Author(s): John Y Ampah and Zakari Mustapha

Abstract: Soil stabilization is undertaken in soft soils to achieve desirable engineering properties.The study assessed the stabilization of lateritic soil with bitumen for construction purposes. The various tests conducted at the laboratory included sieve analysis, Atterberg limits, Compaction, and Stabilization of lateritic soil with bitumen. Lateritic soil samples were stabilized with 1%, 2% and 4% bitumen at a specific moisture of 7.14 from the compaction. The stabilized soil was exposed to atmospheric conditions for 7 days, 14 days, and 28 days. Findings from the Sieve analysis test show that a maximum number of soil particles were retained between sieve sizes in the range of 4.75 mm and 0.6 mm. The coefficient of uniformity curvature (Cu and Cc) had values of 9.66 and 1.47 respectively. A lower moisture content was recorded for the Atterberg limits test due to the higher number of blows. A maximum dry density and the optimum moisture content were attained for a given soil with a standard amount of compact effort in the Compaction test. Bitumen should be used as a stabilizer, with contents of 4% to 6% to achieve 11 to 12 times the compressive strength greater than with 0% bitumen content for any site condition with predominance in sand or sandy silty soil, In the case of soils with a plasticity index higher than 20 (which is characteristic of clayey soils), 1 to 3% of bitumen should be considered. Bitumen stabilization may be considered if the majority of the soil in both cut and fill in a project were GP, GM, SP, and SM.

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