Significance of Lime in the Stabilization of Lateritic Soil using Least Significant Difference Method

Abstract

The influence of statistical approach such as Least significant difference (LSD) method in stabilization of Lateritic soil using lime has been carried out. The aim of the study is to determine the difference between the treatment means of the natural and the lime stabilized lateritic soil with respect to bearing capacity of the soil. Disturbed soil samples were obtained at 1.0 m, 1.5 m and 2.0 m and subsequently mixed with 5 %, 10 %, 15 %, 20 % and 25 % hydrated lime by weight of the soil. Furthermore, the mixed samples were subjected to unconfined compression strength (UCS) test. Terzaghi’s approach was then used to determine the bearing capacity of the soil after obtaining the strength properties from the UCS test. From the results of the bearing capacity, Least significant difference (LSD) method was applied to determine the significant difference between the treatment means. Results revealed that the F- test for treatment equals 1, which is less than values from the F-distribution table at 5% and 1% significance level which are 3.11 and 5.06 respectively. Therefore, this suggests that the F-test for treatment effect was not significant and therefore LSD approach cannot be applied in achieving this analysis for the location under study.