26, 2004

Ed, thanks for that link!
Wow, I am intrigued with the Polypavement system! My mind is literally reeling with ways to use that product, especially in dressing up
the paths through the woods that currently look, well, like crummy paths! I had seriously considered bringing in an asphalt crew to make
paths but really didn't want to destroy the natural look of the woods with asphalt. It appears that running a tractor & tiller lightly down the
paths and compacting the soil is about all that would be needed to make very natural looking, but DURABLE, walking paths through the
woods. If a more distinctive look is desired, the paths could be dressed up with some nice crushed stones prior to spraying with
Polypavement's solution.

And weed control around the garden beds would be a breeze with poly pavement, simply spray the dirt and eliminate the growth of weeds in
the paths between the beds, and it would eliminate the paths becoming muddy too.

And a parking area . . . and . . .