Assessment of the Implications of Geotechnical Properties of Soils in Otukpa Area of Ogbadibo LGA, Benue State, Nigeria

Ameh Peter^1, , Igwe Ogbonnaya², Abdullateef Lawal^{1, 3}, Mustapha Aliyu¹, Isa Abdulmajid¹ and Zakariyau K. Kazeem⁴

¹Department of Applied Geology, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, Nigeria

²University of Nigeria, Nsukka

³University of Ibadan, Nigeria

⁴Sitech Engineering Limited, Kaduna

Cite this paper:
Ameh Peter, Igwe Ogbonnaya, Abdullateef Lawal, Mustapha Aliyu, Isa Abdulmajid and Zakariyau K. Kazeem. Assessment of the Implications of Geotechnical Properties of Soils in Otukpa Area of Ogbadibo LGA, Benue State, Nigeria. Journal of Geosciences and Geomatics. 2018; 6(1):1-11. doi: 10.12691/jgg-6-1-1

Abstract

This study evaluates the index and engineering properties of soils in Otukpa Area of Benue State towards ascertaining their suitability for use as fill and embankment, sub-base and base course material. Otukpa in Benue state Nigeria has vast reserve of sand and other aggregate materials that are presently been mined for various construction purposes. The area holds good potential for human population explosion in the near future. When massive infrastructural development commences, localized sourcing of materials would be necessary. Unfortunately, not much is known of the geotechnical properties of the sands in this area. Index and engineering test was conducted to achieve the aim. Gravel size particles are completely absent. Permeability of soil ranged from 7.8×10^-6 to 3.36×10^-4m/sec with moisture content of 11.38 to 14.16%. Specific gravity was between 2.63 to 2.67g/cm³. UCS range from 31-45Kpa while LL and PL ranged between 27-35% and 10-18% respectively. MDD peak value was 1.85(g/cm³) at an OMC of 12.11% and lowest at 1.67(g/cm³) at an OMC of 11.99. The geotechnical implication of the observed properties range from susceptibility to marginal volume change, differential settlement to low shearing resistance. These materials are quality reserves for fill, embankment and sub-base construction but not for bases.

Keywords:
base embankment fill otukpa sands sub-base

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

References:

[1]	Habeeb, A.O., Olabambo, A.A., and Oladipupo, S.O. 2012. Investigation of the geotechnical engineering properties of laterite as subgrade and base materials for road construction in Nigeria. Civil and Environmental Research, 2 (8). 23-41.
[2]	Salter, R.J. 1988. Highway design and construction. Macmillan Education, UK, 159-192.
[3]	Agbede, O.A. 1992.Characteristics of tropical red soils as foundation materials. Nigerian journal of Science, 26. 237-242.
[4]	Sherwood, P.T. and Pike, D.C. 1984. Errors arising in the measurement of the grading of sub-base aggregates. Bulletin of International Association of Engineering Geology. 29 (1). 437-441.
[5]	Nzabakurikiza, A., Onana, V.L., Ze, A.N., et al. 2016. Geological, geotechnical and mechanical characterization of lateritic gravels from eastern Cameroon for road construction purposes. Bulletin of Engineering Geology and Environment.
[6]	Akpokodje, E.G. 1986. The geotechnical properties of lateritic and non-lateritic soils of south-eastern Nigeria and their evaluation for road construction. Bulletin of International Association of Engineering Geology.
[7]	Okogbue, C.O and Aghamelu, O.P 2016. Comparism of the geotechnical properties of crushed shales from southeast Nigeria. Bulletin of Engineering Geology and Environment.
[8]	Martins, O.I., Calistuis, A., & Sambaba, O. 2012. Erodibility of soils of the southwest of Benue State, Nigeria. The pacific Journal of Science and Technology, 13 (2). 437-447.
[9]	Nwajide, C.S. 2013. Geology of Nigerian sedimentary Basins. CSS Bookshop, Awka, 277-340.
[10]	Amajor, L. C. 1984. Sedimentary facies analysis of the Ajali Sandstone (Upper Cretaceous), southern Benue Trough. Journal of Mining and Geology, 21, 171-176.
[11]	NFMWH (1972, Revised: 1974, 2003).General specifications for Roads and Bridges, Vol. II, Fed. Highway department, FMWH, Lagos, Nigeria.
[12]	Arora K.R. 2004. Soil mechanics and foundation Engineering. Standard publishers Distributors, Delhi, 69-257.
[13]	Krynine, D.P., and Williams, R.J. 2005. Principles of Engineering Geology and Geotechnics.CBS publishers, Cochin, India, 730p.
[14]	Ameh, D.P., Ogbonnaya, I. & Bernadette, U. 2016. Evaluation of the bearing capacity of near surface soils using intergrated method: A case study of Otukpa in Ogbadibo L.G.A of Benue State, Northcentral Nigeria. Journal of Geological Society of India. V.90, pp.93-101
[15]	Zolfaghari, Z., Mosaddeghi, M.R., Ayoubi, S. et al. (2015). Soil Atterberg limits and consistency indices as influenced by land use and slope position in Western Iran. Journal of Mountain Science. 12 (6). 1471-1483.
[16]	Skempton AW (1953). The colloidal activity of clays. In: Proceedings of the third international conference on soil mechanics and foundation engineering. Zurich, Switzerland, ICOSOMEF, pp 57-61.
[17]	Braja, M. Das. 2002. Soil mechanics laboratory manual. 6th Edition. Oxford University Press.
[18]	Babic, B., Prager, A. & Tatjana, R. 2000. Effect of fine particles on some characteristics of granular base course. Materials and Structures, 33 (7). 419-424.
[19]	Belkhatir, M., Schanz, T. & Arabi, A. 2013. Effect of fines content and void ratio on the saturated hydraulic conductivity. and undrained shear strength of sand–silt mixtures. Environmental Earth Science, 70 (6). 2469-2479.
[20]	Osinubi, K.J., Eberemu, A.O., Bello, A.O. & Adzegah, A. 2012. Nigerian journal of Technology. 31 (3) 277-287.