STABILIZED LATERITIC BLOCKS REINFORCED WITH FIBROUS COIR WASTES

Tropical countries are rich in lateritic soil, a naturally available raw material for building construction. But its potential in block making is not yet satisfactorily explored. This paper focuses on an experimental investigation for improvising stabilized lateritic blocks (SLB) with coir cutting wastes from coir i ndustry as reinforcing elements. Lateritic soil used in this study showed a higher percentage of clay content. Hence it was pre-stabilized with sand and cement. Blocks were prepared by stabilizing it further with waste fibrous additives and tested for strength and durability. Considerable improvement in strength (compressive strength @19% and tensile strength @ 9%) and durability characteristics were exhibited by the new fiber reinforced lateritic blocks (FRLB) with fiber content of 0.5%. These blocks can be successfully proposed for load bearing construction and as well as for earthquake resistant structures.