A Review of a Stabilization Method for the Nigerian Deltaic Peaty Clay (Chikoko)

The Nigerian deltaic clay (locally known as chikoko) is extremely soft marine clay (peat) requiring expensive deep foundations. It is highly organic. Like every other peat, it deforms and fails under light surcharge loads. An effective method for its improvement is mass stabilization, which is a new method that can increase strength, improve deformation properties and save costs. This paper reviews the mass stabilization technique as well as various binders that are currently used to strengthen peat.