Influence Of Roadcem Content on Mechanical Properties of Lateritic Soil for Pavement Applications

Abstract

Studies on lateritic soil had been carried by numerous researchers across the globe with a view of improving it for the purposes of road pavement and other civil engineering constructions. The main aim of this paper is to examine the impact of varying Roadcem (RC) content on the mechanical properties of lateritic soil for pavement applications which was found to be an A-7-5 soil according to AASHTO. The soil sample was treated with RC at 0, 1,2,3,4, and 5%. Laboratory test such as particles size distribution, unconfined compressive strength (UCS) test for the treated and untreated samples was carried out. Three samples on each dosage were compacted and molded in cylindrical molds and cured two of each sample for 7 days, one each for 28 days. X-ray Diffraction Analysis (XRD), was also carried out on the two samples to reveals their crystalline phases and shows high intensity of CaO and Quartz on the two samples respectively. The UCS results shows insignificant variations in the dosage of RC even at 28 days. The study concluded that A-7-5 soils does not respond to treatment with RC beyond 1% due to its high plasticity and poorly graded and therefore recommend the use of the RC as an additive, at lesser percentage, or on cohesionless soils like sand for road pavement applications.