A Study on the Erodibility of Lateritic Soil Due to Flooding

Soil erosion is a process of detachment and transportation of soil materials from its original place by the action of various erosive forces. Erodibility of soils is referred to as the vulnerability of the soils to get eroded. Laterite soil is one of the major types of soil found in Kerala, which is rich in iron and aluminium content. So, the present study aims at identifying the key parameters affecting the erodibility of lateritic soils during floods as well as studying its effects on lateritic slopes. Also, the study focuses on the measurement of quantum of erosion by developing a suitable test set-up. The flood parameters are considered as the key parameters for the erodibility study. The test set-up consists of a tank with a lateritic slope inside, an inlet tank (storage tank) and a sediment collecting tank. Water is allowed to flow from the inlet tank towards the lateritic slope, and the water along with eroded soil is collected in the sedimentation tank after passing through a strainer. Tests are carried out under various flood parameters such as the velocity of flood water, the height of flood water and duration of water flow at a slope of 2.5:1 maintaining a bulk density of 18 kN/m³. The quantum of erosion is measured in terms of the total weight of the eroded material. The variations in the erosion rate under varying flood parameters are studied.