Soil Stabilisation

Improve Ground Conditions. Reduce Waste. Reuse More

Soil conditions can present significant challenges during site preparation and infrastructure development. Soft, wet or moisture-sensitive soils may not provide the performance required for construction, while the removal and replacement of unsuitable material can introduce additional costs, haulage movements and programme delays.

Soil stabilisation offers an alternative. By treating suitable materials in place or processing excavated soils for reuse, it can improve their engineering properties and enable them to be incorporated into the construction works, subject to appropriate testing, design and specification requirements.

For large development sites, this approach can support the delivery of temporary compounds, access routes, haul roads, working platforms and infrastructure foundations.

OCL combines specialist stabilisation techniques with its wider expertise in crushing, screening, mixing and recycled construction materials. This allows opportunities to be assessed as part of a wider material management strategy, rather than treating excavation, disposal and the importation of replacement materials as separate activities.

How Does Soil Stabilisation Work?

Soil stabilisation involves modifying the properties of existing ground or excavated soil to improve its suitability for a defined construction application.

Depending on the soil type, ground conditions and required performance, the process may involve the addition of lime, cement or other suitable binding agents. These materials are mixed with the soil to achieve the required characteristics, followed by grading, compaction and quality checks in accordance with the project specification.

The process generally involves:

• Assessing the ground: Understanding soil composition, moisture content, existing ground conditions and the engineering requirements of the proposed works.
• Selecting the treatment: Identifying an appropriate stabilisation or modification method based on the material characteristics and intended application.
• Treating the material: Incorporating the selected binding agent using suitable in-situ or ex-situ processing techniques.
• Preparing the formation: Grading and compacting the treated material to achieve the specified levels and performance requirements.
• Verifying suitability: Undertaking the required testing and quality assurance to confirm compliance with the project specification.

The correct treatment depends on the material and its intended use. Soil testing and appropriate technical assessment are therefore essential to establishing a suitable solution.

The Benefits of Soil Stabilisation

Reduce Excavation and Disposal

Where suitable, stabilisation can enable existing soils to be retained and reused within the development. This reduces the volume of material requiring excavation, off-site transportation and disposal, helping to avoid unnecessary waste and associated costs.

Reduce Imported Materials

Making better use of suitable site-won soils and recovered construction materials can reduce reliance on imported virgin aggregates. This supports a more efficient use of resources and can simplify material supply requirements across the project.

Improve Ground Performance

Treatment can improve the workability, strength and moisture sensitivity of suitable soils, helping to prepare ground for construction activities. The appropriate treatment and performance requirements must be established through testing and project-specific design.

Support Programme Efficiency

Reducing the need to remove unsuitable material and import replacements can simplify earthworks operations and reduce reliance on external haulage and disposal facilities. Depending on the ground conditions and treatment requirements, stabilisation can also help recover areas affected by wet weather more efficiently.

Lower Transport Requirements and Carbon

Retaining and treating materials on site can reduce vehicle movements associated with importing aggregates and transporting excavated soils off site. Combined with the reduced demand for virgin materials, this can contribute to lower embodied carbon across the construction process.

Support Circular Construction

Soil stabilisation forms part of a broader circular approach to construction, where suitable existing materials are recovered, treated and reused rather than discarded. When integrated with crushing, screening and material processing, it can help unlock further value from resources already available within the project boundary.

Soil Stabilisation at Ford Airfield

OCL’s work at the former MOD airfield in Ford, West Sussex, demonstrates how stabilisation and material recycling can contribute to the preparation of a major regeneration site.

Working with Vistry Group on the development of a new community comprising approximately 1,500 homes and supporting facilities, OCL is applying its material recovery expertise to help transform the former airfield into a resource for the construction works.

The initial phase included in-situ stabilisation of a 6,000m² temporary site compound, preparing the area for the wider enabling and infrastructure operations.

OCL is also recovering the existing runway materials through its Plan > Process > Pave approach. Concrete from the runway is processed and screened, with suitable material mixed with cement and water to produce a hydraulically bound material (HBM) for reuse in the site compound and spine roads.

Further works include the processing and reuse of recovered materials to produce recycled aggregate and capping for the development’s infrastructure.

By combining soil stabilisation with material recovery and processing, the project demonstrates how site preparation can be approached as part of an integrated circular construction strategy.

The benefits include reducing waste, limiting the need for imported aggregates and minimising transport movements, while making productive use of existing site resources.

The Ford Airfield project demonstrates how stabilisation and material recycling can work together to support more efficient, lower-carbon regeneration.

Read the full Ford Airfield Regeneration Project case study.

A Complete Approach to Material Recovery

At OCL, soil stabilisation is part of a wider range of services designed to maximise the value of construction materials.

Our experience in material processing, recycling and the production of sustainable construction materials enables us to consider how existing site resources can be incorporated into a project’s overall material management strategy.

Depending on the project requirements, this can include:

• In-situ stabilisation: Treating suitable ground materials in place to improve their properties for the intended application.
• Soil modification and reclassification: Treating suitable excavated soils to improve their characteristics and establish whether they can be reused in accordance with the applicable requirements.
• Crushing and screening: Processing recovered concrete, asphalt and other suitable materials into graded aggregates for potential reuse.
• Material mixing: Combining processed aggregates with appropriate binding agents to produce construction materials such as hydraulically bound material.
• Circular material management: Coordinating stabilisation, recovery and reuse opportunities to reduce waste and the demand for imported materials.

The most appropriate approach will depend on the site investigation, material characteristics, project specification and applicable environmental requirements.

By considering these opportunities early, clients can identify potential efficiencies before earthworks and material movements are committed to a conventional excavation-and-replacement approach.

A More Sustainable Approach to Ground Preparation

Construction and regeneration projects increasingly need to balance technical performance, commercial value and environmental responsibility.

Soil stabilisation can contribute to all three by improving the suitability of existing materials and reducing unnecessary excavation, disposal and replacement. When combined with the recovery and reuse of existing construction materials, it can support a more resource-efficient approach to site development.

OCL Regeneration brings together stabilisation, material recycling and construction materials expertise to help clients identify practical opportunities for reuse.

Our approach is built around a simple principle: make the most of the materials already available before bringing in new resources.