Ageing Effects on the Mechanical Properties of Forty Year Old Embankment Soil

The ageing effects on the mechanical properties of soils have been, and continue to be, the subject of numerous experimental investigations. However, most of the observations in the literature were focused on the ageing effect on natural soils, whereas the reported studies on embankment soils are few. So, the objectives of this research were to study the ageing effects and strength characteristics of embankment soil. Consolidation tests, consolidated undrained (CU) triaxial compression tests with small strain cyclic loading and bender element tests were performed on a 40 years old embankment soil. Both undisturbed and remolded specimens were used for comparison. Some remolded specimens were allowed to age in a mold under a constant overburden stress of 50 kPa in a specially designed consolidometer equipped with a pair of vertical bender elements. The test results revealed that the strength and stiffness of embankment soils increase with ageing.