Beneficial Uses of Dredged Material from the Quonset Point/Davisville Intermodal Port

Over the past few years the University of Rhode Island (URI), Marine Geomechanics Laboratory and the Maguire Group Inc., (MGI) have gathered significant data and conducted tests relative to beneficial use of dredge materials from the Quonset Point/Davisville port in Rhode Island. The objective was to determine the most feasible beneficial use options for the various sediment types that will be encountered. A program is currently underway to carry the research forward to a prototype-testing program. The sources of data consist of earlier subsurface investigations conducted by MGI, and a joint URI/MGI research project, sponsored by the URI Transportation Center, conducted in 2000 and 2001. In the recent research project, cores were obtained using a Large-diameter Gravity Corer and a vibracorer. Sediments were characterized using a Multi-Sensor Core Logger for bulk density profiles and then classified in a laboratory testing program that included Atterberg Limits, grain-size analyses, and organic and chemical testing. Based on sediment types and classifications, bench scale tests were conducted to determine possible beneficial use alternatives. These alternatives included: direct use for landfill and construction applications, brownfield encapsulation with the low permeability sediments, cement enhancement, lime stabilization, and blending with coarser materials such as crushed demolition debris for use as common borrow. Bench-scale testing included compaction tests, strength tests with the additives, permeability experiments and chemical analyses.