Hydraulic conductivity of a compacted till with low clay-size particle content

Manuel Malenfant-Corriveau

In the proceedings of: GeoVancouver 2016: 69th Canadian Geotechnical Conference

Session: INFRASTRUCTURE - VII Embankment Dams

ABSTRACT: This paper studies the relationship between the hydraulic conductivity and compaction conditions for a nonplastic till from northern Quebec. This till is planned to be used as a hydraulic barrier in an embankment dam but differs from those used in other projects because of its particularly low clay-size particle content (0.7%). A constant-head permeameter has been used to measure the vertical hydraulic conductivity of several samples compacted under varying compaction conditions (water content and dry density). Unlike what was observed for tills of previous studies having higher clay-size particle contents, the hydraulic conductivity of the till of this study is little influenced by the compaction degree of saturation. This may be explained by the low clay-size particle content that prevent particle aggregation when the till is compacted on the dry side of optimum. The paper shows that the empirical relationship, widely used to estimate the hydraulic conductivity of compacted tills having homogeneous fabric, based on the clay-size particle content, is not suitable for this till. The paper proposes the use of an empirical relationship based on effective particle size to better estimate the hydraulic conductivity of various compacted tills with low to high clay-size particle contents.

RÉSUMÉ: Cet article étudie la relation entre la conductivité hydraulique et les conditions de compactage pour un till non-plastique du nord du Québec. barrière hydraulique dans un barrage en enrochement. Ce till a un faible pourcentage de particules argileuses (0,7%). Un perméamètre à charge constante a été utilisé pour mesurer la conductivité hydraulique verticale de plusieurs échantillons compactés sous différentes conditions (teneur en eau et masse volumique sèche). Contrairement aux tills étudiés auparavant ayant un pourcentage de particules argileuses plus élevé, la conductivité hydraulique du till de cette étude est peu influencée par le degré de saturation de compactage. Ceci peut être expliqué par le très faible pourcentage de particules argileuses qui prévient la relation empirique basée sur le pourcentage de particules argileuses souvent utilisé pour estimer la conductivité r un diamètre effectif de particule permettant de mieux estimer la conductivité hydraulique des tills compactés avec des pourcentages de particules argileuses de faibles à élevés.

Please include this code when submitting a data update: GEO2016_3788

Access this article:
Canadian Geotechnical Society members can access to this article, along with all other Canadian Geotechnical Conference proceedings, in the Member Area. Conference proceedings are also available in many libraries.

Cite this article: