Utilisation of In-house Built Dynamic Plate Load Test System for Predicting CBR of Lateritic Soil

Abstract

In some of civil engineering projects, soil is mainly employed as both structure and foundation; these include roads, dams, and runways. Before being utilised, a soil must be collected, tested, and classified in order to obtain properties. Then, the results are further analysed so that we know what we could do with the soil. In the field, we need a method to monitor and control the quality of compacted soil. In Thailand, the sand cone method is most common. Because of its time-consuming nature and high cost, many countries now opt for the nuclear method; however, it requires rigorous techniques for operation. The plate bearing test will be employed if bearing capacity and modulus values are required. Similar to the density test situation, the method takes long time and quite expensive. Thus, this research attempted to overcome those procedures by implementing own dynamic plate bearing test system. First, a total of three lateritic soils were collected; basic property, density, and CBR (California Bearing Ratio) tests were then carried out in a laboratory. Next, samples were prepared having similar properties obtained from the laboratory results; and, the dynamic plate bearing test was then carried out, obtaining both applied forces and their corresponding settlements. The results reveal that the higher the CBR the greater the applied force, i.e., the applied forces for the CBRs of 1.30, 3.48, and 7.61% were 20.72, 25.41, and 29.86 kN, respectively. This may suggest that the dynamic plate bearing test system developed by the authors could be employed for predicting the CBR in the field resulting in cheaper operation.