Geotechnical lecture 2020

Overview

This is a lecture based on the report paper named Analysis of a full-scale slope failure test on a sludge embankment.

In the framework of a reorganization of several historical wet sludge deposits of a chemical processing plant, embankments consisting of naturally consolidated sludge are constructed on top of existing deposit sites in order to increase storage capacity.

Laboratory and in situ testing was executed to characterise the industrial CaF₂ sludge, which can be compared to a soft clay.

Natural drying of the industrial sludge during depositing and elevation works, resulted in a significant variation of the soil parameters. To calibrate the embankment stability analysis procedure, a full-scale slope failure test was conducted on a test embankment built with the CaF₂ sludge.

The encountered problems during sludge handling and soil investigations are being discussed, as well as the lessons learned from the full-scale slope failure test.