2.1 Introduction
Modern peat soil research focus on peat soil improvement using chemical stabilization since 19th century. The stabilizer that can be used for the peat soil chemical stabilization have increased in varieties. Ordinary Portland cement and lime are two of the most common peat soil stabilizer found. However, due to the scarcity of the natural resources, substitution for the peat soil stabilization study was done in recent. In this context, few of the researches that related to the peat soil basic characteristics and peat chemical stabilization will be reviewed.
2.2 Peat soil background and behaviour
Peat soil is a mix of incomplete decomposition of organic materials under waterlogged catchment land.
In Sarawak, …show more content…
The higher the rate of accumulation, the higher the organic content. The organic component of the peat is made up from undecomposed plant remains, such as roots, stems and leaves from the mangrove and marshes lands. The rate of decomposition affected by the decay resistance of the vegetation and the atmospheric condition of the peat land, including the climate, water supply and temperature. Organic content is categorised as an essential standard in peat in distinguish itself from other soil type. The high organic content gives the spongy, combustible and high compressibility properties of the peat. Thereby, the dark colour of the peat and distinctive odour are developed from organic component of the peat. 2.2.3.3 Fiber content
The plant fibers’ visibility will fade follow the flow of the time. It is the source of the raw lignite coal over centuries with suitable condition. The fresher the peat, the fiber cotent wil be higher. More fiber contributes for the higher shear strength, water content and void ratio of the peat. The variability of the peat will occur from the different fiber deposits that available on the swamp and marsh lands (Kazemian et al., 2011). 2.2.3.4 Atterberg …show more content…
The shear strength determination is a hard work due to the difficulty in sampling the soil and the high disturbance of the shear strength values due to the sensitivity of peat soil upon any minor loading, depends on the water content, organic content, fiber content and rate of humification. Fiber can be used as reinforcement in support the loading on soil and provide effective stress to the soil bearing capacity. Hence, the fiber content is the most component in controlling the shear strength of the peat. However, the shear strength is still in very low value. It is due to the high void ratio in fibrous component. Water and air are filling the peat fibers’ void (Kazemian et al.,