Soil improvement with the addition of natural materials, such as cactus mucilage

In civil engineering, a frequent situation arises, when soils to be used in projects have little resistance or are very plastic, so they must be improved. The procedure of improving soils through natural stabilizers such as cactus mucilage is an ecological alternative. The objective of this work is to evaluate the properties of mucilage and the effect it has on the compaction properties of the soil from Luzuriaga Street, located in the Barranca District. Different dosages (4%, 6%, and 8%) of cactus mucilage (CM) were used on this SW (in accordance with USCS) and A-1-b (according to AASHTO) soil sample, and the properties were evaluated by standard Proctor tests. The results of the cactus mucilage showed a humidity of 96.43%, and potassium and calcium were identified as the main elements present, the viscosity was 1,087.9 cSt, the density was 0.9948 gcm−3, and its pH was 4.61. With respect to the properties of soil with CM, 6% mucilage results in a higher dry density of 1.90 gcm−3 and an optimal moisture content of 19.11%, which means an improvement in compaction in addition to stability. As a conclusion, it was stated that the cactus mucilage modifies the structure of the soil by increasing the cohesion between the particles, resulting in a more uniform mixture. It is also indicated that a moderate dose such as 6% optimizes the properties of the soil.