Enhanced dewatering optimizes compactibility of processed dredged material

摘要

The utilization of dredged material in dike construction as a substitute for traditionally used aged marsh sediment is considered an advisable option with respect to ecological as well as economic aspects. As a prerequisite to the application, the equivalency with respect to soil physical and mechanical properties of the materials has to be verified. Previous investigations on the compactibility of dredged materials used for dike construction had shown that the bulk densities of these materials were considerably lower than bulk densities of aged marsh sediments. The aim of the investigations presented in this paper was to analyze whether the compactibility of the processed dredged material could be improved by enhanced dewatering of the material prior to construction. It was hypothesized that a decreased water content of the material would allow higher bulk densities to be achieved during construction and hence the soil physical properties would become more comparable to those of the aged marsh sediments.