Strength Characteristics of Lateritic Soil Stabilized with Terrasil

Abstract

This paper presented the strength characteristics of lateritic soil stabilized with chemical stabilization using Terrasil,two samples, A and B were collected from two different borehole locations from a site. The effects of Terrasil on the engineering properties of the samples were investigated by conducting series of laboratory tests on the samples, the tests include consistency/index property tests, standard Protor test,  Unconfined Compression Strength test (UCS), and California Bearing Ratio (CBR) test before and after mixing with 2%, 4%, 6%, 8%  and 10 % of  Terrasil. The Samples were classified as A-6(4) and A-7-6(7) soils for sample A and B respectively on mixing with Terrasil,an increase in UCS from 200kPa at 0% additive to 351 kPa at 4% additive. Results of the CBR test on soil sample ‘A' shows an increase in strength from its natural value of 11.5% to 34.9%, at 4% of the additive; sample ‘B' increased from 8.8% to a maximum value of 28.6% at 6% of Terrasil. The test results show that treated samples A and B have CBR values greater than 20%  and can therefore be used as "sub-base type 2” material in road construction.