Engineered reclamation fill material created from excavated soft material and Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (GBFS)

Abstract

This study presents the results of a treatability study for excavated soft soil stabilization using granulated blast furnace slag (GBFS) and lime for possible use in landfill. The excavated soft soil was silty, clayey sand obtained from the Land Transport Authority’s staging ground. The GBFS and lime were added in percentages of 25%, 24% and 0%, 1% by weight respectively.

Fourteen tests were carried out to examine the materials’ physical, geotechnical and geochemical properties. The key properties to be determined were undrained shear strength, swelling ratio and toxicity of leachate of the materials.

The results suggest that addition of GBFS and lime significantly improve the materials’ undrained shear strength and lower their swelling ratio. Leaching analysis of the mixtures using toxicity characteristic leaching procedure illustrated that the mixtures were non-hazardous.

The overall results concluded that both GBFS-Soil and GBFS-Lime-Soil mixtures performed outstandingly and indicated great potential to be used as landfill material.