Durability of Cement Treated Clay with Air Foam Used in Water Front Structures

• Published in: Ground Improvement and Geosynthetics Vol. 207; pp. 1 - 30
• Main Authors: Nagatome, Takeshi, Kikuchi, Yoshiaki
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) 2010; American Society of Civil Engineers
• Subjects: Civil Engineering & Construction Materials; Structural Engineering; Clays; Waterfront structures; Geomaterials; Foam; Cement
• ISBN: 0784411085; 9780784411087
• DOI: 10.1061/41108(381)1

Durability of cement treated clay with air foam, Super Geo-Material (hereafter referred to as "SGM"), was investigated in this paper. When SGM is used for the backfill of a quay wall or reclamation of a man-made island, this material will be used under water or under the water table. In this case, hydraulic conductivity and water absorption characteristics are important characteristics for the durability of this material. From a series of several permeability tests, air foam in SGM is an impermeable medium if the air volume ratio is less than 25%. However, when the air volume is higher, the air foam makes bleeding channels and the coefficient of permeability dramatically increases. From a series of absorption tests in the laboratory, the absorption properties of SGM under the wet sand condition were different from those under the water condition. The absorption velocity of SGM under the wet sand condition was more than 10 times slower than that under the water condition. And this conclusion was supported by a ten year investigation of a SGM used in the field.