Since MD is classified as a non-plastic material, MD replacement
can increase the coarse-grained material contents and
subsequently reduce plasticity of the marginal lateritic soil. Table 1
presents the physical and mechanical properties of lateritic soil/MD
blends at various MD replacement ratios. The water absorption of
coarse-grained MD (=6.99%) is slightly higher than that of lateritic
soil (=5.95%) while the water absorption of fine grained MD
(=9.72%) is 2.3 times higher than that of lateritic soil (=4.19%). As
such, the water absorption values of both coarse and fine grains for
the lateritic soil/MD blends increase with increasing MD replacement
ratio. However, the specific gravities of the blends decrease
with increasing MD replacement ratio due to lower bulk and
apparent specific gravities of MD.