Evaluation of climate change on the collapse potential of unsaturated cement-treated laterite soil for disaster risk reduction

¹ Faculty of Civil Engineering, University of Technology Malaysia, Johor, Malaysia
² Civil Engineering Studies, College of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Johor Branch, Malaysia

^* Corresponding author: norshakila@graduate.utm.my

Abstract

Extreme weather events and intense rainfall may alter the climate, which would probably affect the geotechnical constructions such as unsaturated embankments. Basically, soil moisture content determines the strength of the unsaturated soil, with wetter soils often being weaker. Although it has been proved that unsaturated condition substantially impacts the shear strength and volumetric behaviour of soil, its implications are rarely investigated or taken into account in the design. As a result, changes in temperature and rainfall loads will have an influence on geotechnical constructions and develop long-term seasonal deformations that might severely jeopardize safety and maintenance. Therefore, it is crucial to assess the effects of the climate on soil behaviour for each location through adequate geotechnical laboratory tests. Johor, Malaysia has a large area and abundant tropical soils. Hence, this study aimed to elucidate the influence of climate change on soil behaviour in the tropical regions of Johor. To impose Malaysia's climate, a series of modified suction-controlled oedometer tests are conducted under different matric suctions. The outcomes revealed that the low and high matric suction has significantly impacted the untreated and cementtreated soil. However, the great reduction of soil settlement is mostly from the coupling effect of saturation and stabiliser.