Erosion Mechanisms of Organic Soil and Bioabatement of Piping Erosion of Sand
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 139, Issue 8
Abstract
This paper presents the findings of a preliminary research program that aimed to investigate the mechanisms governing the progression of piping erosion in organic soils and attempted to use the findings to reduce the severity of piping erosion of sand. The hypothesis was that the presence of organics within mineral soils results in a reduction in piping erosion progression. Erosion behaviors of the soils were quantified using a simple erosion test with a preformed hole to simulate an initial piping channel. The research was split into five test phases. In Phase 1, the influence of grain-size distribution was eliminated to develop a preliminary understanding of the role that organic matter plays in the erosion process. The results indicated that organic matter likely contributed to a reduction in piping erosion. The second phase excluded both grain-size distribution and individual particle shape as variables in the erosion process. The results further confirmed the connection between organic matter content and erosion resistance. The third phase revealed the positive correlation between the reduced piping erosion and increased organic matter content. The fourth phase investigated the quantitative relationship between certain biologically derived substances (polysaccharides and glomalin) and piping erosion reduction. The positive correlations that were preliminarily derived from this phase indicated that these substances likely play a major role in reducing piping erosion. The final phase comprised of introducing organic matter into mineral soil and quantifying the subsequent changes in geomechanic properties. The results suggested that the introduction of organic materials into mineral soil decreases strength, increases consolidation settlement, and reduces permeability.
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Acknowledgments
The authors appreciate Dennis Margosan, plant pathologist at the USDA-Agricultural Research Service (Parliar, CA), for taking the scanning electron microphotographs of the soils. The authors also sincerely thank the anonymous reviewers for providing insightful comments that greatly improved this paper.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 139 • Issue 8 • August 2013
Pages: 1360 - 1368
Copyright
© 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Feb 9, 2012
Accepted: Nov 14, 2012
Published online: Nov 15, 2012
Published in print: Aug 1, 2013
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