Geotechnical properties of lateritic soil stabilized with sugarcane straw ash

Abstract

This research determined the geotechnical properties of lateritic soil modified with sugarcane straw ash with a view to obtaining a cheaper and effective replacement for the conventional soil stabilizers. Preliminary tests were performed on three samples, A, B and C for identification and classification purposes followed by the consistency limit tests. Geotechnical strength tests (compaction, California bearing ratio (CBR), unconfined compression test and triaxial) were also performed on the samples, both at the stabilized and unstabilized states (adding 2, 4, 6, and 8% sugarcane straw ash). The results showed that sugarcane straw ash improved the geotechnical properties of the soil samples. Optimum moisture content increased from 19.0 to 20.5%, 13.3 to 15.7% and 11.7 to 17.0%, CBR increased from 6.31 to 23.3%, 6.24 to 14.88% and 6.24 to 24.88% and unconfined compression strength increased from 79.64 to 284.66kN/m 2 , 204.86 to 350.10kN/m 2 and 240.4 to 564.6kN/m 2 in samples A, B and C respectively. Sugarcane straw ash was therefore found as an effective stabilizer for lateritic soils.