Improvement of Erosion Site Soils at Low Cement Content

The erosion resistance of soils can be improved upon by such binders as cement, lime, gypsum, sodium chloride, aluminium sulphate, lignosulfonate, fly ash and steel slag. Binders, through agglomeration, also alter the compaction characteristics and strength of these soils. In the humid tropical rainforest belt of Nigeria, many gully erosion sites exist. In this paper, the results of an experimental study of compaction and unconfined compressive strength (UCS) of two soil samples obtained from the Nanka gully erosion sites in Southeast Nigeria and treated with 1% cement content are presented and discussed. The results show that compaction and UCS of the two erosion site soils can be improved upon at low cement content and that the UCS of these soils depend on cement content, fines content, compactive effort and maximum dry unit weight, in decreasing order of influence.