Geoengineering Site Exploration for Building, Bridge, Landfill, Pavement, Embankment Construction, and Excavation (Road Cut/Open Pit Mines): Case Study from Southwestern Nigeria
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.56532/mjsat.v6i2.705Keywords:
Schistose quartzite, Groundwater measurement, Geophysical, CPT, Material behaviour indexAbstract
Engineering site exploration of RUGIPO was conducted using integrated methods involving in situ CPT testing, geophysical, geotechnical laboratory studies, geochemical analysis, groundwater measurement and quality analysis, and geological mapping. This was done to assess the geomaterial across the study area for civil engineering construction. The result revealed schistose quartzite and quartzite as the main rocks in the area, capable of providing (compressive) strength of 150 to over 350MPa, and 20 – 60 MPa, respectively. The abundance of SiO2 in the soil mineral content (52.4 %) implies a good engineering tendency that can translate to high CBR, shear strength, and PI, and low compressibility/swelling potential. The soils across the area are dominated by sand - silt mixture, with average CBR (> 10%), cohesion (23.2 kN/m2), friction angle (29.1°), PI (< 20 %), allowable bearing capacity (172.6 kN/m2), modulus of elasticity (18715 kN/m2), soil behaviour index (2.40), and elastic settlement (34.19 mm for 250 kN load). Thus, the soil is expected to have good applications in basement or foundation, reinforced cement concrete structures (including slabs, lintels, and columns), bridge, pavement, metallic grounding systems/utilities, and embankment. However, the soils fail in some major properties for landfill/liners application in terms of PI, permeability, and porosity. The groundwater level is higher than 8 m across the study area; hence, it cannot threaten the basement/foundation structure. The quality of the water is within the recommended threshold for all the parameters tested for, including T°, SG, pH, TDS, EC, salinity, sulfate, and EC, for concrete cement interaction
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