Discipline: Ecology Environmental and Earth Sciences
Subcategory: Geosciences and Earth Sciences
Johannah Lewis - Howard University
Kibaha is an area 45 minutes away from Dar Es Salaam with highly expansive soils which are known to cause damage to the structures built on it. After conducting a preliminary literature review, it was found that while research has been conducted to determine the characteristics of soil here, little is documented about the variation in moisture content at different locations. This variation means that the soil will be affected by moisture at different depths and thus the swell pressure will affect buildings differently. This is crucial in a developing country such as Tanzania where new buildings are constantly being constructed. For the purposes of this project , existing data was used to determine an average depth at which water does not affect the soil and therefore the depth at which the swell pressure will not need to be taken into consideration. In future, this depth can be used in the placement of foundations and clatter on, incorporated into building codes.
Funder Acknowledgement(s): Howard University and the NSF
Faculty Advisor: Howard University Gear Up office, hugearup@gmail.com
Role: Literature review and site evaluation.