Comparative Stabilization and Model Prediction of Geotechnical Parameters of Ebekpo Residual Soils, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria

The major objective of stabilizing Ebekpo residual soil was to ascertain the structural response to imposed mechanical systems. The second consideration was to establish levels of improvement of geotechnical properties for engineering applications. River sand and ordinary Portland cement were the two modifiers deployed for this laboratory experiments. Four different soil samples from four distinct borrow pits were utilized. River sand content varied from 10% to 70% while residual soil content complimented with 90% to 30% respectively. CBR results from river sand stabilization based on measured values ranged from 56% to 90% at optimal level. Conversely stabilization with ordinary Portland cement ranged from 2% to 10% and the CBR ranged from 74% to 113% for measured values. From the results cement stabilization tends to generate higher values of CBR. This could be attributed to the contribution of hydrated calcium silicates and calcium aluminates in cement which tend to increase the bonding between particulate structures resulting in plasticity reduction hence gaining in strength propagation. Finally multiple non-linear regressed models were developed to aid prediction and optimization of CBR parameters of Ebekpo residual soils at various levels of stabilization.
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