Author(s)

Elisabeth Olivia Logmo, Gilbert François Ngon Ngon, Williams Samba, Michel Bertrand Mbog, Jacques Etame

Laboratory of Environmental Geology, Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Dschang Dschang, Cameroon.
Laboratory of Subsurface, Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Douala, Douala, Cameroon.

Geotechnical tests conducted on clayey materials of Missole II, Douala sub-basin of Cameroon showed that these materials present: fines particles (55 to 78 wt.%), sand (22 to 44 wt.%), and plasticity index of 13.8 to 21.6%. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) and the chemical analysis revealed a kaolinite amount of 46 to 56 wt.%, 19 to 27 wt.% of illite, 12 to 19 wt.% of quartz, 3 to 5 wt.% of goethite, 2 to 5 wt.% of hematite, 1.5 to 5 wt.% of anatase, 2 to 3 wt.% of feldspar-K with 52.87 to 63.11 wt.% of SiO₂, 18.08 to 24.31 wt.% of Al₂O₃, 3.28 to 11.45 wt.% of Fe₂O₃ and a small content of bases (<2 wt.%). The results of geotechnical tests combined to those of the XRD and the chemical analysis showed that the Missole II clayey materials are suitable for the manufacture of bricks, tiles and sandstones.

Cameroon; Construction Materials; Geotechnical Tests; Mineralogical and Chemical Analyses; Missole II

E. Logmo, G. Ngon, W. Samba, M. Mbog and J. Etame, "Geotechnical, Mineralogical and Chemical Characterization of the Missole II Clayey Materials of Douala Sub-Basin (Cameroon) for Construction Materials," Open Journal of Civil Engineering, Vol. 3 No. 2A, 2013, pp. 46-53. doi: 10.4236/ojce.2013.32A006.