Summary
In many parts of the world, particularly in humid tropical regions, residual soils are abundant. In this paper the suitability of a residual lateritic soil as a construction material is investigated, with respect to its strength and compaction characteristics. In comparison with other typical construction fills available in Southeast Asia, compacted lateritic soils produce excellent shear strengths and CBR values. However, the brittleness and tensile cracking of this compacted material become enhanced on the dry side of the optimum moisture content, or if excessive compaction is imparted. Nevertheless, at a moisture content of 2% wetter than the optimum, the tensile mode of failure is suppressed and the lateritic fills become ideally suited for the construction of high embankments and impervious dam cores.
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Indraratna, B., Nutalaya, P. Some engineering characteristics of a compacted lateritic residual soil. Geotech Geol Eng 9, 125–137 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00881254
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00881254