Rapid determination of saline soil in the Xinjiang region in China

Abstract

At present, the conventional method of detecting the soluble salt ion content of soil takes approximately 2 days in China. Moreover, the method has complicated steps and can only be carried out indoors. The aforementioned drawbacks will delay on-site construction management and affect the construction progress in severe cases. In this study, portable equipment is proposed to detect the content of soluble salt ions of the soil. The proposed method is compared with conventional methods and analysed to develop a construction method for rapid on-site detection of soluble salts. The subgrade soil of the Bariku-to-Mulei section of the Beijing–Xinjiang expressway is tested and studied. Following the electrical conductivity principle of salt solution, the salt content of the soil is measured using a conductivity meter. On the basis of spectrophotometry, the chloride (Cl−)/sulfate (SO4 2−) value of the soil is determined using a portable water quality analyser. The experimental results show that electrical conductivity can characterise the degree of soil salinisation, and a water quality analyser can determine the type of saline soil. These measurement methods are simple and easy to master, and the detection accuracy is high. The equipment is light and portable, can be used outdoors and has the advantage of being low in price.