Compaction and consolidation characteristics of lateritic soil of a selected site in Ikole Ekiti, southwest Nigeria

Abstract

The compaction and consolidation characteristics of lateritic soils in Ikole area of Ekiti State were investigated. The investigation was carried out through laboratory tests on disturbed and undisturbed soil samples obtained from three borings (BH1, BH2, and BH3) of Holy Apostolic Nursery/Primary School, Ootunja, Ikole Local Government Area (L.G.A.) of Ekiti State Southwest, Nigeria. The soils are all lateritic and mostly fine-grained. Compaction tests indicate maximum dry densities of 2.05Mgm -3 , 1.78Mgm -3 , and 1.69Mgm -3 at optimum moisture contents of 14.3%, 20.7% and 19.6% for soil samples obtained from BH1, BH2 and BH3 respectively. Compression indices (Cc) obtained from oedometer tests are 0.04816, 0.03820 and 0.04318 while the calculated coefficients of volume compressibility (mv), are 1.308*10 -4 , 1.065*10 -4 and 1.093*10 -4 m 2 kN -1 for samples in BH1, BH2 and BH3 respectively. The unsoaked California Bearing Ratio (CBR) value at 2.5 mm penetration ranges from 42.10% to 92.40% and CBR value at 5.0 mm penetration ranges from 52.70 to 89.10% indicative of good materials for road subgrade, sub-base and base courses.

Nanostructured Waste Paper Ash Treated Lateritic Soil and Its California Bearing Ratio Optimization

“…A proper geotechnical construction is one that ensures that the proper steps are taken to embark on a comprehensive soil exploration that will give information on the strength of the underlying soil [13,14]. With this technical background, the geotechnical expert plans a soil stabilization technique suitable for the studied soil to ensure that the bearing capacity of the soil is improved upon before structures are constructed or pavement layers are laid upon the subgrade soil [7,12,14]. In recent times, additives and geosynthetics apart from known cementations materials have been in use in the stabilization of the subgrade lateritic soils which included bagasse ash, snell shell ash, coconut shell ash, palm kernel shell ash, palm bunch ash, waste paper ash, etc.…”

“…In the field of geotechnical engineering and the area of soil stabilization and improvement in particular, the primary target is the achievement of the lateritic soil strength properties that will ensure the durability and safety of civil engineering projects founded on soils [7][8][9]. In the developing world for instance, road pavement decay resulting from failed subgrade and sub base layers is one of the major problems bedeviling the traffic facilities [10][11][12]. A proper geotechnical construction is one that ensures that the proper steps are taken to embark on a comprehensive soil exploration that will give information on the strength of the underlying soil [13,14].…”