Construction of an Embankment with a Fly and Bottom Ash Mixture: Field Performance Study
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 21, Issue 6
Abstract
Fly ash and bottom ash are coal combustion by-products (CCBPs) that are generated in large quantities throughout the world. It is often economical to dispose ash as mixtures rather than separately; that notwithstanding, only a few studies have been performed to investigate the behavior of fly and bottom ash mixtures, particularly those with high contents of fly ash. Also, there is very limited data available in the literature on the field performance of structures constructed using ash mixtures. This paper describes the construction and the instrumentation of a demonstration embankment built with an ash mixture (60:40 by weight of fly ash:bottom ash) on State Road 641, Terre Haute, Ind. Monitoring of the demonstration embankment was conducted for a period of from the start of construction of the embankment. The settlement of the embankment stabilized approximately after the end of its construction. According to horizontal inclinometer readings, the differential settlement at the top of the embankment is about . Results from field quality control tests performed during construction of the demonstration embankment and monitoring data from vertical and horizontal inclinometers and settlement plates indicate that the ash mixture investigated can be considered an acceptable embankment construction material.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the Joint Transportation Research Program administered by the Indiana Department of Transportation and Purdue University, Cinergy Co., Vectren Co., and the Indiana Department of Commerce. The contents of this paper reflect the views of the writers, who are responsible for the facts and the accuracy of the data presented herein. The contents neither necessarily reflect the official views or policies of the Federal Highway Administration and the Indiana Department of Transportation, nor do the contents constitute a standard, specification, or regulation. The writers are thankful to Howard Lewis for his support during this project. The writers appreciate the help of John Carpenter and Nelson Brown of INDOT with the field monitoring work.
References
Alleman, E. J., Fox, P. J., and Battista, D. D. (1996). “Performance evaluation of highway embankment constructed using coal ash.” Joint Highway Research Project, Final Rep. No. FHWA/IN/JHRP-96/5, School of Civil Engineering, Purdue Univ., W. Lafayette, Ind.
American Coal Ash Association (ACAA). (2005). “CCP survey.” ⟨http://www.acaa-usa.org/⟩ (Dec. 11, 2008).
American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM). (2000a). “Standard test methods for specific gravity of soil solids by water pycnometer.” Designation D854-00, Philadelphia.
American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM). (2000b). “Standard test method for determination of water (moisture) content of soil by the microwave oven heating.” Designation D4643-00, Philadelphia.
American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM). (2000c). “Standard test methods for laboratory compaction characteristics of soil using standard effort .” Designation D698-00a, Philadelphia.
American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM). (2002). “Standard test methods for particle size analysis of soils.” Designation D422-63, Philadelphia.
American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM). (2003). “Standard test method for use of the dynamic cone penetrometer in shallow pavement applications.” Designation D6951-03, Philadelphia.
American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM). (2004). “Standard test methods for density of soil and soil-aggregate in place by nuclear methods (shallow depth).” Designation D2922-04, Philadelphia.
Anderson, D. A., Usme, M., and Moulton, L. K. (1976). “Use of power plant aggregate in bituminous construction.” Transportation Research Record. 595, Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 18–24.
Diamond, S. (1985). “Selection and use of fly ash for highway concrete.” Joint Highway Research Project, Final Rep. No. FHWA/IN/JHRP-85/8, Purdue Univ., W. Lafayette, Ind.
Diamond, S., and Olek, J. (1988). “Fly ash concrete for highway use.” Joint Highway Research Project, Final Rep. No. FHWA/IN/JHRP-88/8, Purdue Univ., W. Lafayette, Ind.
GAI Consultants, Inc./USIFCAU. (1993). “Use of coal combustion by-products in highway construction.” Prepared for General Assembly of Indiana and the Indiana Department of Transportation in response to House Enrolled Act 1056 and Senate Bill 209.
Huang, H. W. (1990). “The use of bottom ash in highway embankments, subgrade and subbases.” Joint Highway Research Project, Final Rep. No. FHWA/IN/JHRP-90/4, Purdue Univ., W. Lafayette, Ind.
Karim, A. M. K. (1997). “Building highway embankments of fly/bottom ash mixtures.” Joint Highway Research Project, Final Rep. No. FHWA/IN/JTRP-97/1, Purdue Univ., W. Lafayette, Ind.
Ke, T. C. (1990). “The physical durability and electrical resistivity of Indiana bottom ash.” Joint Highway Research Project, Final Rep. No. FHWA/IN/JTRP-90/6, Purdue Univ., W. Lafayette, Ind.
Kim, B. (2003). “Properties of coal ash mixtures and their use in highway embankments.” Ph.D. dissertation, School of Civil Engineering, Purdue Univ., W. Lafayette, Ind.
Kim, B., Prezzi, M., and Salgado, R. (2005). “Geotechnical properties of fly and bottom ash mixtures for use in highway embankments.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 131(7), 914–924.
Majidzadeh, K., El-Mitiny, R. N., and Bokowski, G. (1977). “Power plant bottom ash in black base and bituminous surfacing.” Vol. 2, User’s manual, publication No. FHWA-RD-78-148, FHWA, U.S. Department of Transportation, Washington, D.C.
McLaren, R. J., and DiGioia, A. M. (1987). “The typical engineering properties of fly ash.” Proc., Geotechnical Practice for Waste Disposal ’87, Geotechnical Special Publication No. 13, E. Wood, ed., ASCE, New York, 683–697.
Moulton, L. K. (1973). “Bottom ash and boiler slag.” Proc., 3rd Int. Ash Utilization Symp., Bureau of Mines, Pittsburgh, Pa., Information Circular 8640, 148–169.
Moulton, L. K., Seals, R. K., and Anderson, D. A. (1973). “Utilization of ash from coal-burning power plants in highway construction.” Highw. Res. Rec., 430, 26–39.
Patelunas, G. M. (1986). “High volume fly ash utilization projects in the United States and Canada.” Rep. No. CS-4446, Electric Power Research Institute, Palo Alto, Calif.
Rehage, J. A., and Schrab, G. E. (1995). “Environmental performance assessment of coal combustion byproduct use sites: Road construction applications.” TR-105127, Research Project No. 2796-01, Final Rep., Electric Power Research Institute, Palo Alto, Calif.
Seals, R. K., Moulton, L. K., and Ruth, B. E. (1972). “Bottom ash: an engineering material.” J. Soil Mech. and Found. Div., 98(4), 311–325.
Srivastava, L., and Collins, R. J. (1989). “Ash utilization in highways: Delaware demonstration project.” GS-6481, Research Project No. 2422-3, Interim Rep., Electric Power Research Institute, Palo Alto, Calif.
Usmen, M. A., Head, W. J., and Moulton, L. K. (1983). “Use of coal-associated wastes in low-volume roads.” Transportation Research Record. 898, Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 268–277.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 21 • Issue 6 • June 2009
Pages: 271 - 278
Copyright
© 2009 ASCE.
History
Received: Dec 27, 2007
Accepted: Nov 25, 2008
Published online: May 15, 2009
Published in print: Jun 2009
Notes
Note. Associate Editor: Anand J. Puppala
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.