Compressive Strength of Laterite Stabilized with Cement

The natural material beneath a constructed pavement is known as a subgrade. Pavement failure can occur if the subgrade is constructed with poor quality of soil. Thus, soil stabilization is required in order to have a competent subgrade for pavement foundation. The objectives of the research are to determine the physical properties of laterite soil, to evaluate the strength of the modified laterite soil with cement, and to obtain the optimum amount of cement to stabilize the laterite soil. Physical properties of the soil were obtained from the standard laboratory test and the strength of the soil was obtained from unconfined compressive strength (UCS). After 7 days of curing, the strength of natural soil from UCS test was found to be inadequate according to the standard of Malaysia Public Work Department (PWD) [7]. Thus, cement was utilized as a stabilizer in order to improve the strength of laterite soil. UCS test was conducted for the laterite soil treated with different percentages of cement content (3, 4, 5, and 6%) to determine the optimum cement content for the soil stabilization. The results show that the strength of the soil increases with the increase of cement content, while 5% cement was the optimum cement content.