Compacted Loessial-Soil Canal Linings
Publication: Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers
Volume 128, Issue 3
Abstract
The performance of compacted-soil canal linings has been of concern in severe climates where factors such as freezing and thawing action could conceivably reduce soil density and lessen the effectiveness of the lining as a water barrier. As a part of its lower-cost canal lining program, the Bureau of Reclamation, United States Department of the Interior (USBR), has a long-range research plan to determine changes in soil properties of canal linings and the corresponding seepage characteristics.
The results are presented of significant field and laboratory tests obtained to date (1962) on loessial-type soil of compacted linings located in south-central Nebraska. Tests on many soil types in soil linings have shown that the loessial-type soils generally are the most apt to be affected by freezing and thawing. The tests include field density, field seepage by the ponding method, laboratory compaction, Atterberg limits, gradation, permeability, and freeze-thaw.
The results indicate that there is some density decrease in soil linings of this type of soil, the decrease varying inversely with the depth of lining. This is confirmed by a laboratory freeze-thaw test program on project soil specimens subjected to loads from zero to 2.0 psi.
Permeability tests on the freeze-thaw specimens indicate that the rate of permeability increases more rapidly as the density becomes less than 90% of the Proctor maximum density, particularly for the less plastic soils. The field seepage tests showed that, although there has been some density decrease in the compacted-soil lining, the lining was still effective in reducing seepage to allowable limits.
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Published In
Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers
Volume 128 • Issue 3 • January 1963
Pages: 349 - 370
Copyright
© 1963 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Published in print: Jan 1963
Published online: Feb 10, 2021
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