Abstract
This study assesses the geotechnical properties of lateritic soil stabilized with Ground-nut Husk Ash. Preliminary tests were carried out on the natural soil sample for identification and classification purposes, while consistency limits tests were thereafter carried out as well. Engineering property tests such as California Bearing Ratio (CBR), Unconfined Compressive Strength (UCS) and compaction tests were performed on both the natural soil sample and the stabilized lateritic soil, which was stabilized by adding Ground-nut Husk Ash, GHA, in percentages of 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 by weight of the soil. The results showed that the addition of GHA enhanced the strength of the soil sample. The Maximum Dry Density (MDD) reduced from 1960 kg/m3 to 1760 kg/m3 at 10% GHA by weight of soil. The Optimum Moisture Content (OMC) increased from 12.70% to 14.95%, also at 10% GHA by weight of soil. The unsoaked CBR values increased from 24.42% to 72.88% finally, the UCS values increased from 510.25 kN/m2 to 1186.46 kN/m2, for both CBR and UCS, the values were at 10% GHA by weight of soil. It was therefore concluded that GHA performs satisfactorily as a cheap stabilizing agent for stabilizing lateritic soil especially for subgrade and sub base purposes in road construction.
Highlights
Laterites are soil types rich in iron and aluminum that are formed in tropical areas
Soil Sample weighing 200 gr was taken from the material passing the 425 μm test sieve and mixed with water till it became homogenous and plastic and was able to be shaped into a ball
The first group was for the control experiment, the second group of lateritic soil had the Ground-nut Husk Ash (GHA) added in proportions of 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 % by weight of the dry lateritic soil sample
Summary
Laterites are soil types rich in iron and aluminum that are formed in tropical areas. Most laterites are rusty-red because of the presence of iron oxides. They develop by intensive and long- lasting weathering of the underlying parent rock. Lateritic soils are products of tropical weathering with red, reddish- brown or dark brown colour, with or without nodules or concretions and generally (but not exclusively) found below hardened ferruginous crusts. Laterite formation factors include climate (precipitation, leaching, capillary rise and temperature), topography (drainage), vegetation, parent rock (iron rich rocks) and time of these primary factors. Mechanical Stabilization is a physical process that involves altering the physical nature of native soil particles by either induced vibrations or compaction or by incorporating other physical properties such as barriers and nailing. Stabilizers (cementitious material) and soil minerals (pozzolanic materials) to achieve the desired effect of improving the chief properties of a soil that are of interest to engineers namely volume stability, strength, compressibility, permeability and durability [3, 6, 7]
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