EFFECTS OF THREE BINDING MEDIA ON MOISTURE MOVEMENT IN COMPRESSED EARTH BRICKS

EFFECTS OF THREE BINDING MEDIA ON MOISTURE MOVEMENT IN COMPRESSED EARTH BRICKS
 
Laterite which is derived from the Latin word “later”meaning brick, was first used by Buchanan in 1807 for describing a red iron-rich material found in southern parts of India. The soil colour can vary from red, brown, and violet to black, depending on the concentration of iron oxides(Agib et al, 2001).Laterites are highly weathered soils which contain large, though extremely variable, proportions of iron and aluminium oxides, as well as quartz and other minerals. They are found in abundance in the tropics and subtropics, where they generally occur just below the surface of grasslands or forest clearings in regions with high rainfall (Starry, 2007).Laterite is defined by Encarta English Dictionary as red tropical soil: a reddish mixture of clayey iron and aluminium oxides and hydroxides formed by weathering of basalt under humid, tropical conditions. Fermor (1981) classified various forms of laterite soils on the basis of the relative contents of the constituents (Fe, Al, Ti, Mn) in relation to Silica.