Abstract:
Use of locally available material for road construction is emphasized in the present context
of potential environmental issues and the restriction on transport imposed by the state.
Budgetary constraint for coastal road construction is yet another aspect meriting the use of
local materials. The situation in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka is particularly severe
compared to other provinces because of the scarcity of materials, which instigate long
distance transport from adjacent provinces.
The research aims to carry out studies on the engineering properties of the locally available
materials in the Northern Province and to adopt an appropriate technique to stabilize and use
for low cost coastal roads construction. The material; Uoori clay (CH, Clay of high
plasticity) and coastal sand are commonly available in the Northern coastal belts. It is
proposed to blend the local Uoori clay material with the coastal sand and explore the use of
the blended material for sub grade/embankment and sub base construction. Sieve Analysis,
Atterberg Limits, Modified Proctor Compaction, and California Bearing Ratio (CBR) have
been performed for the parent material (control sample) and the blended material with
various compositions of local Uoori clay and coastal sand.
The blended materials were analyzed with the specified requirement under “Standard
Specifications for Construction and Maintenance of Roads and Bridges (SSCM) (iCTAD,
2009)" in Sri Lanka. Accordingly it was found that the composite materials 50:50, 60:40,
70:30 and 80:20 shall be used as embankment materials in road construction works while
composite material 60:40 shall only be used for sub base construction.
