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Articles

CJET: Vol. 4 No. 1, June 2020

Effects of Compactive Effort on Laterite - Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch Ash Mixture

  • Oke Joy A. & Osinubi Kolawole J
Submitted
June 18, 2020
Published
2020-06-18

Abstract

The effect of three compactive efforts, i.e., British Standard light; BSL (or standard Proctor), West African Standard; WAS (or ‘Intermediate’) and British Standard heavy; BSH (or Modified Proctor) on laterite treated with up to 14 % oil palm empty fruit bunch ash (OPEFBA) by dry weight of the soil was investigated. Index and compaction (Optimum moisture content, OMC and Maximum dry density, MDD) tests were carried out. The Atterberg limits (Liquid Limit, Plastic Limit and Plasticity Index) generally decreased with increasing OPEFBA content. The OMC values increased from 18.5, 17.1 and 16.1% to 23.3, 20.1 and 21.4 %, respectively, while MDD values generally decreased from 1.60, 1.60 and 1.75 Mgm-3 to 1.51, 1.49 and 1.58 Mgm-3 respectively for BSL, WAS and BSH compactive effort, respectively. Based on the results obtained, laterite treated with 8 % OPEFBA and compacted with at least BSL energy is recommended for use in the construction of the sub-base layer of low-volume roads. The benefits of using OPEFBA as a sustainable indigenous construction material include reductions in the adverse environmental impact of oil palm empty fruit bunch waste as a result of its application in road construction.