Chemical Stabilization of Black Cotton Clay and Laterite Soil Using Drycon Powder for Suitability as Construction Materials
Larry Pax Chegbeleh *
Department of Earth Science, University of Ghana, P.O.Box LG 58, Legon-Accra, Ghana.
Frank Siaw Ackah
Department of Earth Science, University of Ghana, P.O.Box LG 58, Legon-Accra, Ghana and Key Laboratory of Roads and Railway Engineering Safety Control of Ministry of Education, School of Civil Engineering, Shijiazhuang Tiedao University, Shijiazhuang 050043, China.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
This paper used drycon powder (DP) as stabilization additive for improving the engineering properties of problem soils, specifically, black cotton clay (BCC) and laterite soil (LS), for use as a road construction material. The study was carried out in some parts of the Greater Accra Region of Ghana, through the conduction of index properties tests such as gradation, Atterberg limits, California bearing ratio (CBR), Compaction characteristics and X-ray diffraction (XRD) on the problem soils. CBR, Atterberg limits and environmental quality tests were specifically conducted on DP stabilized soils for comparative analysis. Gradation results revealed 38% fines for BCC and 14% fines for LS. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed the presence of quartz and montmorillonite in BCC, and quartz and kaolinite in LS. Generally, the results of the various tests conducted revealed that DP has the potential of improving the engineering properties of problem soils with significant strength improvement. It can also be inferred from the results that, DP is environmental friendly soil stabilizer.
Keywords: Drycon powder, stabilization, problem soils, environmental quality, atterberg limits.