Failure of Building Caused By Unstable Soil, a Case Study of Atanu Village, Nigeria
- Author Obam, Sylvester Ogah
- Co-Author Nwaogu, Mathias Alaoma
- DOI
- Country : Nigeria
- Subject : Agriculture
Keywords : Building, Failure, Foundation, Soil Properties
Abstract
Failure or collapse of buildings has been a major concern in Nigeria because of its incessant occurrence, causing damage to life and property. This study is to investigate the probable causes of building failure at Atanu village. Laboratory experimental procedures were used for the soil tests. The results of sieve analysis show that the percentage of soil materials passing 18mm sieve is 2.4%.This shows that a very insignificant quantity of course materials characterized the soil from the area. The results also show that the soil is poorly graded (Cu ˂ Cc ˂ 3 and Cu ≥ 6). The Atterberg limits for all the samples show that at 25 blows, Pit 9 has Liquid Limit (LL), Plastic Limit (PL) and Plastic Index (PI) of 52, 33and 19 respectively, while Pit 15 has LL, PL and PI of 37, 23 and 14 respectively. These values correspond to A-7-6 and A-6. These are within the of range clayey soil, under AASHTO classification. Results show that the shear strength parameters depict a cohesive soil. It is also discovered that within a depth of 1m, the soil has significant quantity of clay. This clay material which has much affinity for water, cohesive in nature, has low permeability with ability to exhibit shear under loads. This could be the cause of conspicuous cracks (failures) of structures within the area.
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