Investigation On The Index And Some Of Engineering Properties Of Soils Found In Iteya Town,Ethiopia.

Abstract

This study focuses on investigating the engineering properties of soil in Iteya town to provide necessary geotechnical data for construction projects. The undisturbed samples were used to determine natural moisture contents, while disturbed samples were used for free swell tests, grain size analysis, Atterberg limit tests, specific gravity tests, and compaction tests. Samples prepared from compacted soil were used for direct shear tests using the standard Proctor test. According to the engineering properties test results, the grain size analysis showed that the dominant soil particles in the study area are coarse-grained soils with clay content ranging from 0.7-6%, silt fraction 7.88-15.4%, sand fraction 62-86.36%, and gravel fraction 1.8-27.20%. The Atterberg limits indicated that the liquid limit ranges from 14% to 20.3%, the plastic limit from 13.91% to 17.92%, and the plastic index from non-plastic to 4.73%. These results suggest that the soils are non-plastic to low plastic and less susceptible to compressibility. The specific gravity ranges from 2.64-2.68, typical for sandy soils. The free swell test revealed a free swell value ranging from 1.8% to 18.1%, indicating all soil samples are non-expansive. The moisture content of the soil��s ranges from 14% to 26.92%, indicating that the soil is mainly coarse-grained. The compaction test showed that the optimum moisture content (OMC) and maximum dry density (MDD) vary from 17.7% to 27.77% and 1.42 to 1.55 g/cm??, respectively, indicative of coarse-grained soil particles with higher density than fine soil particles. The shear strength parameters, cohesion (C) and internal friction angle (??), determined from the direct shear test, vary from 1.019 to 7.95 kPa and 22.7? to 29.7? respectiv