Civil engineering
Construction of infrastructures
Lime, as well as limestone products, is used in virtually all types of infrastructures (roads, railways, airports, platforms, etc.). It enhances the performance of the materials, from natural soils to elaborated mixtures like bituminous mixtures, and thus increases the lifespan of the constructions.
Soil treatment
The use of lime in earthworks is a proven method of making unsuitable soils suitable for use as a building material.
Calcium oxide hydration reduces the moisture content of the wet soils and instantly improves their bearing capacity, thus facilitating the words and reducing the construction period as well as the cost of construction. Lime also modifies the behaviour of clayey soils by combination with minerals to produce a binder that stabilises the mixture, resulting in a better resistance to mechanical stress, and to water and frost.
In the same way, lime is a reagent that also combines with industrial minerals like blast furnace slag from the steel industry or pulverised fly ash from coal combustion in the power plants to produce hydraulic binders used in soil treatment.
Using natural lime makes costly replacement of the soil unnecessary and helps to save the aggregates deposits.
Asphalt
Lime helps to increase the lifespan of the asphalt layers and reduces the cost of maintenance of the pavements.
More than a mineral filler, hydrated lime is now regarded as a multi-functional asphalt modifier. Lime is well-known for its capacity to increase the moisture damage resistance of the bituminous mixtures, allowing them to maintain performance and provide good resistance to heavy stress i.e. for road surfaces prone to regular traffic or congestion. But lime also increases the viscosity of the bituminous binder and makes it more resistant to rutting and fatigue cracking. Lime also reacts with components on the bitumen to reduce the oxidation responsible for the premature aging of the asphalt mixtures.
Downloads: Asphalt brochure; Critical Literature Review on hydrated lime: a proven additive for durable asphalt pavements.