Dredged Dam Raw Sediments Geotechnical Characterization for Beneficial Use in Road Construction

Abstract

The present research work aims to evaluate the feasibility of reusing raw dredged sediments from the Dam of Fergoug (northwestern Algeria) as an alternative material for road construction. These sediments were added to volcanic tuff from the quarry located near the village of Sidi Ali Cherif, in the town of Sig (northwestern Algeria), with contents of 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25% by total weight of tuff. To achieve this goal, sediments were extracted from Fergoug dam and an experimental program was carried out to study the possibility of valorizing these sediments to be used in road construction. The soils were subjected to a series of physical and chemical tests. Their physical properties, including the Atterberg limits, specific gravity, grain size distribution, and organic content were determined according to standard methods. Then, their chemical properties, including pH, elementary chemical composition using the X-ray fluorescence spectrometry and mineralogical composition identified by X-ray diffraction, were obtained by means of standard methods. The first experimental results from the tested formulations demonstrated the feasibility of reusing the valorized dredged sediments in road construction. Afterwards, the modified Proctor and ICBR tests were carried out, and the results obtained turned out to be quite satisfactory.