Lime treatment of slightly clayey coarse soil for the control of internal erosion by suffusion

Bennabi, A. and Elandaloussi, R. and Dupla, J-C. and Canou, J. and Benamar, A. and Gotteland, P. (2016) Lime treatment of slightly clayey coarse soil for the control of internal erosion by suffusion. In: ICSE 2016 (8th International Conference on Scour and Erosion), 12-15 September 2016, Oxford, UK.

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Abstract

The cost of an earth dike is even lower than soils used for its construction came from deposits close to the site. In parts of France, stocks of coarse and slightly clayey soils are not used because they are prone to internal erosion by suffusion. In order to reduce or control internal erosion in this kind of soils containing relatively low amounts of fines, a lime treatment was considered. For this purpose, an experimental laboratory test, based on the use of a soil column, has been developed. It reproduces the flow of water through a reconstituted soil, having characteristics similar to that of natural soils, and compacted at 95% of the optimum Proctor. The soil was treated with two percentages of lime (1%, 3%) and erosion tests were performed at different curing times (1, 7, 28 and 90 days). The developed device has been instrumented in order to measure different parameters such as turbidity, flow and pore water pressure. The results are expressed in terms of eroded mass and soil permeability if erosion occurs or, alternatively, in terms of fracturing conditions. A comparison is performed between the results of different tests carried on non-treated and treated soils in different conditions. The lime treatment induces a significant change in the hydraulic behavior of the soil, significantly reducing the phenomenon of suffusion and fracturing the soil at high hydraulic gradients.

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