Strength Characteristics Of Soils In Ikole Campus Of Federal University Oye Ekiti, Ekiti St A Te, Nigeria

ABSTRACT

The development of soil and rock properties for geotechnical design purposes begins with

developing/defining the geologic strata present at the site in question. Therefore, the

focus of geotechnical design property assessment and final selection shall be on the

individual geologic strata identified at the project site.

This research work was been carried out to determine the shear strength characteristics of

soils in Ikole Campus of Federal University Oye Ekiti, Ekiti State. Classification,

compaction and strength characteristics were examined for the soil samples in the study

area. The study area falls within coordinates 7.7983°N, 5.5145°E and covers a land area

of 538.550 hectares in Ikole Ekiti, Ekiti state.

Undisturbed and disturbed samples were obtained at depths of I.Sm and 3.0m from five

different trial pits, (TP 1, TP2, TP3, TP4 and TP5). The coordinates of the trial pits across

the campus are TP1 (866971.98N, 610838.61E), TP2 (867676.65N, 611093.21E), TP3

(867224.80N, 610566.90E), TP4 (867759.99N, 610610.0ZE) and TP5 (867382.93N,

610810.38E). The tests carried out in this research include natural moisture content,

particle size distribution, specific gravity, Atterberg limit, compaction, California bearing

ratio and quick triaxial test.

The results show that the study location have low potential of water retention with their

natural moisture content not exceeding 25% and all the soils have clay content from the

specific gravity result. TP 1, TP2, TP4 and TP5 can generally be classified as Silty-Clay

soil material with fair to poor · in general subgrade rating while only TP3 is generally

classified as a granular soil and is rated as excellent to good in general subgrade rating.

The Atterberg test results shows that the soil samples from TP 1, TP2, TP4 and TPS can

be grouped as A-7-5 or A-7-6 class i.e. clayey soil while TP3 is classified as A-2-6 i.e.

lateritic soil according to AASHTO classification system ( 1978). The triaxial results

show that the study location has a value of cohesion ranging between 9 - 190 kN/m2

These valuable data obtained from this geotechnical analysis can be useful for civil

engineers in the design and construction of structures and roads in Ikole campus and environs for maximum durability and efficiency.