Influence of Subgrade Soil on Pavement Perfomance: A Case Study of Ago-Iwoye - Ilishan Road, Southwestern Nigeria

Abstract

Ago-Iwoye –Ilisan road is the major road that links Abeokuta the state capital of Ogun –state to Ijebu towns. The road has always been experiencing pavement failure, which occurs inform of cracks and potholes. Being the major road, the effect of the failure has negative impact on the soico-economic growth of Ijebu –areas. The primary objective of the study was to determine the influence of the geotechnical properties of the sub-grade materials on the pavement performance of Ago-Iwoye – Ilishan Road. Eleven (11) soil samples were collected at eight (8) different locations with the aid of hand auger and were air-dried before taken to the laboratory for determination of engineering properties. The Liquid limit and the Plastic limits ranged from 13.9 – 46.2% and 8.1 – 32.7%, with the Plasticity index from 10.6 – 15.9% and Shrinkage limit from 6.2 – 27.7% respectively. The soaked CBR values of the subgrade materials is between 67% and 75% compared with 30% minimum specified by FMWH, 1997.The soils were classified by ASSHTO under the A-6 and A-7 category which shows that the soils are fair to poor as a sub-grade material and USCS classification shows that the soil falls into the SM and SC group.The comparison of all the results with the Nigeria specification (Federal Ministry of Works and Housing general guidelines) for the sub grade materials along the Ago-Iwoye-Ilisian road show that the materials underlain the pavement do satisfy the Nigeria standard. Therefore, the perennial failure frequently experience along the road route is not significantly influenced by subgrade materials. Hence, influence of other factors such as poor drainage courses, level of groundwater table, variation of geologic materials along the road route and poor construction materials should be thoroughly addressed before embarking on future rehabilitation of the highway.