Potential of Bamboo Leaf Ash for Soil Stabilization - Literature Review

Abstract

Soil stabilization is an important topic in geotechnical engineering as many problematic soils were found during construction. One of the commonly used soil stabilization is cement, but it is widely known as a non-sustainable material. Much research provided the usage of industrial waste as a substitute for cement, which is then known as a supplementary cementitious material (SCM). One of the alternatives is bamboo, which has the second highest silica content after rice husk. This paper conducted a literature review on the potential of using bamboo leaf ash (BLA), which is the main composition of silica in bamboo. Various studies indicated the usage of BLA, ranging from its initial usage in concrete to its development in soil stabilization. Five studies were pointed out as the extensive research of BLA usage in Nigeria, focusing on lateritic soils. The results indicated that stabilizing lateritic soils with BLA increases the CBR values and the bearing capacity, whereas it decreases plasticity index values. Later studies followed by using other types of soils. The results are all consistent, where the shear strength of soil and CBR values increases with the usage of BLA as SCM.