A large amount of waste soil (mud) is being produced from the construction of civil and infrastructures. As a result, resource utilization of the waste soil has become even more important in geotechnical engineering community. This study quantitatively investigates the underlying modification mechanism of lime-treated waste soil based on water transfer mechanism. Content of different types of water was first measured, and content of each hydration product and the Atterberg limits of soils before and after the lime treatment were then analyzed. It is found the mechanism of lime treatment is to transfer free water with low potential energy to bound water and hydration water with high potential energy. In addition, the formation of hydrates gel mainly improves soil plasticity by affecting the limit of soil plasticity. The hydration water can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of treatment and the growth potential.

土建和基础设施建设产生了大量废土（泥浆）。结果，废土资源的利用在岩土工程界变得更加重要。本研究基于水分转移机理定量研究了石灰处理的废土的潜在改性机理。首先测量不同类型水的含量，然后分析石灰处理前后每种水合产物的含量和土壤的阿特伯格极限。发现石灰处理的机理是将具有低势能的游离水转移到具有高势能的束缚水和水合水中。另外，水合凝胶的形成主要通过影响土壤可塑性的极限来提高土壤可塑性。