One-Dimensional Compression Behavior of a Soil with High Organic Matter Content
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 134, Issue 1
Abstract
This paper addresses the one-dimensional compression behavior of a highly organic sapric soil in both its natural intact and reconstituted states, based on the results of constant rate of strain and incremental loading oedometer tests. The soil investigated contains 40–60% organic matter, comprised mainly of highly processed humic substances, and represents a “transitional” material between inorganic clays and peats. The inorganic portion is entirely finer than , with over 60% in the clay fraction , which XRD analyses indicate contains smectite and vermiculite. Testing of the soil in its intact state relies on high quality block samples and shows that the natural intact soil displays intermediate behavior between that typical of inorganic soft clays and that observed in peats, in terms of compressibility, hydraulic conductivity, and change in hydraulic conductivity with void ratio. As in the case of peats, the coefficient of consolidation is observed to decrease with increasing stress level and the soil shows a high tendency to creep, with at the high end of values reported in the literature. Comparison of the compression results for the natural and the reconstituted soil serves to illustrate the degree of structuring of the natural soil, which is found to be consistent with that typical of natural sedimentary inorganic clays.
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Acknowledgments
The work was supported by the Joint Transportation Research Program administered by the Indiana Department of Transportation and Purdue University under Project No. C-36-50U, Grant No. SPR-2460. 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 do not 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 wish to acknowledge the help of Mr. Yeoun Ike Kang and Ms. Shelley Finnigan, who helped with part of the experimental work; Ms. Debby Sherman who performed the SEM observations; and Dr. G. S. Premachandra in the Agronomy Department, for assistance with the fractionation and FTIR spectroscopy.
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Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 134 • Issue 1 • January 2008
Pages: 1 - 13
Copyright
© 2008 ASCE.
History
Received: Sep 15, 2006
Accepted: Mar 15, 2007
Published online: Jan 1, 2008
Published in print: Jan 2008
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