Geotechnical Properties of Cement-Based Dredged Marine Sediments As a New Pavement Material

In France, a large number of sediments which contain various pollutants are dredged each year to maintain navigation in waterways and access to ports. Traditional solutions such as ocean dumping and inland deposit are unsatisfactory, due to the harmful influence on environment. Cement-based treatment used in the pavement as a solution is widely accepted due to its ability to increase the mechanical performance of sediments and to reduce the adverse impact on environment. Therefore, the influence of cement on the geotechnical properties of treated sediments such as Atterberg limits, compaction and strength properties is important to investigate. An identification of physical characteristics of dredged sediments is firstly undertaken. Secondly, cement is mixed with sediments to explore the effect of cement on Atterberg limits. According to the results, it can be found that the liquid limit and plasticity index decreases with cement content, while the plastic limit increases. Finally, different percents of cement are chose to improve the compaction and strength characteristics of sediments, and the potential of treated sediments as a pavement material is evaluated.