Calcium‐based stabilizer materials (CSMs) exhibit pozzolanic properties which improve the properties of clayey soils by hydration, cation exchange, flocculation, pozzolanic reaction, and carbonation. In this comprehensive review, comprising over past three decades from 1990 to 2019, a mechanistic literature of expansive soil stabilization by incorporating CSMs is presented by reviewing 183 published research articles. The advantages and disadvantages of CSMs as the ground stabilizing agent are succinctly presented, and the major outcomes of physicochemical effects on soil properties are discussed in detail. After blending with CSM, the main and interaction effects on soil properties with focus on chemical processes such as X‐ray fluorescence, X‐ray diffraction analyses, and microstructure interaction by using scanning electron microscopy and thermogravimetric analysis have been reviewed in light of findings of past researchers. This work will help geotechnical engineers to opt for suitable CSM in the field of geoenvironmental engineering in committing to sustainable construction of civil engineering structures over expansive soils.

Municipal solid waste incineration bottom ash is atypical of granular material and it is significantly important to investigate the engineering properties of bottom ash used as aggregate of embankments and road base, especially the shear strength and deformation characteristics. The laboratory tests were performed on engineering properties of bottom ash from an incineration plant in China. The results show that the grain sizes of bottom ash focus on the range of 2–50 mm and is well-graded. Bottom ash can be reused as a non-hazardous material. Both unsaturated and saturated bottom ash appear to be plastic failure, and have friction angle and cohesion. The maximum friction angle and cohesion of unsaturated bottom ash are 47.8° and 56 kPa, respectively, which has higher shear strength and better stability than coarse sand and gravel. The elastic modulus of bottom ash increases with maximum deviator stress and bottom ash has better resistance capacity to deformation.