Geotechnical Behavior of Lateritic Soils in Tropical Region

The terrain of Mantin in Malaysia is mainly hilly steep slopes. Tropical climate and frequently rainfall make the area vulnerable to landslide which is foremost concerns of geotechnical engineers. Meanwhile, according to the generalized soil map, majority of soil located in this region are lateritic soil. Therefore, study on geotechnical properties of lateritic soil and comparison with the other places is very essential. In this study a comprehensive set of experimental works on geotechnical properties of lateritic soils have been carried out on two samples collected at depth of 5.2, 2 and 5.2m from ground surface and behavior of properties towards clay content was studied. In addition, relations between different soil properties have been investigated. The laterite soils of Mantin exhibit high plasticity, linear correlations between atterberg limits and compaction parameters have been established and were found reliable with average R5 value of 2..5. All properties, except unconfined compressive strength, california bearing ratio, internal friction angle and maximum dry density tended to increase with clay content. Finding of this study can produce a quantitative framework on geotechnical properties of lateritic soil in tropical region.

Keywords:

Lateritic Soil , Geotechnical Properties , Clay Content