Mechanical Behavior of Cement Stabilized Dredged Soil
Dredged soil is a solid waste generated from the dredging of a river and possesses low bearing capacity and high compressibility. Concern over environmental effects of dredging, disposal and the increasing unavailability of suitable disposal sites, has put pressure for characterization of this material. This material can be a valuable resource for many practical purposes such as fill material, sub-grade construction, reclamation, landscaping, agriculture, landfill covers, constructing wetlands for water quality improvement, creation of islands, wildlife habitat wetlands, and amongst others. In this study, various in-situ and disturbed soil samples were collected from three different sites of flood channel of river Jhelum in Srinagar. Various soil tests like gradation, specific gravity, consistency indexes, light compaction, unconfined compressive strength, and direct shear tests were conducted. The results of three samples were compared and the weakest soil sample was selected for cement treatment. The cement was added to the dredged soil in varying percentages of 4%, 8%, 12% and 16%. The treated soil samples were subjected to consistency limit tests, direct shear tests and unconfined compressive strength at immediate, 7 days and 28 days of curing period. The test results revealed that the plasticity index increased with cement content. The OMC and MDD of cement treated soil lies in a very narrow range. The shear strength parameters showed gain in strength up to 12% of cement content. The unconfined compressive strength increased significantly with increase in cement content as well as curing period, however the optimum value was observed around 12% after which the strength decreased.
