Effect of Different Types of Pollutant on the Behavior of Swelling Soils

Adel Hashem Hammam, Mohamed Ayssam Shams

In the proceedings of: GeoMontréal 2013: 66th Canadian Geotechnical Conference; 11th joint with IAH-CNC

Session: Engineering Geology I

ABSTRACT: Acomprehensivestudywas carried outto investigatethe behavior of swelling soilsdue topetroleumand other sourcesofpollution.Two types ofpetroleumpollutionwerechosento studythe effect ofswelling behaviors of clayey soilsthroughout different types of laboratory tests.Red keroseneandusedengineoil(Mobil one)are considered the mostcommonpetroleumcontaminants in Egypt, so these materialsbesides Red Sea waterwere used for inundating soilsamples during performance of the different tests.Soil samples were collected fromtheextensionzone atHurghadaarea which is locatedon RedSea shoreat27• 30' 29"N, 33• 34' 38" E, withelevation25 m.The samples wereremolded and compactedusing tap waterin accordance withASTM D 4829. One-dimensional consolidationtests wereperformedto determine the effects ofcontaminants on the Expansion Index and Swelling pressure of the samples andcomparisonshave been achieved between the results.Allnaturalsampleswere subjectedto standardclassification tests including gradation, Atterberg limits (i.e. LLand PL)and 24-hour free swell (in accordance withEgyptian Code of Practice for soil and foundations). All these tests wererepeated on the samples after exposing tocontaminants in the Oedometer.The results of the study showed that pollution of swelling clay with petroleumproductsremarkablyreduce swellingpotential of expansive clay. Theswelling characteristicsofsamplesexposed to Red Sea wateralteredfromthat ofdrinking water.R†SUMEUne ‡tude approfondiea ‡t‡ r‡alis‡e pour‡tudier le comportement dessols gonflantsen raison depollutionsde p‡troleet autres.Deux types depollutionsp‡troli…resont ‡t‡ choisis pour‡tudier l'effet descomportementsde gonflement dessols argileux— traversdiff‡rents types de testsde laboratoire.K‡ros…nerougeet d'huile demoteur usag‡e(Mobil-ci)sont consid‡r‡es comme descontaminantsles plusde p‡troleen Egypte,de sorte que cesmat‡riaux Outre-Rougevoyez de l'eauont ‡t‡ utilis‡spourinonderles ‡chantillons de solau cours del'ex‡cution desdiff‡rentstests.Des‡chantillons de solont ‡t‡ pr‡lev‡s dansla zoned'extensionaudomaineHurghadaqui est situ‡sur la rivede la merRouge, — 27 •30 '29 "N,33• 34' 38"E,avec une ‡l‡vationde 25m.Les ‡chantillons ont ‡t‡remoul‡set compact‡senutilisantl'eau du robinetselon la norme ASTMD4829.Essais de consolidationunidimensionnelleont ‡t‡effectu‡s afinde d‡terminerleseffets des contaminants surl'indiced'expansionet la pressionde gonflementdes ‡chantillonset descomparaisonsont ‡t‡r‡alis‡es entrelesr‡sultats.Tous les ‡chantillonsnaturelsont ‡t‡soumis — des testsde classificationstandard, y comprisgradation,limitesd'Atterberg(c.-—-LLetPL)etgonflement librede 24 heures (selon le Code‡gyptiende pratiquepour le solet lesfondations).Tous cestests ont ‡t‡ r‡p‡t‡ssur les ‡chantillonsapr…s expositionaux contaminants pr‡sents dansl'odom…tre.Les r‡sultats del'‡tude ont montr‡que la pollutiondel'argile gonflanteavecproduits p‡troliersr‡duireremarquablementpotentiel de gonflementd'argile gonflante.Les caract‡ristiquesde gonflement des‡chantillonsexpos‡s — l'eaude la merRougemodifi‡s par rapport —celle des‡chantillons naturels1INTRODUCTIONSwelling soil forms a major hazard in many parts of theworld. Human activitiesstillcontinue indesertregionsthatareunderlain byswelling soils, so that the hazards posed,and theeconomic impacts are increasing in both relativeand absolute terms. In Egypt, recentextensions of urbancommunities towards the desert have exposed Egyptianengineersto new geotechnical challenges, among whichare theswelling soils. Swelling soils are meta-stablematerial,traditionally defined as an unsaturated soil thatexperiences a significantincrease of volume uponwetting.A wide range of soils fall into this category ofmaterials includingshale, clay-stone,mud-stone andmarl. The famous local name in Egyptgivento this typeof problematic soil is Tafla (Loam).Swelling soils in Egyptconsist mainly of clay mineralssuch as Montmorillonite,Kaolinite and Illite.Montmorillonite is consideredresponsible for swelling behavior ofsoil.Since 1980, Egyptincreasinglymoved toward thedesertfor landreclamationand establishingnew communitiesand industrial areas.Different projectsencounteredserious problemsdue to lack ofsoil investigations. Ingeneral, top soilofthedesertin Egypt consists of sandysoils underlainsometimesbyswelling clay (Fig 1).Thelack of soil investigation has ledsite engineersexpectgoodsoilbearing capacityespecially for light structures

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Cite this article:
Adel Hashem Hammam; Mohamed Ayssam Shams (2013) Effect of Different Types of Pollutant on the Behavior of Swelling Soils in GEO2013. Ottawa, Ontario: Canadian Geotechnical Society.

@article{GeoMon2013Paper229,author = Adel Hashem Hammam; Mohamed Ayssam Shams,title = Effect of Different Types of Pollutant on the Behavior of Swelling Soils,year = 2013}