Soluble Salts Reduction and Metal Leaching Behavior of Dredged Sediment for Reuse in Highway Slope Applications
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 147, Issue 5
Abstract
Ports and waterways are routinely dredged to maintain navigation channels, resulting in large quantities of dredged materials (DM) that require disposal. This study examines the reuse of a recent DM as a topsoil alternative in highway slopes. The DM met local highway administration topsoil requirements for pH, organic matter, and particle size distribution, and required application of 1,219 mm of rainwater to leach soluble salts to below limits. Column leach tests were performed on DM and topsoil to evaluate heavy metal (arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, mercury, silver, selenium, zinc) leaching behavior; extractions were performed to determine total and potentially mobile metals content. DM leached metals concentrations below drinking water maximum contaminant levels for of the samples tested. Extraction data showed higher total concentrations of arsenic, chromium, and lead as compared to topsoil, but similar concentrations in the ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA)–extracted fractions, indicating that metals are strongly bound.
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Data Availability Statement
All data, models, and code generated or used during the study appear in the published article.
Acknowledgments
The funding for this project was provided by the Maryland Port Administration (MPA). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of MPA.
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Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 147 • Issue 5 • May 2021
Copyright
© 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Mar 7, 2020
Accepted: Dec 10, 2020
Published online: Feb 18, 2021
Published in print: May 1, 2021
Discussion open until: Jul 18, 2021
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