Laboratory Studies of Bamboo Dendrocalamus Asper on Peat Soil Settlement by Continuous Loading

Abstract

Organic soil such as peat soil has a high organic content, compared with cohesive and cohesionless soil. The percentage of fiber content in peat soil shows the level degree of humification which is fibrous, hemic, and sapric. Organic and fibre content are two component properties that affect peat settlement due to its leading to extreme settlement issues for the foundation in long-terms. The purpose of this research is to identify the physical and mechanical properties of peat soil, as well as identify the displacement of bamboo Denrocalamus asper on peat settlement by applying continuous loading in physical modelling. Sample of peat from Kampung Parit Puteri Menangis, Benut, Johor. Sample preparations were divided into three parts which are physical properties (part 1), undisturbed samples were collected for moisture content, specific gravity, organic content, and fibre content. While mechanical properties (part 2), disturbed samples were collected for consolidation. As well as physical modelling (part 3) disturbed samples were collected for the displacement of settlement bamboo Dendrocalamus asper on peat soil. The outcomes of this research identified that the moisture content is 672%, specific gravity is 1.23, organic content is 88.34 – 96.19%, and fiber content is 38.1%. As well as the peat soil is categorized as H4 to H6 (Hemic). The outcomes for compressibility properties (C_c, C_v, and C_α) were determined as 0.13 to 1.54, 0.62 to 4.925, and 0.02 to 0.048 respectively. While for the outcome’s settlement bamboo Dendrocalamus asper on peat soil, the displacement decreased by 48 to 50% after applying a maximum load of 4 kg/cm² in 2 hours. It can be concluded that the original peat soil needs to be treated to improve the settlement. The load applied on the peat soil affected the displacement of the foundation before collapse. The replacement with bamboo reinforcement on the peat reduces the displacement of settlement. The maximum settlement was decreased in a short period of 1 hour and 2 hours.