THE PHYSICO-CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF SOME FINE AGGREGATES IN LOKOJA, NIGERIA

• Samuel L Akingbonmire

  Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria

• L Samuel

  Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria

• O Oluwafemi Omotayo

  Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria

• J O Afolayan

  Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria

• A Banjo Olorunshola

  Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria

Fine aggregates, as one of the major components of concrete, play a major role in determining the quality of concrete to be produced, hence the need to know its physical and chemical properties. Disturbed soil samples were obtained from ten different construction sites in Lokoja, Nigeria. The samples were analysed for their physical properties such as moisture content, silt and clay content, organic content, density, specific gravity and particle size distribution, and their chemical properties. The results obtained showed that samples 3, 4, 5 and 9 had the highest specific gravity of 2.63 while samples 1, 2 and 7 had the least specific gravity of 2.83. However, the silt and clay contents were also significantly high for samples 1, 2, 5, 9 and 10 which have their values greater than 7% indicating that the samples need to be washed before use for adequate integrity of the concrete as stipulated by ASTM 0C33 of 1994. It was also observed from the analysis that almost all the samples were poorly graded, with samples 5, 9 and 10 having significantly better gradation than the others. On the basis of the values of porosity, void ratio and unit weight, majority of the samples could be classified as uniform fine sand or coarse sand. Meanwhile, the result of the chemical analysis showed that sample 4 has the highest composition of Ca²⁺ (356 mg/kg) while sample 3 has the highest composition of Cl^-1 (1.6 mg/kg). However, majority of the samples could be susceptible to alkali-aggregate reactions when used in concrete production hence the need for alkali-silica reaction suppressants such as fly-ash, silica fumes and lithium compounds.

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