The Lateritic Potential of Soils Developed over Enugu Shale for Civil Engineering Construction in Enugu and Environs
- Post by: ejees
- June 30, 2022
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ABSTRACT
The increasing cost associated with high-quality construction material occasioned by the inflation and unstable economic policies of the government of Nigeria has led to the need for the use of available local soils and soils developed over Enugu Shale in civil engineering work in Enugu and environs. The need for adequate evaluation of the suitability of the soils developed over Enugu Shale for its use in engineering construction cannot be overemphasized to prevent the failure of engineering structures. The Physico-chemical properties of soils developed over Enugu Shale were evaluated to understand its potential as a laterite. A total of twenty soil samples were collected and tested for X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) and Atterberg’s limits. The XRF test revealed that the soil samples are mostly dominated by elemental oxides of SiO2, Al2O3 and Fe2O3 ranging from (50.4-84.98%), (6.26-28.23%) and (0.98-12.25%) respectively while the Atterberg’s limits revealed a liquid limit range of (22-66%) and plasticity index range of (0-39%). The obtained results show that elemental oxides can significantly affect the swelling characteristics of lateritic soils in Enugu and environs. The results equally show the non-viability of the studied soil as laterites.
Keywords: Lateritic Potential of Soils; Civil Engineering Construction; Plasticity Index; Enugu
Authorship
Nnamani, Chidiebere Henry1 and Okonkwo, Austin Chukwuemeka2 | FULL PDF