ABSTRACT

 This case study is “comparing the strength of blocks made from: cement stabilized laterite blocks, cement stabilized red earth blocks and sand,  red earth and laterite blocks and mud blocks dried in the kiln.

This project implement the following analysis

(1)  To  effect  reduction to the  rise in market price of sand (fine aggregate), cement blocks to substitute literate blocks.

(2)  To determine the strength of the cement stabilized blocks of literate soil in the soil laboratory with a view to have an alternative in the building industry.

(3)  To analyse the existing laterite soil and evaluate it’s suitability for use as a good building material by means of various tests.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

This project was obligated to present in o n e volume of the fundamental and practical information in the field of comparing the strength of blocks made from: cement and laterite soil, cement and red earth and sand, red earth and lateritic soil and mud blocks fired in the kiln which may be useful to people involved in civil and structural engineering and particularly those that found pleasure in the design and construction of buildings, bridges and culverts and related structures.

          Due to high cost of sand in the market, the comparative analysis of stabilized laterite blocks, red earth blocks and sand blocks have revealed t hat one can definitely substitute the stabilized laterite blocks and mud blocks in place of sand blocks to reduce the cost of the entire building or used stabilized laterite blocks where there are no sand in such an area where the work is going to be sited.  A great have been done throughout this work, although it is limited in scope to assess their suitability as standard concrete aggregates.

THE PROJECT BUILDING MATERIALS

          To obtain the materials used for these project such as red earth, laterite, sharp sand, and cement, we had to move to the outskirts of Enugu State.  Cement was bought from the famous Keyatta market in Enugu.  The market is well known for the sales of building materials in the state.  Cement was added to the mixture during mixing, to give the mixture a good binding when in shape and also increases the strength of the blocks.  The brand of cement used was ROCK CEMENT.

          The red earth material known as mud was obtained at 9th mile corner in Ngwo, at the outskirts of Enugu.  It was dug from a depth, to make sure that it has not been mixed with foreign or any other material. The red earth is dark red in colour, which shows that the mud is of high quality.

          Sharp sand was obtained within the school premises and was subsequently gotten from a nearby stream, while that of laterite was obtained from a site at New Layout, in Enugu town.

          In conclusion, all the materials used was obtained within Enugu and was kept in good working condition.  We made sure that the materials were of best quality.