Abstract:
Laterites or lateritic soils are widespread in many countries internationally, including South
Africa. These are often the only materials available within a reasonable haulage distance
for road construction, but when tested in typical road material laboratories, they fall outside
the limits of standard specifications for certain road layers and are rejected for use.
However, experience has proved that many of these lateritic materials can be successfully
used in low-volume (and even relatively high-volume) roads. Investigations have shown
that the material properties determined using conventional test methods produce
inaccurate results, often leading to the rejection of the materials. This paper reviews and
discusses some of the unique properties of laterites and their influence on laboratory
testing using conventional test methods. The use of the Dynamic Cone Penetrometer to
assess the shear strength of laterites is proposed to eliminate many of these problems.
