Abstract

This research investigated the bituminous additive prerequisite of some lateritic soil samples as pavement materials. Both chemical and geotechnical experiment were carried out on untreated (raw) and improved laterite. Bituminous material was utilized in the present research as admixture. The California Bearing Ratio (CBR), Atterberg limit (Liquid and plastic limit), specific gravity, moisture content and compaction experiments of the samples were performed with varying percentages or proportions of bitumen; 3, 6, 9 and 12%. The soil categorization test reveals that the lateritic soil is between A-2-7 and A-2-4 which is Silty or clayed clayey gravel and sand based on AASHTO soil categorization. The C.B.R values are 9.87, 4.35% and 7.28% for samples A, B and C correspondently at 0% additive content, while for 12% additives, the result showed maximum C.B.R values for sample A and B as 41.21% and Sample C as 40.04%. Thus, bitumen has been verified to be a good admixture on the enhancement of the properties of lateritic soil as pavement materials.

Keywords: Strength characteristics; Bitumen; Lateritic soil; Pavement materials