Effect of Sand Faction Percentage in Soil Mixture towards Soil Support Power for Dam Construction

Knowledge of soil, which is an essential construction material, has great importance for dam construction. The level of density and carrying capacity of the soil is very important and should be taken into consideration in the planning and designing stages of civil construction, considering the soil functions as a means to withstand the load or structure built on it. Stabilization using sand soil material is one of the ways to meet the strength requirements of soil carrying capacity when there is no suitable soil material found in the nearby area. This paper aims to elucidate the physical properties of clay using a mixture of fine sand to reduce the risk of shrinkage when used for dam construction. Several analyses were carried out to find out the effect of the fine sand percentage in the clay mixture to decrease the swelling test value and permeability test of the soil carrying capacity for dam construction. The types of soil tested were silt clays taken from Tritisan subdistrict of East Lampung which were then stabilized using fine sand material from Central Lampung, Indonesia. This research was conducted using a mixture of sand, with percentages of 10%, 20%, 30%, and 40%. Subgrade tests such as CBR and permeability tests were also undertaken to investigate other soil properties from each sample. The results indicate that a higher percentage of sand causes decreasing water content. Thus, the value of the carrying capacity of the soil is increasing. The findings can be used to facilitate the increasing use of clay mixtures with the percentage of fine sand in case suitable clay material cannot be found around dam construction sites. The implications with suggestions for future research are also discussed.

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