Stabilization of Lateritic Soil for Road Application Using Lime and Cow Bone Ash

Abstract

Roads should possess sufficient strength to support wheel loads imposed upon them either during construction or the service life of the pavement. It is sometimes necessary to treat soils to provide a stable subgrade or a working platform for the construction of the road surface. Cow bones scattered in Nigerian meat markets and abattoirs have become an environmental concern, hence the need to seek alternative uses for them. This study is concentrated on the stabilizing potential of cow bone ash (CBA) as an eco-friendly bio-waste material and lime on the stabilization of lateritic soil for road application. It is aimed at achieving the effective utilization of lateritic soil as a practicable construction material by attempting to identify the best percentages of soil stabilizers (binders) needed to improve the soil. Based on this, the study identified the methods that were used on lateritic soil samples obtained from Ado-Ikere road, Ado Ekiti in Ekiti state, Nigeria and the method of stabilization using cow bone ash and lime on the soil sample. The following laboratory tests and experiments were carried out: sieve analysis, atterberg limits, compaction, california bearing ratio (CBR) and thermo-scientific X-ray fluorescence (XRF). They were used to investigate the influence of cow bone ash and lime on lateritic soil. Different percentages of lime and cow bone ash (2%, 4%, 6%, 8% and 10%) respectively were used for the stabilization of the lateritic soil samples. Also, different proportions of addition of lime and cow bone ash were explored to stabilize the soil. The CBR test results showed that the addition of 8%, being the optimum amount or addition of binder of lime and CBA increased the CBR of lateritic soil. It also revealed that cow bone ash and lime can be used for stabilization of lateritic soil.