This study presents the behavior of sand and clay soil mixtures with different contents of fly ash, which comes from the coal burning process in Thermoelectric Complex Jorge Lacerda, located in the city of Capivari de Baixo, in Santa Catarina. The aim of this research is to assess the applicability of using soil-ash and soil-ash-lime mixtures in geotechnical works, like landfill layers, foundation soils and slope stabilization. Physical, chemical and mechanical (compaction test and direct shear test) were performed. Direct shear tests were performed on clay soil samples compacted at the optimum moisture content and the corresponding maximum dry specific gravity, with fly ash contents of 15 and 30 per cent, related to the dry weight of soil. Tests on sandy soil samples were performed at the relative density of 50 per cent and optimum humidity of 10 per cent, with fly ash contents of 15, 30 and 40 per cent related to the dry weight of soil. For soil-ash-lime mixtures, it was added 3 per cent of lime to replace the dry weight of ash. It was studied the influence of different parameters: soil type, ash content, lime addition and curing time (0, 30, 100, 125 and 140 days) for the mixtures. Curing process was adopted only for sandy soil mixtures. Results were more suitable for clay soil mixtures, and lime addition was more efficient for the mixture with the lowest ash content, related to 12 per cent. In the absence of lime, the best performance was obtained for the mixture with 15 per cent of ash. For sandy soil mixtures and without lime, the results were inferior to sand; and in the case of soil-ash-lime mixtures, it was not possible to define a pattern of behavior to the curing time, because although there has been an increase in cohesion certain days, this gain was followed by a reduction in friction angle, which has maintained the best performance of sand. However, the ash content of 27 per cent, at 140 days of curing, caused an increase of both parameters, what means that this ash content is the optimum content to be used. Thus, although the use of fly ash in mixtures with clay soil has been more satisfactory, this material can also be used in mixtures with sandy soil, since it contains an ash content around the optimum content found, and since it has been submitted to elevated curing periods, what enables the positive employment of this material in geotechnical applications, providing an environmentally correct disposal of this waste and giving it a noblest destination.